Geneva (AFP)

Roger Federer will never be Olympic champion in singles: the Swiss on Tuesday abandoned the Tokyo Olympics and the last important title missing from his huge list of achievements.

Almost 40 years old, Federer dreamed of Olympic gold in Tokyo, his most important meeting of the year, or even the end of his career, just like the 2021 edition of Wimbledon.

But the Swiss maestro was eliminated from the quarter-finals on London turf.

And after a few days of reflection, he announced his withdrawal from Tokyo on Tuesday due to a recurrence of his right knee injury.

"During the grass season, I hurt my knee again and I see myself forced to give up the Tokyo Olympics," he explained on his social networks.

"I am very disappointed, because it has been an honor and a highlight of my career every time I represented Switzerland," continued the player with twenty Grand Slam titles, who promises to encourage the Swiss delegation to Tokyo "from afar".

Federer had already missed the Rio Olympics, because of an injury, to the left knee this time.

In four appearances (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012), he won a silver medal in singles in London in 2012, after losing in his "backyard" at Wimbledon in the final against Briton Andy Murray, and a gold medal in doubles with Stan Wawrinka in 2008 in Beijing.

- Back this summer?

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It was also during the 2000 Sydney Olympics that he met his later wife, Mirka, then a tennis player.

His chances of winning the Olympic title in Tokyo were, without even mentioning the question of his physique, very reduced, since the former world No. 1, now 9th in the ATP rankings, played only five tournaments in 2021 with a record. very mixed of nine wins for four losses and no title won.

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Federer is far from his best level: and for good reason, having had two knee surgery in 2020, he followed most of last season as a spectator.

The recurrence of this pain in the right knee makes fear to his many admirers the imminent announcement of his end of career.

But Federer does not abdicate.

"I have already started doing rehabilitation in the hope of returning to the circuit this summer," he wrote on Tuesday, without giving more details on his possible schedule for the coming months.

- Without Nadal, Djokovic thinks -

Could his defeat in three sets 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), 6-0 on July 7 at Wimbledon against the Polish Hubert Hurkacz could it be his last appearance on a tennis court?

We will still have to wait to find out.

In the meantime, the tennis world will focus on the Olympic tournament in Tokyo, which has however lost a lot of its salt.

Because Federer will not be the only absent mark.

His great rival Rafael Nadal, exhausted, chose to skip the Olympic meeting, just like the world No.5, Dominic Thiem, the Australian Nick Kyrgios, the Canadian Denis Shapovalov, the Belgian David Goffin or the Norwegian Casper Ruud .

The world No.1 Novak Djokovic has still not made his decision, he revealed after his coronation Sunday at Wimbledon where he won his 20th major title, returning to a tie for the record already co-held by Federer and Nadal, his third of the year after the Australian Open and Roland Garros.

In a busy schedule, the long trip to Japan where the tournament will also take place without an audience, has also discouraged some names in women's tennis, such as the former world No. 1 Serena Williams, while the Romanian Simona Halep and the reigning Olympic champion Monica Puig are injured.

© 2021 AFP