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SPORTS Friday 21 February 2020
Federer to miss French Open,

other events after knee surgery

By HOWARD FENDRICH dent of a full recovery," Fe- He also is going to sit out
AP Tennis Writer derer wrote. Roland Garros, the next
Roger Federer will miss the He ended up taking off the Grand Slam tournament,
French Open and no fewer last six months of the sea- which begins May 24. That
than three other tourna- son after his left knee sur- means this will be the fourth
ments while he is sidelined gery four years ago. When time in the past five years
for at least four months af- he returned, he won the that Federer is absent from
ter having arthroscopic sur- Australian Open and Wim- the clay-court major that
gery on his right knee. bledon in 2017, then the he won in 2009 to com-
It's only the second opera- Australian Open again in plete a career Grand Slam.
tion for the 38-year-old Fe- 2018, his most recent major The French Open is the lone
derer — the other was on championship. major title he's won just Switzerland's Roger Federer reacts during press conference
following his semifinal loss to Serbia's Novak Djokovic at the
his left knee in 2016 — and Last month in Melbourne, once; in fact, it is the only Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia,
one that is certain to raise Federer was hampered by one he has not won at least Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020.
questions about his future in what he said was a groin five times. Associated Press
tennis. muscle problem. He need- Federer closed Thursday's
He posted on social media ed to erase seven match message by saying: "see up on four occasions. That land Club on June 29. Fe-
Thursday that his knee had points to get past Tennys you on the grass!" includes in 2019, when he derer usually warms up for
been an issue "for a little Sandgren in the quarter- That is the surface he's ex- held two championship Wimbledon at the grass-
while." finals, then was clearly celled on the most, includ- points in the final against court tournament in Halle,
"I hoped it would go away," not quite himself during a ing a record eight cham- Djokovic before losing a Germany, which starts June
he said. straight-set loss to Djokovic pionships at Wimbledon, fifth-set tiebreaker. 15. He has won 10 titles at
The man who has spent in the semifinals. where he was the runner- Play begins at the All Eng- Halle.q
more weeks ranked No. 1 Now Federer, who for years
than any other and owns has faced questions about
a men's-record 20 Grand how much longer he'll
Slam titles said the op- compete, will miss upcom-
eration was in his home ing hard-court tournaments
country of Switzerland on in Dubai, United Arab Emir-
Wednesday. He currently is ates; Indian Wells, Califor-
ranked No. 3 behind rivals nia; and Miami, along with
Novak Djokovic and Rafael what was supposed to be
Nadal. a rescheduled exhibition
"After the procedure, the match in Bogota, Colom-
doctors confirmed that it bia, that was canceled in
was the right thing to have November because of riot-
done and are very confi- ing there.

Halep rallies to set

up Dubai semifinal

against Brady

DUBAI, United Arab Emir- very strong and hits the ball
ates (AP) — Top-seeded really, really hard," Halep
Simona Halep came from said. "I think I played quick-
a set down for the sec- er in the second set and
ond day in a row to beat third set. She didn't have
Aryna Sabalenka 3-6, 6-2, time to stay and to hit the
6-2 Thursday and reach ball. So I think that was the
the semifinals at the Dubai key of the match."
Championships. Halep will next face Ameri-
Halep had to save a match an qualifier Jennifer Brady,
point against Ons Jabeur who upset former No. 1
on Wednesday and again Garbine Muguruza 6-7 (5),
found herself in trouble 6-3, 6-4 to reach her third
against the hard-hitting Sa- career WTA semifinal.
balenka. But she broke for Brady wasted a 5-2 lead in
a 3-1 lead in both the sec- the first set, but won the last
ond and third sets to earn four games of the second
her third win in four career and broke again in the final
meetings with the Belaru- game of the decider.
sian. In the other semifinal, Elena
"It's always tough to play Rybakina will play Petra
against her because she's Martic.