Current tennis world No. 3 Roger Federer of Switzerland had a successful arthroscopic knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus on Wednesday and will be missing tournaments in Rotterdam and Dubai this month.

According to ESPN, the former world No.1 had the surgery in Switzerland. The statement that Federer posted did not identify which of his knees is injured. However  it stated that the injury occurred last Friday, one day after his Australian Open semifinal defeat to the current world No. 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia.

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"My doctors have (assured) me that the surgery was a success and with proper rehabilitation, I will be able to return to the Tour soon," the Swiss tennis superstar said in the statement.

After rehabilitation and recovery from the surgery, the 34-year-old professional tennis player is expected to play in the Indian Wells, California, starting March 7.

The 2008 Summer Olympic Games gold medalist in doubles apologized for having to skip the two tennis tournaments. He has won seven times at Dubai Open and twice at Rotterdam.

"I apologize to my friends in Rotterdam and Dubai, as I was very much looking forward to playing those events," Federer said on his Facebook page,

Federer started tennis at the early age of eight and he turned professional at 17 years old. He plays right handed and is currently being coached by Swiss Severin Luthi and Swedish Stefan Edberg.

Federer held the No. 1 spot for 302 weeks. He has won a total of seventeen grand slam titles throughout his tennis career. He has claimed four Australian Open titles in 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2010. He bagged one French Open crown on 2009.

Federer also ruled in seven Wimbledon tournaments in the years 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2012.He also captured five consecutive US Open titles from year 2004 to 2008.

TagsRoger Federer, International Tennis Federation, australian open