Swiss star also won’t compete in U.S. Open
Roger Federer pulled out of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics and will miss the rest of the season, including the U.S. Open, because he needs “more extensive rehabilitation” to prolong his career after knee surgery earlier this year. NOTES
“The doctors advised that if I want to play on the ATP World Tour injury free for another few years, as I intend to do, I must give both my knee and body the proper time to fully recover,” Federer wrote on his Facebook page Tuesday.
The owner of a record 17 Grand Slams titles turns 35 on Aug. 8, so the reference to “another few years” might give his fans increased hope of seeing Federer continue to wield a racket for quite some time.
Federer is the first member of tennis’ so-called “Big 4” — a group that also includes No. 1-ranked Novak Djokovic, 14-time major champion Rafael Nadal and 2012 gold medalist Andy Murray — to pull out of the Rio Games, where that sport’s competition starts on Aug. 6, a day after the opening ceremony.
Federer often has spoken about how much the Olympics mean to him, in part because he met his wife, Mirka, when both were athletes at the 2000 Sydney Games. Federer won a silver medal in singles for Switzerland four years ago in London, and he teamed up with Stan Wawrinka to win a gold medal in doubles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
In Brazil, Federer was expected to play singles, doubles with Wawrinka, andmixeddoubleswithMartinaHingis.
■ RUSSIAN DOPING — At least 105 athletes from the 387-strong Russian team announced last week have been barred from the games in connection with the country’s doping scandal.
International federations in canoeing, sailing and modern pentathlon ruled out eight on Tuesday, including an Olympic gold medalist. Rowing added 19 more athletes to three that had previously been announced. Swimming has also barred some athletes. Some appeals are likely.
The vast majority of the Russian athletes who miss out are in track and field, where 67 athletes were ruled out when a ban on the Russian team was upheld at the Court of Arbitration for Sport last week.
Meanwhile, the World Anti-Doping Agency has warned there is insufficient drug testing in a number of ex-Soviet countries with some of the world’s worst doping records.
Asked about countries including Ukraine, Belarus and the Central Asian states, WADA spokeswoman Maggie Durand told The Associated Press by email that “there is a need to increase testing capacity in all of these regions and we are working with these countries to ensure more testing is occurring.”
■ MEN’S BASKETBALL — New Golden State Warriors acquisition Kevin Durant scored all 13 of his points during a 13½-minute span to help lead the U.S. men past China 107-57 at Oracle Arena, his new NBA home in Oakland, California.
It was the Americans’ third dominant victory in as many exhibition games.
Before joining Golden State, Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder blew a 3-1 lead to the Warriors in the Western Conference finals.
Chants of “M-V-P! M-V-P!” greeted Durant in the building where Stephen Curry has won the past two NBA MVPs, becoming this first unanimous winner last season.
■ TRACK AND FIELD — Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt isn’t lacking for bravado heading into the games. It’s what is expected from the world’s fastest man and greatest showman.
“I know the sport needs me to win —and come out on top,” said Bolt, a two-time gold medalist in the 100, 200 and 4x100-meter relay.
As for his pursuit of a triple Olympic triple next month, Bolt adamantly responded: “I’m not going to lose one of the golds, for sure.”
His preparations for Rio have been far from smooth, with a hamstring injury forcing him out of the Jamaican trials.
■ MEN’S SOCCER — Brazil striker Neymar has vowed to keep on partying after being asked if his off the field activities could harm the country’s chances of winning their first Olympic soccer title.
The Barcelona player was not released by his club to play in June’s Copa America but went to the U.S. to support his teammates and was pictured hanging out with Hollywood celebrities, including pop singer Justin Bieber.
He will be back to lead the Olympic side against South Africa, Iraq and Denmark in the group stage, which starts Aug. 4, but the outstanding Brazilian player of his generation promised he would remain his own man.