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Roger Federer announces he will have knee surgery, uncertain about return to tennis


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Tennis legend Roger Federer announced Sunday that he will have knee surgery and be out of the game for "many months."

The surgery, his third in the last two years, will keep him out of the U.S. Open.

"I want to give myself a glimmer of hope to return to the tour in some shape or form," Federer, who turned 40 last week, said in an Instagram video. "I am realistic, don't get me wrong. I know how difficult it is at this age right now to do another surgery." 

The Swiss superstar had his first knee surgery in February 2020 and then had a second to repair complications from the first. He returned to tennis with the Qatar Open in March, where he was eliminated in the quarterfinals. He had the same result at Wimbledon last month and he skipped the Tokyo Olympics.

Federer is one of the oldest players ranked in the top 100 on the ATP Tour. His longtime rivals, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, are 35 and 34 respectively. 

He is tied with Nadal and Djokovic for the most men's individual Grand Slam titles with 20. He is one of only eight men ever to win all four Grand Slam tournaments in his career. He owns countless other records, including the longest streak ranked No. 1 by the ATP at 237 consecutive weeks. 

"It's going to be difficult, of course, in some ways, but I know it's the right thing to do because I want to be healthy," Federer said of his surgery. "I want to be running around later as well."

Contact Emily Adams at eaadams@gannett.com or on Twitter @eaadams6.