Former world No 1 taking time in recovery from knee injurySwiss great ‘won’t retire all of a sudden’, says Ivan LjubicicRoger Federer will almost certainly miss the
Australian Open for the second year in a row, with the Swiss maestro said to be recovering slowly from a third round of knee surgery in 18 months. But Federer’s long-time coach Ivan Ljubicic has played down fears the
Tennis world has seen the last of the 20-times grand slam champion, who turned 40 in August.
![Roger Federer likely to miss Australian Open but retirement not imminent, says coach](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/02bd34972ab9526cca3ab051a5658ebaf5dddf55/0_118_2523_1514/master/2523.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=f65f90c7b8ffa4f601a25a15f349bd13)
Federer has played just 13 matches in 2021 and not one since suffering a straight-sets quarter-final loss to Polish young gun Hubert Hurkacz in July. The six-time Open champion’s latest four-month lay-off comes after he spent a year on the sidelines following his record-setting 15th semi-final appearance at Melbourne Park in 2020.