Miami:Former World number one and 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer has withdrawn his name from ATP 1000 masters Miami Open, which will be held later this month, to work on his fitness, according to his agent Tony Godsick.
Federer underwent two operations on his right knee during last season and ever since then, the Swiss has not played in any professional tennis tournament.
The 39-year-old is expected to make his comeback in a hard-court tournament in Doha, Qatar.
Last Friday, Federer also posted a photo of himself on Twitter saying that "the countdown to Doha begins".
Doha Open will be Federer's first event in more than a year. The last time he was seen on the tennis court was in February 2020 in the Australia Open semifinals.
Also Read: Ramkumar bows out of Singapore ATP 250 event
As of now, he also is slated to participate in the hard-court tournament in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, that begins March 14.
Federer also had been on the entry list for the Masters 1000 stop in Miami, where play starts on March 24.
But his agent, Tony Godsick, wrote Monday in an email to the AP that Federer will not play there.
After Doha and maybe Dubai, (Federer) will go back and do a training block to continue to slowly work his way back out on tour, Godsick wrote.
Miami Open tournament director James Blake said he hopes Federer will return in 2021 to an event he has won four times, including two years ago.
We certainly would have loved Roger to return to Miami to defend his title.
However, as a former player, I understand that you need to tailor your travel and playing schedule to properly work your way back to 100 percent fitness when coming off an injury, Blake said. Roger is an incredible ambassador for the sport, so the longer he is able to play on tour, the better it is for all of tennis.
Also Read: Osaka back to No. 2; Medvedev No. 3; Karatsev jumps 72 spots
Federer beat John Isner 6-1, 6-4 in 2019 final to win the Miami Open the last time it was held. The tournament was one of dozens that were called off last year when the professional tennis tours went on hiatus for several months because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Federer also won trophies at the hard-court event in 2005, 2006 and 2017.
He is currently No. 5 in the ATP rankings. He has spent 310 weeks total at No. 1, an ATP record tied by Novak Djokovic on Monday.
Federer's 103 tour-level titles are the second-most in the professional era of men's tennis, trailing only Jimmy Connors, who won 109.
