Former world number one Roger Federer has withdrawn from the French Open a day after winning his third-round match, organizers said on Sunday.
"After discussions with my team, I decided that I should withdraw from the French Open today. After two knee operations and more than a year of rehabilitation, it's important that I listen to my body and not rush back into competition," 20-time Grand Slam champion Federer said in a statement released by the French tennis federation.
Federer, who turns 40 on Aug. 8, was competing in his first major tournament since the 2020 Australian Open. Shortly after that event, he had the first of a pair of operations on his right knee.
He had played just three matches this season before arriving in Paris for the clay-court Slam, which he won in 2009.
Federer had made clear last month that he did not see himself as ready to contend for the French Open title this time and instead had his sights on Wimbledon, the grass-court major he has won a men's-record eight times. Play begins at the All England Club on June 28.
Federer edged 59th-ranked Dominik Koepfer 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 7-6 (4), 7-5 in the third round, a match that began Saturday night and ended as 1 a.m. approached Sunday.
The No. 8-seeded Federer was supposed to play No. 9 seed Matteo Berrettini of Italy in the fourth round on Monday.
The winner of the match will face either No. 1 Novak Djokovic or unseeded Lorenzo Musetti in the quarterfinals.
