Federer has knee surgery, eyes grass-court return

Roger Federer plays in a 2018 exhibition in San Jose, Calif. Photo by Mal Taam

   Roger Federer will sit out until the grass-court season after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on Wednesday in Switzerland.
   "After the procedure, the doctors confirmed that it was the right thing to have done and are very confident of a full recovery," the 38-year-old Federer, whose only Northern California appearance came in a 2018 exhibition in San Jose, tweeted today. "As a result, I will unfortunately have to miss Dubai, Indian Wells, Bogota, Miami and the French Open. ... See you on the grass!"
   In Federer's only tournament of the year, he saved seven match points against Tennys Sandgren in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open before losing in the semifinals to eventual champion Novak Djokovic in straight sets.
   At Wimbledon last year, Federer held two championship points before falling to Djokovic 7-6 (5), 1-6, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 13-12 (3). It was the longest Wimbledon final ever, lasting 4 hours, 57 minutes.
   Federer has won a record 20 Grand Slam singles titles, one ahead of Rafael Nadal and three ahead of third-place Djokovic.