Wimbledon 2022: Why has Roger Federer withdrawn from The Championships?

Wimbledon 2022 will be held at the All-England Lawn Tennis Club in London, United Kingdom. The oldest championship in the history of tennis, played since 1877 will be contested from June 27 to July 10.

This Wimbledon edition will remain in history as the ATP, jointly with the WTA and the ITF, decided not to award ranking points. The decision was taken after the championship directors refused to allow tennis players from Russia and Belarus to compete.

The Championships will feature almost all of their typical traditions. Players must respect a dress code, there will also be strawberries and cream tasting and the presence of royalty, but Roger Federer will not compete at Wimbledon 2022.

Why has Roger Federer withdrawn from Wimbledon 2022?

Wimbledon 2022, the third Grand Slam of the year, will be without a tennis star, Roger Federer from Switzerland. The 40-year-old player had his third surgery on his right knee in August 2021, and since then, he has been inactive on the ATP circuit. 

The former no. 1 previously missed the 2022 Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year, as he was in a rehabilitation process after a knee injury, and then he withdrew from the 2022 French Open. 

The last time Federer was seen on a court was precisely at Wimbledon, where in 2021, he reached the quarterfinals and lost to Poland's Hubert Hurkacz.

Federer – a 20-time Grand Slam champion – is dominant on grass, he has secured eight Wimbledon titles in men's singles to be the Championships' record holder. He won the Wimbledon in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012, and 2017.

Federer, who dropped to the 96th rank in the singles, made his Wimbledon debut in 1999. He played all the Wimbledon tournaments (22 times) from 1999 to 2021, except the 2020 Championships, which were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking to the Evening Standard, Federer’s agent Tony Godsick said that the 40-year-old would like to feature again at SW19: “It was a great effort last year on one leg. And, I think he’d like another Wimbledon. That place has been incredibly special to him”.

Federer’s return seems to be fairly close. In fact, it is known that in October he will play the ATP 500 in Basel, and it is expected that in September he will play the Laver Cup.