Roger Federer has withdrawn from Rio 2016 Olympics and the US Open
For so long the master of tennis destiny, Roger Federer’s career — or what remains of it — is shrouded in doubt.
That Federer would withdraw from the Rio Olympics, a long-held target, is worrying enough.
That he would abandon the rest of the 2016 season, including the US Open and ATP Tour Finals in London, adds an ominous dimension.
As much as the tennis community hopes and prays the sport’s most popular and decorated male player returns in January, there can be no guarantee as he battles knee soreness.
If Federer resumes at January’s Hopman Cup, he will be 35 and five months — and bearing down on five seasons without a major victory.
The second part of that equation will not trifle Federer nor, necessarily, will the starkness of his age.
What will consume the Swiss master far more is the challenge of suddenly dealing with physical degeneration.
For almost 20 seasons, Federer has competed virtually whenever and wherever he wanted. More often than not, he won or figured deeply.
Silken beyond compare, he was indisputably durable. He is now fragile.
Until May’s French Open, Federer appeared in a record 65 successive majors.
And even when battled niggles during that period — notably the back soreness which plagued him the night before beating Mark Philippoussis in the 2003 Wimbledon final — he coped.
This season has delivered a critical juncture in Federer’s war with Father Time.
The morning after losing an Australian Open semi-final, Federer damaged his knee in an innocuous bathroom accident as he helped bathe his children.
Surgery and a two-month rehabilitation was required.
Then, intending to resume in Miami, Federer was foiled by gastro.
A month later, he suffered back soreness in Madrid.
Then came the rollicking run to the Wimbledon semi-finals, where he had Milos Raonic on the ropes, only to lose focus — and footing — in a symbolic fall.
The ramifications of that accident are now in stark resolution.
“I need more extensive rehabilitation following my knee surgery earlier this year,” Federer said yesterday.
“The doctors advised that if I wanted to play on the ATP World Tour injury free for another few years, as I intend to do, I must give my knee and body the proper time to fully recover.”
Indeed, time will now decide whether Federer returns and, if he does, just how effective he will be.
