The Swiss Roger Federer, a living legend of tennis and world sport, had been announced as one of the stars participating in the Australian Open, but at the last minute he decided to give up his foray into the first Grand Slam of 2021 and continue his recovery of the pair of knee operations he underwent this year, before returning to the ATP circuit.
Tony Godsick, representative of Federer, communicated the Swiss decision not to be part of the event in the upcoming edition. Thus, the star of the sport of rackets will break a chain of 21 appearances in Melbourne Park, where he played his first ‘big’, back in 2000, without forgetting that he reached six championships there.
“Roger has decided not to play the Australian Open 2021. He has made a lot of progress in recent months with his knee and his fitness. However, after consulting with his team, he decided that the best decision for him in the long run is to return to competitive tennis after the Australian Open, ”Godsick said in a statement sent to the AP news agency.
Federer has not played an official match since last January, when he decided to undergo surgery to undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. In June, the Swiss returned to the hospital to have surgery in the same area, given that his recovery had not been as expected.
Federer would return to action after Australia
Federer’s agent did not specify the exact date when the expected return of the winner of 20 Grand Slam tournaments will take place, but he anticipated that it could be at the end of February. “I will start discussions next week for the tournaments that start in late February and then start building a schedule for the rest of the year,” Godsick said.
Absent ‘your majesty’, the Serbian Novak Djokovic and the Spanish Rafael Nadal will remain with all the prominence on themselves in the Australian Open, without losing sight of the Austrian Dominic Thiem (world number 3) and Russian Daniil Medvedev (4).
Thiem claimed his first Grand Slam title at this year’s US Open, having previously reached three majors finals, while Medvedev was enshrined at the Nitto ATP Finals, where he became the first player to beat all three. top players in the FedEx ATP Rankings at the end of season event.
The first Grand Slam of the season will be held in February. It will be from 8 to 21. The tournament is usually played in January, but it was modified for reasons of the covid-19 pandemic.
Written by: Carlos José Méndez / @CarlitosJMendez
Photo: ATP
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