Roger Federer to miss French Open after knee surgery

Roger Federer is set to miss his fourth French Open in the last five years, the 20-time Grand Slam winner announced on Thursday.

Federer's right knee had been troubling him for some time and which is why he underwent surgery in Switzerland on Wednesday. After the process, the doctor asked him not to play until he recovered fully.

The Swiss Master's agent revealed that week that French Open was going to be Federer's only clay appearance in 2020. Now due to the surgery, Federer will be missing the entire clay season, which he had done earlier in 2017 and 2018.

"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.

As a result, I will, unfortunately, have to miss Dubai, Indian Wells, Bogota, Miami and French Open. I'm grateful for everyone's support. I can't wait to be back playing again soon, see you on the grass!" Federer announced on social media along with a picture of himself.

Federer has not won a Grand Slam since his Australian Open win in 2018. Rafael Nadal, meanwhile, will aim to clinch his 13th Rolland Garros trophy this year and that would see him level with Federer's record of 20 major titles.

Federer and Nadal, who lost their respective semi-final games at the recent Australian Open, then later faced each other for a charity match in South Africa.

The 'Match in Africa 6' was played in Cape Town in front of an unbelievable crowd of more than 50,000 spectators.

In the singles contest, Federer defeated Nadal 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in front of 51,954 people, a record number of spectators for any tennis match. They later played a doubles fixture too where Federer teamed up with co-founder and billionaire Bill Gates, while Nadal joined hands with renowned South African comedian Trevor Noah.