After his knee surgery, Roger Federer, 34, decided to make his tennis comeback at the Miami Open but the plan will be aborted again because of his stomach virus. The tournament is set to run from March 22 to April 3 in Key Biscayne.
The day after his loss to Serbian professional tennis player Novak Djokovic, 28, at the Australian Open semifinal, Federer's meniscus was torn so he had arthroscopic surgery on Feb. 3 and skipped tournaments at Rotterdam, Dubai, and Indian Wells in California. After more than a month, Federer's agent Tony Godsick confirmed that the17-time Grand Slam champion was headed to South Florida to play the tournament.
"Roger's very excited to return to Miami," Miami Herald quoted Godsick as saying. "He's always enjoyed playing the tournament, and he looks forward to getting back out on the court after his knee surgery."
Godsick said Federer was looking forward to seeing the fans at the Miami Open. According to the agent, the Swiss professional tennis player had been "practicing very well" for several days "with no setbacks."
However, it appears that Federer's return is not happening at the Miami Open. He was supposed to play at Crandon Park Tennis center in the second round against Argentine professional tennis player Juan Martin del Potro, 27, on March 25, Friday.
"I am very sorry that I have to pull out of the Miami Open with a stomach virus," Federer said in a statement obtained by Sun Sentinel. He added that he felt bad both for the tournament and for the fans as he has rarely ever had to withdraw "at such short notice."
In the statement, Federer explained that he has "not felt great for a few days and unfortunately it got worse in the last 24 hours." He said while he was really excited to have his comeback in Miami, he was not in condition to compete although he tried warming up the morning before he released the statement.
Federer is currently ranked number three by the Association of Tennis Professionals. He will be replaced at the Miami Open by another Argentine tennis player Horacio Zeballos, 30.
Watch a clip of Ben Mulroney's interview with Federer at the Academy Awards 2016 here: