At some point the day had to come. Roger Federer, one of the most brilliant players in the history of tennis, announced his professional retirement after a 24-year career in which he captivated with his elegance on and off the court.
His last sonata will be in the Laver Cup, which begins on Friday, September 23, and in which he will be together with the other two tenors with whom he made a symphony for fifteen years: Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
(Also: Nadal on Federer’s retirement: ‘I wish this day hadn’t come’).
The simplest look would say that the Swiss, 41, leaves as a man who spent 237 consecutive weeks as world number one, who won 1,251 of 1,526 games played, who won 20 grand slam titles and placed 103 trophies in his showcase. The fair vision of him is more accurate: the legend that gave another dimension to his sport is fired.
“I was given a gift to play tennis and I have elevated it to a level I could never have imagined and for much longer than I thought was possible”Federer said in his statement.
Throughout the letter, which he also recreated with his voice, the gentleman with the magnificent one-handed backhand, the powerful forehand and absolute neatness, claimed to feel “one of the luckiest people in the world.”
And it is that if something caused his figure it was an unprecedented popular endorsement in tennis.
“Dear Roger, my friend and rival. I wish this day would never come”, Nadal told him.
“Roger was one of my idols and a source of inspiration. I still want to play against you. I wish you the best of luck in your future”dedicated the current number one in the world, the young Carlos Alcaraz.
“He is the champion of champions. He has the most complete game of his generation and has won the hearts of sports fans around the world with his incredible speed on the court and a powerful tennis spirit”, synthesized the legend Billie Jean King.
And so, in the midst of an infinite chain of messages that honor his legacy, the name of the Swiss moves away from the courts and approaches the books. On both ‘surfaces’, a single sensation: history.
(This Friday, 21 years ago: Juan Pablo Montoya and his first victory in F-1: ‘It was a relief more than happiness’).
Mold on the track
Federer’s path in tennis began when he was about six years old. At the time, little Roger, a fan of German Boris Becker, also played football in the lower divisions of FC Basel, in his hometown. However, with a promising success in various local tournaments, the racket won the pulse of the freckled. And in that flirtation of destiny, the junior version of Wimbledon 1998 represented certification.
In that first contest in the ‘Cathedral’, the Swiss, then 16 years old, was crowned champion in both singles and doubles. From there, a reality was established: the grass would be his favorite surface. But to make himself felt in a circuit that kept the Americans Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi fighting, while watching the dawn of the Australian Lleyton Hewitt, a couple of years had to pass since Federer’s entry into professionalism. And above all, a wave of falls, teachings and reformism.
“Roger was emotionally incapable of accepting defeat”Algerian physical trainer Paul Dorochenko, who accompanied Federer from the ages of 17 to 20, told journalist Cristopher Clarey during the process of writing the Swiss biography.
“He threw the matches, broke the rackets and misbehaved,” added Dorochenko in dialogue with La Razón, about that original version of the Swiss that a good professional accompaniment and the entry of adulthood would take away.
The outcome of the process, led mainly by his girlfriend and now wife, Mirka Vavrinec, would be a unique elegance that on and off the slopes carved out its successeither.
The first title entered Roger’s showcase in 2001; It was the extinct Milan Indoor, whose founding version was won by the Swedish Bjorn Borg. However, that same year, so crucial for the world, the fans would witness Federer’s first feat, the victory against Pete Sampras in the round of 16 at Wimbledon. It didn’t matter that he lost in the next round, because the notice had already been given.
From then on, with each passing game, Federer grew. By 2003 came his first professional grand slam title, at Wimbledon, as the manual dictated. The following year, it was time to its consolidation as number one by winning three of the four majors of the season.
What followed, and lasted for the last 19 years, was the golden age of tennis that is slowly coming to an end.
Two other unique profiles were added to the figure of Federer: Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. With them, in the midst of titanic battles, and each one in his kingdom, 282 trophies have been distributed. And 103 are from the Swiss.
(You may be interested in: ‘Anal balls’: strange way in which they would have defeated a chess legend).
The countdown
The moment when the end began to draw near for Federer was in January 2016.
During the semifinal of the Australian Open, against Djokovic, the knee cracked and for the first time he had to really go to the hospital, after a career away from injuries.
Then, against the prognosis of a failed arthroscopy, Federer stringed together three major titles between 2017 and 2018, the two in Australia and one at Wimbledon. But the pains did not stop. In 2020, his menisci demanded a new appointment in the operating room. And in 2021 another relapse led to surgery.
Driven by his instinct, andhe last game was the Wimbledon quarter-final last yearin which he left his set to zero for the first time in the tournament in which he has been the king, with eight titles.
“If it was my last game here? (…) Of course I would like to go back, but at my age you never know what is around the corner”he said then.
Then, in April of this 2022, a candle was lit. “Roger Federer will play the ATP in Basel,” reported the Swiss environment. But now, 39 days before the tournament starts, its founder says goodbye.
On the calendar – Federer counted in his letter – there is one tournament left: the Laver Cup. That will be his last sonata playing in the European team with Nadal Djokovic and Murray, the three with whom he alternated the crown for almost two decades.
That will be the outcome of a story that he began to write, but without them it would not have been the same.
ANDRES FELIPE BALAGUERA SARMIENTO
SPORTS JOURNALIST EL TIEMPO
Networking: @balagueraaa
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