Advertisement

Not only is he out of the Olympics, Roger Federer's season is over

Not only is he out of the Olympics, Roger Federer's season is over

Missing the Rogers Cup was one thing.

It turns out tennis legend Roger Federer will miss a lot more than that.

The Swiss star, who turns 35 in a couple of weeks, just announced on Facebook that he will miss the Rio Olympics and is ending his 2016 season barely halfway through it.

His last match was the loss to Milos Raonic at Wimbledon.

Here's what he said.

Dear Fans,

I’m extremely disappointed to announce that I will not be able to represent Switzerland at the Olympic Games in Rio and that I will also miss the remainder of the season. Considering all options after consulting with my doctors and my team, I have made the very difficult decision to call an end to my 2016 season as I need more extensive rehabilitation following my knee surgery earlier this year. The doctors advised that if I want to play on the ATP World Tour injury free for another few years, as I intend to do, I must give both my knee and body the proper time to fully recover. It is tough to miss the rest of the year. However, the silver lining is that this experience has made me realize how lucky I have been throughout my career with very few injuries. The love I have for tennis, the competition, tournaments and of course you, the fans remains intact. I am as motivated as ever and plan to put all my energy towards coming back strong, healthy and in shape to play attacking tennis in 2017.

Thanks for your continued support.

Roger

That's huge news, and definitely unexpected.

Considering how stiff he looked in his practices before WImbledon began, it was impressive as it was that Federer made the semi-finals. He took a fall during that match against Raonic and when it was over, didn't dismiss the fact that it might be a bigger deal than it felt like at the time.

It was a highly unusual, awkward fall on the grass from the man who has won Wimbledon so many times.

Federer had knee surgery after the Australian Open, after he injured it during what appears to be a freak false move while with his children. He missed Indian Wells, then tried to play Miami but was felled by a virus.

So he didn't return until Monte Carlo in April and missed the French Open as, everyone thought, he was saving his energy to prepare an all-out attack on Wimbledon, the summer hard-court season and the Olympics.

Back-to-back five-setters at Wimbledon, including that comeback from two sets to none against Marin Cilic before losing in five to Raonic, appear to have taken their toll.

On the positive side, it sounds as though Federer isn't planning to retire any time soon. But he does realize that time marches on and the good fortune he has had with good health throughout his career is no longer something he can count on.