goodbye to a legend
The legendary Swiss player will play his last professional match in the Laver Cup on Friday and hopes to say goodbye in the doubles together with Nadal, his friend and great rival
Sheathed in an elegant jacket, with a calm but light step and always with a smile on his face, Roger Federer appeared this Wednesday around 11 in the morning in London to explain the reasons for his retirement from professional tennis. The occasion was very special. There were nerves even among the journalists. Therefore, when the ATP press officer began with a “First question?” and there was silence in the room for a few seconds, Federer joked: “Well, that’s it.”
The legendary Basel player, who announced his retirement last week after three knee operations and not playing since July 2021, assured that during his rehabilitation there have been many “ups and downs”, which frustrated him a bit, but that coping with it at home, with his wife and four children, made it easier.
“I have been on the circuit for many years. I was afraid to undergo more surgeries, because it could be the end of my career. The process of my withdrawal began a little before the summer, when we increased the level of training and it was complicated. We had to be careful, but at the same time I was getting tired, because I had to put in a lot of effort to believe that I could turn it around. I started to be pessimistic. Also, I underwent a scan and the results were not what I expected. I was like at a crossroads and I had to take a direction. He was not willing to take a path where he risked everything », he acknowledged.
«The hardest moment is realizing that this is over. I ignored it for a while, because I was on vacation. Then at Wimbledon, when I attended Center Court’s centenary, I thought I could really come back the following year. I didn’t know exactly, but I believed it would be possible,” added Federer.
The Swiss said that, when he returned from vacation, he began to plan what the final announcement would be like and that this time was “stressful”, especially to find the right words. “You want to play forever. I love to be on the track, I love to compete against my rivals, I love to travel. I have never felt this was too hard. Winning, learning from defeats, everything was perfect. I love my career from every angle. The positive thing is that I know that it is something that everyone has to go through. We all have to give up tennis. It’s been a great journey that I’m very grateful for.”
Federer, in an appearance that lasted more than half an hour, recounted some of the best moments of his career, such as the victory at Roland Garros 2009, his first Wimbledon, the victory against Pete Sampras in 2001 and his return to the circuit in 2017. And He also talked about those things that he will miss.
Final point with Nadal
“There are things that you will miss and others that you will not. I love to lace up my sneakers, put the ribbon in my hair and look in the mirror: “Are we ready? Let’s go for it.” But as much as I love it, I also like not having to go through all of it. Having breakfast thinking that there are 15 hours left for an important game. It’s fun, but it’s stressful. I will also miss the little moments, after the matches, when everything is over and you can go to dinner with your friends, with your family and talk about things that are not tennis.
Federer, who will play his last match at the Laver Cup this Friday and hopes to retire in the doubles team with his friend and great rival, Rafa Nadal, explained that he was able to announce his farewell during the US Open, but that he did not feel it was the right thing to do because he was not going to be in the tournament. “He wanted the chance to say goodbye to the fans,” he added.
The Helvetian did not want to give much detail about his future plans, but assured that he plans to spend a lot of time with his family and that he will continue to be linked to tennis. “I want to tell the fans that I am not going to be a ghost. For example, Borg spent 25 years without stepping on Wimbledon after his withdrawal. I am not going to do that. Tennis has given me a lot and I like to see people, so I would like to tell them that I am not going to disappear », he pointed out.
He also leaves tennis with a thorn in his side. «I feel bad for not having played with Carlos Alcaraz. What he has done at the US Open has been fantastic. He will be one of the tennis stars, I have always said that. It was nice to hear his words, we hit a rally once at Wimbledon », said the legendary Swiss player, applauded by the journalists at the end of the press conference.
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