Roger Federer (Photo : Twitter)
Roger Federer announced Tuesday that he underwent a surgery to repair a torn meniscus on his knee, an injury he reportedly suffered a day after his semifinal loss to Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open.
Beyond the details provided, everyone is still clueless on where and in what manner Federer hurt his knee. Swiss newspaper 'the Morning' finally gave a light to the tennis player's freak injury with Friday's headline that says "Injured walking with his daughters."
Federer, who looking for better results on the court after two Grand Slam finals appearance last year, will have to wait for several weeks before he can start playing at a high level again.
The Swiss already withdrew from tournaments in Doha and Rotterdam to give him more recovery time. However, sports surgeon Bruno Waespe thinks it would take more than three to four weeks for Federer to feel comfortable again with his knee.
Waespe told Tages-Anzeiger (translated by Tennis-X):
"There are different types of meniscal tears. But if it is that only the meniscus is affected and not the cartilage ... Federer could return to competition level in six [to] eight weeks. But specifically, it is important there is no cartilage damage."
"Although the meniscus takes two [to] three months to regrow," he added, "and there is still residual pain, he can start casual play again in two to four weeks. But it will take a bit longer till he can go to the limits again."
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The injury is a significant setback to Federer as he looks to contend at the three remaining Grand Slam tournaments and the Rio Olympics, where he's gunning not only for his first men's singles gold but victories at the men's doubles and mixed-doubles competition as well.
This is the first time Federer underwent a surgery on his knee, prompting concerns among fans and tennis pundits if he will ever be the same again following the rehab.
