Roger Federer expects to be out through Wimbledon

Associated PressNov 17, 2021, 9:40 AM EST

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GENEVA — Roger Federer does not expect to return from his latest knee surgery in time for next year’s tournament at Wimbledon.

The 40-year-old tennis great, who has won a record eight titles at the All England Club, said in an interview published Wednesday in Switzerland that it wouldn’t make a big difference to him if he was to return in 2022 or 2023.

“The truth is that I’d be incredibly surprised to play Wimbledon,” Federer told the Tribune de Genève daily. ”At 40 or 41 years old, it’s the same.”

Federer did say that he still wants to play in one more Grand Slam final.

“I believe in this kind of miracle,” said Federer, who has played in 31 major finals and won 20 of them. “In sport, miracles exist.”

Federer said the task of making a comeback would be clear only after several more months of steady rehabilitation from this latest operation in August.

Wimbledon starts on June 27, and Federer has not played on tour since a straight-set loss in the quarterfinals at the All England Club in July. Within a few weeks of that match, he underwent his third knee surgery in 18 months.

Federer has won 20 Grand Slam singles titles, tied with Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal for the most ever for a man.

“Let’s be clear, my life is not going to fall apart if I don’t play another Grand Slam final,” he said. “But that would be ultimate dream to get back there.

“I want to see one last time what I’m capable of as a professional tennis player.”

Federer explained the motivation for his latest surgery was to protect his future quality of life rather than tennis.

“I had this operation to be able to ski with my children, play football or tennis with my friends in the decades to come,” he said.

Federer said there was never a possibility of playing at the Australian Open in January in the first Grand Slam tournament of the season.

“And that’s no surprise,” Federer said. “We knew before the operation that this type would require a months-long break.”

Federer said he gave the interview to send a message to his fans who “deserve to understand my mood and my hopes.”

“They deserve better than the image left during the grass-court season this year,” said the Swiss great, whose last match ended in a 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-0 loss to Hubert Hurkacz on the Centre Court.

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2023 French Open men’s singles draw

By OlympicTalkJun 7, 2023, 5:18 PM EDT

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The French Open men’s singles draw is missing injured 14-time champion Rafael Nadal for the first time since 2004, leaving the Coupe des Mousquetaires ripe for the taking.

The tournament airs live on NBC Sports, Peacock and Tennis Channel through championship points in Paris.

Novak Djokovic is not only bidding for a third crown at Roland Garros, but also to lift a 23rd Grand Slam singles trophy to break his tie with Nadal for the most in men’s history.

FRENCH OPEN: Broadcast Schedule | Women’s Draw

But the No. 1 seed is Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, who won last year’s U.S. Open to become, at 19, the youngest man to win a major since Nadal’s first French Open title in 2005.

Now Alcaraz looks to become the second-youngest man to win at Roland Garros since 1989, after Nadal of course.

Alcaraz missed the Australian Open in January due to a right leg injury, but since went 30-3 with four titles. Notably, he has not faced Djokovic this year. They meet in Friday’s semifinals.

Russian Daniil Medvedev, the No. 2 seed, was upset in the first round by 172nd-ranked Brazilian qualifier Thiago Seyboth Wild. It marked the first time a men’s top-two seed lost in the first round of any major since 2003 Wimbledon (Ivo Karlovic d. Lleyton Hewitt).

All of the American men lost before the fourth round. The last U.S. man to make the French Open quarterfinals was Andre Agassi in 2003.

MORE: All you need to know for 2023 French Open

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2023 French Open Men’s Singles Draw

IOC board recommends withdrawing International Boxing Association’s recognition

Associated PressJun 7, 2023, 2:30 PM EDT

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The IOC finally ran out of patience with the International Boxing Federation on Wednesday and set a date to terminate its Olympic status this month.

While boxing will still be on the program at the 2024 Paris Games, the International Olympic Committee said its executive board has asked the full membership to withdraw its recognition of the IBA at a special meeting on June 22.

IOC members rarely vote against recommendations from their 15-member board and the IBA’s ouster is likely a formality.

The IOC had already suspended the IBA’s recognition in 2019 over long-standing financial, sports integrity and governance issues. The Olympic body oversaw the boxing competitions itself at the Tokyo Olympics held in 2021 and will do so again for Paris.

An IOC statement said the boxing body “has failed to fulfil the conditions set by the IOC … for lifting the suspension of the IBA’s recognition.”

The IBA criticized what it called a “truly abhorrent and purely political” decision by the IOC and warned of “retaliatory measures.”

“Now, we are left with no chance but to demand a fair assessment from a competent court,” the boxing body’s Russian president Umar Kremlev said in a statement.

The IOC-IBA standoff has also put boxing’s place at the 2028 Los Angeles Games at risk, though that should now be resolved.

The IOC previously stressed it has no problem with the sport or its athletes — just the IBA and its current president Kremlev, plus financial dependence on Russian state energy firm Gazprom.

In a 24-page report on IBA issues published Wednesday, the IOC concluded “the accumulation of all of these points, and the constant lack of drastic evolution throughout the many years, creates a situation of no-return.”

Olympic boxing’s reputation has been in question for decades. Tensions heightened after boxing officials worldwide ousted long-time IOC member C.K. Wu as their president in 2017 when the organization was known by its French acronym AIBA.

“From a disreputable organization named AIBA governed by someone from the IOC’s upper echelon, we committed to and executed a change in the toxic and corrupt culture that was allowed to fester under the IOC for far too long,” Kremlev said Wednesday in a statement.

National federations then defied IOC warnings in 2018 by electing as their president Gafur Rakhimov, a businessman from Uzbekistan with alleged ties to organized crime and heroin trafficking.

Kremlev’s election to replace Rakhimov in 2020 followed another round of IOC warnings that went unheeded.

Amid the IBA turmoil, a rival organization called World Boxing has attracted initial support from officials in the United States, Switzerland and Britain.

The IBA can still continue to organize its own events and held the men’s world championships last month in the Uzbek capital Tashkent.

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2023 French Open Men’s Singles Draw

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