Last Tuesday, Roger Federer issued a statement in which he reported that during the past grass tour he suffered a mishap with his knee and that this would force him, for the moment, to get off the Tokyo Olympics, hoping to return to the circuit before the end of this summer. Many of his fans kept wondering what kind of injury the Swiss has in his knee. We tried to shed some light to find out what Federer’s problem may be in this joint.
What injury does Roger Federer have on his knee?
The Swiss has always been very secretive when it comes to giving information about the injuries he has had in his career. Only when the meniscus ruptured in 2016 did he reveal what he had. In this case, with his right knee, he only limited himself to saying that he had undergone surgery a couple of times to undergo two arthroscopies, without saying anything else. His fans have always wondered what kind of knee problem he has, but they have never been able to find out what it is.
We have contacted a Swiss journalist who knows very well the surroundings of the Basel tennis player and he pointed us in two directions: meniscus or cartilage. Of course, he made it clear to us that nothing has come out from the environment and that it is a simple rumor that exists there. To try to verify this information, we have also contacted a physio who works within the circuit, and who agrees that it could be one of those two parts of the knee that is giving Federer problems.
“For recovery time, it would make me think that yes, it could be one of the two. In photos we have been able to see that, from one year to the next, Roger has gained a lot of muscle mass in his legs. This suggests that he had a deficiency in the joint and makes me think that it could be due to the cartilage ”, he says. “When he had surgery, they recommended gaining muscle mass in the quadriceps and that is usually indicated in problems of this type. Cartilage is a very difficult area to recover and becomes very inflamed. If now he has commented that he resented it again, it may be for that.
“There is talk of a control disease, that is, a problem in the joint, and the most logical and common in these cases is due to meniscus or cartilage. The problems it gives, after the operation, is an irritation that causes the knee to swell and cause pain. That makes it difficult, for example, to play one day and then again the next. You need recovery because it is not that you start from scratch, but almost ”, he continues.
Federer simply spoke of a “setback” on his knee. This is a very broad concept, which can range from a simple irritation, which could have you recovered in just seven / ten days, or a relapse, which would force you to undergo surgery again. The Helvetian acknowledged in his statement that he wanted to return before the end of the summer. Cincinnati, a tournament that he loves to attend and has won seven times, is due in just a month (August 15) and could be a good place to prepare for the US Open. As long as the knee leaves him.
“There are times when hyaluronic acid or enriched plasma treatments are done that help increase space or recover damaged areas, but as I say, it is difficult. The knee is a joint that suffers a lot in tennis ”, he ends up saying. Federer’s problem, therefore, may be similar to that suffered by Wawrinka, who had to undergo surgery a few years ago for brutal cartilage wear and which, since then, has prevented him from performing at 100%.
Completely different would be the problem of Rafa Nadal. In the case of the Balearic Islands, his problem is in the tendons of the knee, an area much easier to treat and recover than the cartilage or the meniscus. While waiting to see when Roger Federer returns to the circuit, we can know if his new setback is due to a simple knee inflammation or something more serious. We all want it to be as little time off the court as possible.
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