Roger Federer: I'd love to play Australian Open but it will be tight with my knee

20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer hoped to be back to 100 percent by October but unfortunately that didn't happen and the 39-year-old may be forced to skip the Australian Open. 

Federer, who underwent an arthroscopic knee surgery in February, hoped to be ready for the grass season and Wimbledon. 

The whole grass season was canceled due to the pandemic and, as Federer's recovery from the first surgery didn't go as planned, he underwent a second knee surgery in June.

After undergoing a second knee surgery in June, Federer called it a season and noted that his focus had switched to being fully ready for the start of 2021.

"I would love to be in Australia. But it will be very tight with my knee. I don't want to take the next step until I'm ready. These 3 weeks might help me a bit. The summer with Wimbledon, the Olympics and the US Open is my priority," Federer said, per Simon Graf.

Federer confirmed for the Australian Open long time ago 

Federer appeared to be progressing well after his second knee surgery and his goal from Day 1 was to be ready for the Australian Open.

"He is in the recovery phase and I would say that things are going in the best way," Federer's coach Ivan Ljubicic said in an interview with website OKtennis.it last month.

"He trains more and more and better and better, I'm curious to see how much we will be able to push in the coming months.

"I certainly can't tell today what we will do in April. I know we want to leave as soon as possible, play a big Australian Open and then evaluate step by step.

"It is important to go step by step and observe rest periods. As we have always done."

Also, Federer recently spoke about his desire to play at the Tokyo Olympics next year and chase a maiden gold medal in singles.

"Big plan is to be there (Japan) for the Olympics. Let's hope for the best for the Olympic Games coming to Tokyo next year, this is also one of my big goals. I really hope I can come back to Tokyo for that," Federer told WOWWOWtennis, as revealed by Seiadoumogera.

"Mirka loves the country and the culture so do I, my kids still keep talking about Japan so much (since we visited Japan last year), I'm really amazed how the experience in Japan left really positive mark on them."

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/38c6yog