South African Anderson has second knee operation in five months

(Reuters) - South Africa's former world number five Kevin Anderson said on Friday he will be out of action for the foreseeable future after surgery on his right knee to repair a torn meniscus.

Anderson, who missed the second half of the 2019 season to recover from a knee injury which required surgery in September, said he had the procedure in Miami on Wednesday.

"Midway through December last year, during my off-season training, I injured my right knee," Anderson said in a statement on Twitter https://twitter.com/KAndersonATP. "I tried to push through both in training and on the match court, but it didn’t get better.

"I had scans done in Australia and they unfortunately showed that I had suffered a medial meniscus tear. After consulting with medical professionals and my team, we decided that having surgery was the best way forward.

"It's beyond difficult and frustrating to have to deal with this after the setbacks I had last year. But I know it's the right decision for me to get back (to) where I want to, and rest assured I will do everything in my power to get there."

The big-serving 33-year-old has had several injury issues over the years, having had ankle surgery in 2016 while an elbow injury last year forced him to pull out of the claycourt season.

Anderson joins Roger Federer on the sidelines after the Swiss announced on Thursday that he had gone under the knife for a knee issue which will see him miss the French Open.

(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)