Owing to his knee injury, Roger Federer has withdrawn
from the 2021 Australian open which is set to begin on February 8, his agent
confirmed in a statement to the Associated Press.

Tony Godsick, the 20-time grand slam champion’s representative,
announced that Federer plans to return to tennis after the Australian open.

“Roger
has decided not to play the 2021 Australian Open. He has made strong progress
in the last couple of months with his knee and his fitness. However, after
consultation with his team, he decided that the best decision for him in the
long run is to return to competitive tennis after the Australian Open,” Godsick said in the statement.

“I will start
discussions this coming week for tournaments that begin in late February and
then start to build a schedule for the rest of the year,” he added.

Federer has not played a tournament since his semi-final loss to Novak Djokovic in 2020’s Australian open that took place in January.

Weeks
after the loss, the tennis player announced that he had undergone a knee surgery
and would not be playing for at least four months. He underwent another surgery
and ended up missing the rest of the season.