Sidelined: Reviewing Federer's notable injuries throughout his career
On Wednesday, the 38-year-old underwent arthroscopic knee surgery and his doctors "are very confident of a full recovery."
On Thursday, Roger Federer took to social media to make a surprise announcement: he he underwent arthroscopic knee surgery a day earlier.
“My right knee has been bothering me for a little while,” Federer wrote on Twitter. “I hoped it would go away, but after an examination, and discussion with my team, I decided to have arthroscopic surgery in Switzerland yesterday. After the procedure, the doctors confirmed that it was the right thing to have done and are very confident of a full recovery.
“As a result, I will unfortunately have to miss Dubai, Indian Wells, Bogota, Miami and the French Open. I am grateful for everyone’s support. I can’t wait to be back playing again soon, see you on the grass!”
With that in mind, we look back at the 38-year-old's major injuries throughout his illustrious 21-year career. (All photos by Getty Images)
Playing in his second clay-court event in almost three years, the Swiss was forced to pull out of the event ahead of his quarterfinal encounter with Stefanos Tsitsipas. In his previous match, he had saved two match points against Borna Coric to advance, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6.
“I am disappointed that I will not be able to compete today. I am not 100 percent physically and after consultation with my team, it was determined that I not play. Rome has always been one of my favourite cities to visit, and I hope to be back next year,” Federer said.
Following his Rogers Cup final showing, the seven-time Western and Southern Open champion withdrew from the event, citing a back injury. He returned two weeks later at the US Open, losing in the last eight to Juan Martin del Potro.
After re-injuring his knee during a five-set loss to Milos Raonic in the Wimbledon semifinals, Federer was forced to sit out the remainder of the year to address the issue. The decision meant missing the 2016 Olympics among other things, and left him without a tour-level title for the first time in 16 seasons. He would also drop out of the Top 10 for the first time since 2002, but would go on to win his 18th major at the 2017 Australian Open.
In his second event back since undergoing knee injury that February, Federer withdrew from the tournament's 2016 edition with a back problem, which started hurting during a practice session.
“I arrived and I was okay, and then I practiced on Saturday and hurt my back a little bit in practice and then stopped early," he said.
A day following his Australian Open run, which saw him fall to Novak Djokovic in four sets, Federer had to undergo arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn meniscus after injuring his left knee while running a bath for his older set of twins.
"I woke up, I don't know exactly remember what happened. I think I was going to run a bath for the girls," he said. "I made a very simple movement, turned back, heard a click in my knee. I went to the zoo. My leg was swollen."
During his straight-forward third-round win over Ivan Dodig, the No. 2 seed dismissed a tweak in the back. He would play on, losing to Rafael Nadal in the semifinals. He later regretted not pulling out of the event.
''I should never have played after Dodig," he said.
Federer would not return to the courts until Madrid, nearly eight weeks later.
As it's been documented, Federer's back has sprung plenty of barriers for the superstar to deal with. The issue emerged on the big stage toward the end of the 2008 season, when for the first time in 763 matches, Federer was forced to pull out during a tournament. It happened at the Rolex Paris Masters, ahead of his much anticipated quarterfinal clash with James Blake, the man who upset the Swiss a few months earlier at the Beijing Olympics.
