(July 26, 2016) Roger Federer announced on his website and Facebook page that he has called it quits for the rest of 2016 due to a knee injury. The 17-time major champion will miss the Rio Olympic Games which would have been his fifth Olympic games.
Since a knee injury after the Australian Open which forced him to have surgery, Federer withdrew from the French Open, the first time he has missed a major since 1999. The soon-to-be thirty-five-year-old Federer played Wimbledon where he lost in the semifinals.
He will also miss the US Open for the first time since 1999. Federer is a five-time US Open champion.
Last week the Swiss announced that he would be playing Hopman Cup in January.
This is the announcement from his website:
© Paul Zimmer
End of 2016 season
26.07.2016 | TennisDear Fans,
I’m extremely disappointed to announce that I will not be able to represent Switzerland at the Olympic Games in Rio and that I will also miss the remainder of the season. Considering all options after consulting with my doctors and my team, I have made the very difficult decision to call an end to my 2016 season as I need more extensive rehabilitation following my knee surgery earlier this year. The doctors advised that if I want to play on the ATP World Tour injury free for another few years, as I intend to do, I must give both my knee and body the proper time to fully recover. It is tough to miss the rest of the year. However, the silver lining is that this experience has made me realize how lucky I have been throughout my career with very few injuries. The love I have for tennis, the competition, tournaments and of course you, the fans remains intact. I am as motivated as ever and plan to put all my energy towards coming back strong, healthy and in shape to play attacking tennis in 2017.
Thanks for your continued support.
Roger