ROGER FEDERER is set to undergo knee surgery and faces 'many months' out as his professional tennis career hangs in the balance.
The Swiss star, 40, hopes the operation will give him a chance of competing again but faces an uphill battle due to his advancing years.
Federer broke the news on Instagram, telling his 8.6 million followers: "I just wanted to give you a bit of an update [on] what’s been going on since Wimbledon. As you can imagine, it's not been simple.
"I've been doing a lot of checks with the doctors as well on my knee, getting all the information as I hurt myself further during the grass-court season and Wimbledon.
"That’s just not the way to go forward, so unfortunately they told me for the medium to long term to feel better, I will need surgery. I decided to do it.
"I’ll be on crutches for many weeks and also out of the game for many months, so it’s going to be difficult of course in some ways.
"But at the same time I know it’s the right thing to do because I want to be healthy, I want to be running around later as well again and I want to give myself a glimmer of hope to return to the tour in some shape or form.
"I want to give myself a glimmer of hope to return to the tour in some shape or form."
Federer will now miss the US Open, due to start on August 30, and it seems unlikely he'll be fit enough for the Australian Open in January.
He hasn't featured since losing to Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon in July, missing the Tokyo Olympics.
The tennis icon is one of the greatest to ever play the game, winning a joint-record 20 Grand Slam men's singles titles during his illustrious career.
Eight of those have come at Wimbledon, winning his first title at SW19 in 2003 and his most recent four years ago.
Federer has already defied his age in recent years, winning the Australian Open and becoming the oldest World No1 in history in 2018.
He added: "I am realistic, don’t get me wrong. I know how difficult it is at this age right now to do another surgery and try it.
"But I want to be healthy, I will go through the rehab process I think also with a goal while I’m still active, which I think is going to help me during this long period of time."
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