Roger Federer has confirmed that he will miss the Australian Open for the second straight year as he continues his recovery from knee surgery.
After Federer’s coach, Ivan Ljubicic, gave Australian tennis fans a brief glimmer of hope that the 40-year-old might tour Down Under, Federer confirmed he would not be fit for the first Grand Slam of 2022.
He also appears unlikely to play the Wimbledon slam.
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“I would be incredibly surprised, if I would be playing again already in Wimbledon,” he told Swiss publication Le Matin.
“I need to be very patient and give my knee the time to heal. The next few months will be crucial.”
According to Federer’s doctors, the 20-time Grand Slam champ will resume running in January, but won’t return to the court any sooner than March or April.
Federer remains optimistic about his future, telling Le Matin, “the first check with the doctors was very encouraging”, adding that he “will pursue the [rehab] process with full dedication”.
Despite playing just five tournaments in the last 22 months, Federer believes he has what it takes to return to the highest level.
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“I know, it will be incredibly difficult. But I do believe in that sort of miracles,” he said.
“I’ve experienced them myself. I would like to find out, what I can achieve on a tennis court again.
“It would have been easy to say, ‘let’s stop here’. But [fans] deserve better than what they’ve seen from me throughout the past grass court season.”