Federer to miss French Open, other events after knee surgery

Roger Federer will miss the French Open and no fewer than three other tournaments while he is sidelined for at least four months after having arthroscopic surgery on his right knee.

It's only the second operation for the 38-year-old Federer — the other was on his left knee in 2016 — and one that is certain to raise questions about his future in tennis.

He posted on social media Thursday that his knee had been an issue "for a little while."

"I hoped it would go away," he said.

The man who has spent more weeks ranked No. 1 than any other and owns a men's-record 20 Grand Slam titles said the operation was in his home country of Switzerland on Wednesday. He currently is ranked No. 3 behind rivals Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.

"After the procedure, the doctors confirmed that it was the right thing to have done and are very confident of a full recovery," Federer wrote.

He ended up taking off the last six months of the season after his left knee surgery four years ago. When he returned, he won the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2017, then the Australian Open again in 2018, his most recent major championship.

Last month in Melbourne, Federer was hampered by what he said was a groin muscle problem.

He needed to erase seven match points to get past Tennys Sandgren in the quarterfinals, then was clearly not quite himself during a straight-set loss to Djokovic in the semifinals.

Now Federer, who for years has faced questions about how much longer he'll compete, will miss upcoming hard-court tournaments in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Indian Wells, California; and Miami, along with what was supposed to be a rescheduled exhibition match in Bogota, Colombia, that was canceled in November because of rioting there.

He also is going to sit out Roland Garros, the next Grand Slam tournament, which begins May 24. That means this will be the fourth time in the past five years that Federer is absent from the clay-court major that he won in 2009 to complete a career Grand Slam.

The French Open is the lone major title he's won just once; in fact, it is the only one he has not won at least five times.

Federer closed Thursday's message by saying: "see you on the grass!"

That is the surface he's excelled on the most, including a record eight championships at Wimbledon, where he was the runner-up on four occasions. That includes in 2019, when he held two championship points in the final against Djokovic before losing a fifth-set tiebreaker.

Play begins at the All England Club on June 29. Federer usually warms up for Wimbledon at the grass-court tournament in Halle, Germany, which starts June 15. He has won 10 titles at Halle.

Halep rallies to set up Dubai semifinal against Brady

Top-seeded Simona Halep came from a set down for the second day in a row to beat Aryna Sabalenka 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 Thursday and reach the semifinals at the Dubai Championships.

Halep had to save a match point against Ons Jabeur on Wednesday and again found herself in trouble against the hard-hitting Sabalenka. But she broke for a 3-1 lead in both the second and third sets to earn her third win in four career meetings with the Belarusian.

"It's always tough to play against her because she's very strong and hits the ball really, really hard," Halep said. "I think I played quicker in the second set and third set. She didn't have time to stay and to hit the ball. So I think that was the key of the match."

Halep will next face Amerian qualifier Jennifer Brady, who upset former No. 1 Garbine

Muguruza 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4 to reach her third career WTA semifinal.

Brady wasted a 5-2 lead in the first set, but won the last four games of the second and broke again in the final game of the decider.

In the other semifinal, Elena Rybakina will play Petra Martic.

Rybakina beat second-seeded Karolina Pliskova 7-6 (1), 6-3, while the eighth-seeded Martic reached her first semifinal in five months by ousting Anett Kontaveit 7-6 (4), 6-1.

Virus causes tennis tournament in China to be canceled

A tennis tournament scheduled for next month in China was canceled by the women's professional tour because of concerns over a deadly viral outbreak.

The WTA announced Thursday that it was calling off the Xi'an Open "due to the coronavirus outbreak."

The hard-court event was supposed to be held April 13-19, with 32 singles players and 16 doubles teams. There would have been $115,000 in prize money at stake.

A statement issued by the WTA said the tour is "watching the situation closely" and will "continue to communicate with medical experts as information evolves on this virus."

The viral outbreak has infected more than 75,000 people around the world, most in

China, where about 2,100 deaths have been reported.

Numerous sporting events in China have been canceled, postponed or moved. The country forfeited its Davis Cup matches at Romania scheduled for March 6-7 because its men's tennis team won't travel to the competition.

Medvedev and Shapovalov through to Open 13 quarterfinals

Top-seeded Daniil Medvedev overcame a poor start to beat Jannik Sinner 1-6, 6-1, 6-2 and reach the Open 13 quarterfinals on Thursday.

The U.S. Open runner-up, who lost in the fourth round of the Australian Open last month, dropped his serve twice but broke the 18-year-old Italian's serve four times at the indoor tournament in Marseille.

The fifth-ranked Medvedev, who had seven aces, next faces French veteran Gilles Simon — who won their two previous meetings. Simon advanced with a 7-6 (6), 6-4 win against Aljaž Bedene.

Also Thursday, fourth-seeded Denis Shapovalov hit 17 aces in a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 win against hardhitting Croat Marin Čilić. The 20-year-old Canadian next plays Alexander Bublik.

In later matches, 19-year-old Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime — seeded seventh — was facing Frenchman Pierre Hugues-Herbert. No. 3 David Goffin played qualifier Egor Gerasimov.