2016 has been a rough year for Roger Federer and his loyal legion of fans. The tennis legend suffered a knee injury in January following his Australian Open semifinal loss to Novak Djokovic, requiring surgery that kept him off the courts for two months. By May, he stunned fans with the announcement that he had withdrawn from the French Open, marking the first time in an astonishing 17 years he would not compete in a Major tournament. When Wimbledon rolled around, fans around the world remained confident that Federer would be on his "A" game for the tournament he won seven times, and for a while, he did not disappoint. After a thrilling quarterfinal comeback from a two-set deficit, Federer could not produce the same magic again, falling to Milos Raonic in the semifinals.
The string of bad luck continued when Federer announced via Facebook that his 2016 season was over, and he would be taking the rest of the year to focus on rehabilitating his knee. When Federer missed the French Open this year, his absence was felt and a highly talked about topic, but never felt permanent given that he would be on the courts at Wimbledon only a few weeks later. Now with the 17-time major winner missing out on the remainder of the season--including the Rio Olympics--fans and pros alike are given a glimpse as to what tennis is like without Roger Federer.
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Despite his career longevity and lack of substantial health issues prior to this year, analysts have wondered when the day would come that Federer would retire and walk away from the game for good. Soon to be 35, this setback will certainly fuel discussion that Federer's time left on the professional tour will be limited. However, he assured fans in his Facebook announcement that he is more motivated than ever to return in 2017 healthy and ready to compete. In the meantime, tennis fans around the world will miss his presence, but will be ready to welcome him back with open arms in 2017.
