Djokovic has lovely words for Federer after he had his knee injury

With the tennis season now two months in, most players have had some tournament experience under their belt. Unfortunately, injuries are a part of the sport and can derail an athlete’s plans for the season. Last week, Roger Federer announced that he had undergone surgery on his right knee in Switzerland.

Federer out until June after knee injury

Announcing the news on Twitter, Federer said he would have to miss the remaining hard court tournaments, as well as all of the clay season as he makes his recovery. “My right knee has been bothering me for a little while. I hoped it would go away, but after an examination, and discussion with my team, I decided to have arthroscopic surgery.” The 20-time Grand Slam champion had planned to play at this week’s Dubai Championships, and later at the Indian Wells Open, Miami, and Bogota Opens, and at the Roland Garros. Federer expressed confidence he would make a full recovery and will return for the grass-court season in June.

Tennis needs Roger

In addition to Federer, South African player Kevin Anderson also announced that he had undergone surgery in Miami to fix a meniscus tear in his knee. After hearing the news, this year’s Australian Open champion wished the two players a quick recovery. In a recent interview, Novak Djokovic said he knew it was frustrating to have surgery after having undergone the medical procedure once in his career. “I really don’t like to see anybody going through a process of surgery. I’m sad to see Roger and Kevin Anderson going through that kind of procedure. I hope that they will be back very soon.” Djokovic revealed that he suspected that Federer was struggling with an injury during last month’s Australian Open. The Serbian defeated him in the semifinals on his way to his eighth title at the tournament. Now that his Swiss rival is on the sidelines, Djokovic hopes to see him on the court as soon as possible. “Roger is Roger. This sport needs him.”

This is Federer’s second arthroscopic knee surgery after he underwent the same procedure in 2016. He played in only seven tournaments that season. With Federer now out of the French Open, Rafael Nadal could match his Grand Slam record if he wins his 13^th Roland Garros title. Djokovic could also match Federer’s record if he wins all the remaining Grand Slam tournaments this season. The world number one will headline this week’s Dubai Tennis Championships while Nadal will play at the Mexican Open.

Novak Djokovic’s ranking and performance in 2020

Currently the world no.1, Djokovic played his last match on the 2^nd of February when he beat Dominic Thiem 6-4 4-6 2-6 6-3 6-4 in the final of the Australian Open to win his 79^th career title.

Presently, this year the Serbian has a 13-0 win-loss record. The Serbian clinched 2 titles in 2020 in ATP Cup and at the Australian Open.

Roger Federer’s ranking and performance in 2020

Now ranked no.3, Federer played his last match on the 30^th of January when he was defeated by Novak Djokovic 7-6¹ 6-4 6-3 in the semifinal of the Australian Open.

Roger Federer’s most significant result of the present year was reaching the semi-finals at the Australian Open.

Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer played each other 50 times. The head to head is 27-23 for Djokovic.

The last time that they played each other, Novak Djokovic won 7-6¹ 6-4 6-3 in the semifinal in Melbourne (Australian Open) on the 30^th of January 2020.

Here the video highlights.