The 17-times grand slam champion suffered the injury away
from a tennis court the day after his Australian Open run ended
in the semi-finals last week.
Federer has withdrawn from the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament
in Rotterdam and the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in
February.
"I am so disappointed to have to miss Rotterdam and Dubai as
they are two of my favorite tournaments on the ATP World Tour,"
said Federer, who is the reigning champion in Dubai having won
the title for the seventh time last March.
"While this is an unfortunate setback, I feel grateful that up
until now I have remained mostly healthy throughout my career,"
the 34-year-old Swiss added.
"My doctors have ensured me that the surgery was a success and
with proper rehabilitation, I will be able to return to the Tour
soon."
The world number three has won two Rotterdam trophies among his
88 titles.
Federer has rarely missed any tournaments for health reasons
during his remarkable 18-year professional career.
In 2005 he was out of action for six weeks while he recovered
from foot injury and during 2008 he was troubled by a bout of
mononucleosis and back problems.
Federer had been expected to leapfrog British world number two
Andy Murray in the ATP standings in February while expectant
father Murray takes a paternity break from the game.
However, Federer's injury setback ended those hopes and the
Swiss is expected to make his comeback at the Indian Wells
Masters in March.
(Editing by Ed Osmond and Justin Palmer)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
|