Roger Federer unlikely to play at Australian Open?

It was learned over the summer that tennis living legend Roger Federer required a third surgery on his knee, would miss the U.S. Open and would ultimately be sidelined for "many months." 

Per Reuters (h/t ESPN), coach Ivan Ljubicic has said Federer is unlikely to play in the Australian Open in January as he works to return from this latest setback. 

"I think there are very few chances, he is still recovering and knowing him, he wants to be sure he can play to win the tournament and be at 100%," Ljubicic explained during comments made to Stats Perform. 

"So I think the Australian Open is not a real possibility right now. But he will go step by step because he is 40 years old now and he needs to be patient. He cannot recover as quickly as he used to."

Federer celebrated his 40th birthday in August and remains level with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic for the men's record with 20 Grand Slam titles. 

Nadal is planning on competing at the Australian Open, but Djokovic's status for that tournament is unclear. Djokovic hasn't confirmed if he's vaccinated against COVID-19, and unvaccinated players will be made to complete a 14-day quarantine inside a hotel room if they wish to play in Australia. 

Victoria's Premier Dan Andrews had said unvaccinated individuals will not be able to enter the country even for the Australian Open, but Tennis Australia is working on negotiations with the government regarding the tournament.