Roger Federer made the announcement on Tuesday afternoon and says that he plans to return to the ATP Tour later in the year following rehabilitation work with his team
Saturday 24 July 2021 14:34, UK
Roger Federer has withdrawn from the Tokyo Olympic Games due to a setback with his knee.
The 39-year-old made the announcement on Tuesday afternoon and says that he plans to return to the ATP Tour later in the year following rehabilitation work.
Federer won a silver in the singles at London 2012, and a gold in doubles with Stan Wawrinka back in 2008 however, after two knee operations during 2020, his body is not in the right place for another Olympic medal bid.
"Due to the grass-court season, I unfortunately experienced a setback with my knee and have accepted that I must withdraw from the Tokyo Olympic Games," Federer said on social media.
"I am greatly disappointed, as it has been an honour and highlight of my career each time I have represented Switzerland.
"I have already begun rehabilitation in the hopes of returning to the tour later this summer. I wish the entire Swiss team the best of luck and I will be rooting hard from afar. As always, Hopp Schwiz!"
Federer joins a number of other male players who will not be taking part in the event, which starts on Saturday, August 24 and will be played behind closed doors.
Prior to the Wimbledon, Rafael Nadal took the decision to withdraw from the Championships and also the Olympic Games in order to try and extend his time in the game.
"The goal is to prolong my career and continue to do what makes me happy," Nadal said. "That is to compete at the highest level and keep fighting for those professional and personal goals at the maximum level of competition."
Nick Kyrgios also announced his withdrawal at the end of last week, and Dominic Thiem will not be there either due to a right wrist injury.
Great Britain's Andy Murray has been selected for Team GB though and will look to defend the singles title he won in 2012 and 2016.
The recent Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic has not made his decision clear, but has said he was disappointed to hear the news that spectators would not be present at the Games.
"That's not great news," he said about the competition being played in front of empty stands. "I received that news yesterday or two days ago. That was really disappointing to hear.
"I also hear that there's going to be a lot of restrictions within the village. Possibly you would not be able to see other athletes perform live. I can't even have my stringer that is very important part of my team. I can't have a stringer. I'm limited with the amount of people I can take in my team as well.
"I'll have to think about it. Right now, as I said, my plan was always to go to Olympic Games. But right now, I'm a little bit divided. It's kind of 50/50 because of what I heard in the last couple days."
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