Federer withdraws from French Open after knee surgery

Zurich: Swiss tennis great Roger Federer on Thursday announced that he will be giving the French Open a miss this year after undergoing a knee surgery. The 38-year-old said in a social media post that he had an arthroscopic surgery on Wednesday in Switzerland.

As a result of this he will be missing a number of tournaments, including the Indian Wells and the French Open and stated that he is gearing up for the grass court tournaments that come after the clay court Grand Slam.

"My right knee has been bothering me for a little while. I hoped it would go away, but after an examination, and discussion with my team, I decided to have arthroscopic surgery in Switzerland yesterday," said Federer.

"After the procedure, the doctors confirmed 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!"

Last year, Federer had reached the semi-final of Rolland Garros where he lost in straight sets to Rafael Nadal, who was on his way to a record-extending 12th title. It was Federer's first appearance at the French Open since 2015.