Roger Federer has confirmed he will not feature in next year’s Australian Open – and says he would be “extremely surprised” if he plays at Wimbledon.
In an interview with Swiss publication Le Matin, the 40-year-old added that he does not anticipate returning to competition until next summer.
The 20-time grand slam winner is recovering from a series of knee operations.
Federer, who has not played since he lost his quarter-final match against Hubert Hurkacz at Wimbledon on July 7, said: “I will be able to resume running quietly in January and resume sessions on the court with complex support in March or April.
“Today, I therefore estimate my return to competition in the summer of 2022. I would be extremely surprised if I could play Wimbledon.”
Explaining the lengthy anticipated absence from the court, Federer said: “This summer it was decided to suture the lesion to my meniscus, which involves some downtime. The doctors therefore took the opportunity to also treat my cartilage. The combination of these two interventions requires patience and prudence.”
But the Swiss remains optimistic he can get back to the top and, ultimately, end his career on his own terms.
“My ambition is to see what I’m capable of one last time,” he added. “I also wish I could say goodbye in my own way and on a tennis court. That’s why I give my all in my rehabilitation.
“Then, let’s be clear, my life is not going to collapse if I don’t play a grand slam final again. But it would be the ultimate dream to go back. And, in fact, I still believe in it. I believe in these kinds of miracles.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here