Roger Federer skips Cincinnati due to ongoing knee injury

The seven-time champion Roger Federer will not compete at the Western & Southern event after an ongoing knee injury. A few days before turning 40, Federer is still not ready to play following the quarter-final Wimbledon loss to Hubert Hurkacz, dealing with an injury and hoping to recover in time for the US Open that starts at the end of August. Thus, Roger will skip Cincinnati for the second straight year, dealing with a knee injury for the previous 18 months and playing only 13 matches since the last year's Australian Open. Starting all over after two surgeries, the Swiss returned to action this March and scored a victory over Daniel Evans in three tight sets in Doha. Taking another break, Federer entered the ATP 250 draw at home in Geneva and lost to Pablo Andujar in the first match despite being 4-2 in front in the decider.

Roger Federer will not compete in Cincinnati due to knee injury.

Heading to Paris, Federer grabbed three victories and withdrew following a marathon against Dominik Koepfer, preserving energy for his beloved grass swing in Halle and Wimbledon. Not finding his A-game, Federer lost to Felix Auger-Aliassime in the second round in Halle, failing to reach the quarters at one of his favorite events for the first time in a career and hoping for a better run at Wimbledon. Entering the All England Club for the 22nd time, Federer advanced to his 18th quarter-final after beating Adrian Mannarino, Richard Gasquet, Cameron Norrie and Lorenzo Sonego.

Facing the Pole Hubert Hurkacz, Roger suffered one of his toughest losses at Majors, winning only nine games and experiencing the first bagel since Roland Garros 2008. After the match, Federer admitted that he still feels the pain in his knee and decided to skip the Olympic Games in Tokyo. The veteran is obviously not ready to return to action, withdrawing from the upcoming Masters 1000 events and keeping his US Open appearance in doubt. Federer is the most decorated player in Cincinnati with seven titles, dominating on the fast hard court in Ohio between 2005-2015. In his last Cincinnati match so far, Roger lost to Andrey Rublev in straight sets two years ago, which may be his final encounter at this Masters 1000 tournament. 

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3lA0X3F