Advertisement

Tennis-Federer to miss Olympics and rest of season

July 26 (Reuters) - Roger Federer has pulled out of the Rio Olympics and said he will miss the rest of the season as he needs "more extensive rehabilitation" following knee surgery earlier this year if he wants to prolong his career. "I'm extremely disappointed to announce that I will not be able to represent Switzerland at the Olympic Games in Rio and that I will also miss the remainder of the season," the 17-times grand slam champion and former world number one said on his Facebook page on Tuesday. "Considering all options after consulting with my doctors and my team, I have made the very difficult decision to call an end to my 2016 season as I need more extensive rehabilitation following my knee surgery earlier this year. "The doctors advised that if I want to play on the ATP World Tour injury free for another few years, as I intend to do, I must give both my knee and body the proper time to fully recover. It is tough to miss the rest of the year." (Reporting by Pritha Sarkar; Editing by Ken Ferris)