ROGER FEDERER’S recovery from surgery is not going as quickly as planned and he might not be ready to play for another two months, his coach revealed.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion went under the knife in February to try and fix a problematic right knee.
His arthroscopic surgery was due to put him out of action for four months as he planned to skip the clay-court swing.
As it happened, the tennis season was put on hold shortly afterwards meaning Federer has barely missed any tournaments.
As a result, Novak Djokovic’s coach Goran Ivanisevic said Federer had the procedure done at the perfect time.
But even so, the Swiss great is behind schedule on his return to the court and might not be ready to play until late August, by which time he will be 39.
That could, however, tie in with the return of the tennis season as the US Open plans to go ahead as scheduled from August 24.
Coach Severin Luthi said: “Roger’s recovery is not going as well as we expected. It is slower than we thought.
“I believe that we can see some action again from that month. We are hoping for that.”
It is unclear if this is due to a physical problem and the knee not healing properly or simply because of the coronavirus lockdown taking its toll.
The world No4 told fans in May he hadn’t been hitting – but insisted that was because he wanted a break while he had the chance rather than because of his body.
He said: “I’m not training at the moment because I don’t see a reason for that to be honest.
“I am happy with my body now and I still believe that the return of the tour is a long way off.
“And I think it’s important mentally to enjoy this break, having played so much tennis.
“When I’m getting towards returning and have a goal to train for, I think I will be super motivated.”
Federer’s only competitive action in 2020 so far was the Australian Open.
He reached the semi-finals, despite major scares against John Millman and Tennys Sandgren, but was comprehensively beaten by champion Novak Djokovic.
Fed did play Rafael Nadal in a charity match in South Africa in February but decided it was the best chance to get the knee sorted in the view of returning for Wimbledon, which has since been cancelled for the first time since World War Two.
Even when Federer – and tennis – does return, though, Ivanisevic added he does not believe the Switzerland star will be able to add to his record haul of 20 majors due to the excellence of his man Djokovic.
The 2001 Wimbledon champion said: “Unfortunately, I don’t think Federer will win any more Grand Slams, because he certainly won’t come back younger.
“But Federer should not be written off.
“Novak Djokovic is the greatest tennis player of all time for me, and I sincerely hope that he will do it [break the record] as a result.”
But while it may not be the best news on the court for Federer right now, it is very good news off it.
Federer was named as the highest-earning athlete on the planet last week, raking in a staggering £86million over the past 12 months.
Incredibly, only £5m of that was from tennis prize money and the remaining £81m through his many sponsorships and endorsements.
