Roger Federer withdraws from French Open after knee surgery

Roger Federer has announced he will miss this year’s French Open and four other tournaments after undergoing knee surgery.

The 20-times grand slam champion went under the knife in Switzerland on Wednesday.

Federer, 38, wrote on Twitter: “My right knee has been bothering me for a little while. I hoped it would go away but after an examination, and discussion with my team, I decided to have an arthroscopic surgery in Switzerland yesterday.”

Federer, who won his solitary Roland Garros title in 2009 and exited at the semi-finals in the Australian Open last month, will not be back in action until the grass-court season at the earliest.

He continued: “After the procedure the doctors confirmed that it was the right thing to have done and are very confident of a full recovery.

“As a result, I will unfortunately have to miss Dubai, Indian Wells, Bogota, Miami and the French Open. I am grateful for everyone’s support. I can’t wait to be back playing again soon, see you on the grass.”