For the past 13 years, Roger Federer has been asked about retirement.
He beat Stan Wawrinka at theRoland Garros. He is the sixth man in tennis history to complete a career sweep of Grand Slam events.
If that milestone had been reached, it would have made people think that they were safe. He was about to become a father for the first time after marrying. He had to accomplish more.
He moved one ahead of Pete Sampras' record of 14 Slams when he won Wimbledon. The slogan on his shirt was "There is no finish line". It's far from finished.
He's added five more Slams to his collection. His total of eight men's singles titles from Wimbledon is one of the records he has.
His body is no longer responding to his expectations at 41 years old. He has finished the race.
He said in his retirement statement that he knows his body's capacities and limits. Over the course of two decades, I have played more than 1,500 games. When it's time to end my competitive career, tennis has treated me more generously than I ever imagined.
Without the joy of seeing him at home on Centre Court at Wimbledon, his legacy is much more than the 20 Slams he won. A bit empty.
The transformation of a hot-headed teenager into a player who has made history is something we have seen. He has a large fan base all over the world. He is a philanthropist and the face of Switzerland's tourism. He has a wife and four children. His name is superfluous to many people.
To understand Roger is to understand sports. The strategy of fire and ice was talked about by him. His career has been a tale of mind and body working together, to create an aesthetically delightful state of tennis, and also a method which has led to incredible success.
He grew up near the France-Germany border and there were key moments of serendipity throughout his career. Posters of Michael Jordan and Shaquille O' Neal were on the wall. He was a capable soccer player as well as a good basketball player. There was something about the solitary nature of tennis that made him like it.
Winning Junior Wimbledon in 1998 propelled him into tennis' consciousness, but back then he had a reputation of losing his cool and berate himself and others as things didn't go to plan.
He was a big fan of Boris Becker. He tried to duplicate their shot selection, but it didn't work out. He lost himself in the moment and later regretted his decisions.
At the national tennis center in Ecublens, he used to suffer with homesickness. He cried for half an hour after the losses. He didn't have anyone to talk to. He was encouraged by his father to keep going. He wanted to make enough money in tournaments to cover his own travel, so he gave him the goal of being a top 100 player.
The formative moments for the young tennis player were those. The teenager was deemed to have a bad backhand and tendency to capitulate if a match lasted over two hours. He was afraid of what the media would say about him.
A eureka moment occurred after a disappointing defeat at the Hamburger Masters in 2001. He was defeated by Franco Squillari in the opening round.
He said in a post match interview that he kept himself calm because his behavior was so bad. I think people thought I was a noncompetitive guy because I was too calm. I didn't know how to balance the anger and calmness of the mind.
At Wimbledon, he had another breakthrough moment. His first match on Centre Court was against Sampras. He was knocked out in the next round by Tim Henman due to his lack of consistency.
I would rather play on the bigger courts than on the smaller ones, that's why I want to be back on that court one day. It started to make sense after that. Why are you working out?" Why are you running? There is a tournament. Why do you want to sleep well? Every single detail is important to us. The difference is made by it.
His mentor and former coach Peter Carter died in a car crash in August 2002. After that point, he shifted his mentality to one who was better at managing his emotions. "I guess he didn't want me to be a wasted talent, so I guess it was a wake up call for me when he passed away, and I really started to train hard."
He worked on his strength and fitness with his coach and spoke to a sports psychologist. The shots that he used to emulate were finding the right places. The harmony between mind and body allowed him to realize his potential and become a multiple grand slam winner.
He defeated Mark Philippoussis in the Wimbledon final in 2003 to win his 20th victory. After Philippsoussis hit a backhand into the net on the match point, he fell to the Centre Court turf in tears.
After his 2001 defeat, he asked himself if he had missed his chance. He said he would learn from the experience. He said that it showed him how important a positive mindset was.
There is a belief that the greatest spell was between 2004 and 2010 Between February 2004 and August 2008 he was the world's top ranked man. He made 18 Grand Slam finals in a row. Twelve of them were won by him.
It was the summer of 2009 that made a huge difference in the path of the tennis player.
The fourth round of the tournament took place. He was down a break point in the second set and had to serve for the match. The backhand was planted on to the side of the tennis player.
The only way he can do that is by shifting his entire body in the air to create a meter of space for his forehand. The winner shifted the game to deuce after the ball kissed the chalk. He would serve out for a five-set victory. He became the first person to win the title three times.
It's still the greatest win of his career, even though it's been five years. He was the sixth male to win all four Slams and the first to do it in a row.
He said after the match that it was his best victory. He won Wimbledon six times. He has the net from the final against Roddick.
It wasn't good enough for me to lose semifinals and finals. It was difficult to say good things about other players and bad things about yourself after five years of being praised. People have been proved wrong by me.
Mirka gave birth to their first set of twins in July of 2009.
His life was different.
The incredible feat of never retiring from a tour match injured is still being held by Federer. He was able to play through the pain.
In his career, he has dealt with setbacks and hurdles. As challenges arise, he has adjusted his game. He learned a new backhand to deal with Nadal.
He didn't have surgery until after he injured his knee. He was running a bath for his girls. His left knee popped as he moved the weight from one leg to another.
As he saw his knee was bandaged up, he got scared.
After recovering, Grand Slam No. 18 defeated Nadal in the final of the Australian Open. It was the first time a men's player had won 18 in a row, and for him it was all the more impressive because it was just a year after he contemplated suicide.
He returned to the top of the world in February of last year. He was the oldest male to ever top the rankings.
The once-predictable narrative around the man was starting to fade. He had two championship points on his serve in the Wimbledon final, but lost in five sets.
He was the only one to reach the US Open quarterfinals. After he was knocked out in the semifinals of the Australian Open in 2020, he said he would need more knee surgery.
He had two operations that year, one on the part of the knee that cushions the impact between the legs, and another on the other.
He talked about retirement in different ways. He began to talk about how he and Mirka only plan 18 months ahead at a time.
His muscles were always there when he took a break after Wimbledon in 2016 according to his fitness trainer. We had a break where the muscles deteriorated a lot. After the first operation in February 2020, we said we could gradually start working again. The muscles of his body were not the same as before. His muscles need more time to recover.
He only managed 14 matches in the next year. After missing the Australian Open, he pulled out of the French Open to protect his knee. He was knocked out of Wimbledon in the quarterfinals by Hurkacz. He lost a set for the first time in his career at Wimbledon. He gave each stand a long wave as he walked off Centre Court. Some were wondering if it was his last one.
He will miss the rest of the season to have another surgery on his knee. He said he would be out of the game for a long time. He wanted to have hope when he came back to the sport.
Radio silence followed.
The longer the gap in photos of him holding a racket, the more worried he is.
The Tribune de Geneve published an interview with the tennis player. He said that he wanted to come back one more time for his final match. Even if the end is near, he wants to play more big matches. It will be difficult, but I want to try.
If I don't play another Grand Slam final, my life won't fall apart. It would be the ultimate dream to return to that place. I want to see what I can do when I'm done playing tennis. I would love to say farewell on a tennis court. I give everything in my rehabilitation.
He wanted to play again in the summer of 2022.
He was supposed to be a part of a team that would represent his return to the game. Reports said he had fallen behind in his rehabilitation. The tournament would be his final one.
Centre Court at Wimbledon turned 100 years old on July 3. Past greats were invited back to take part, while current players interrupted their play to make an appearance. The packed crowd welcomed players such as John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg with open arms.
It wasn't as good as the applause that greeted him.
He was torn between going to the celebration and his love for the place. He was in his suit, his rivals were in their gear. He didn't say why he wasn't going. Maybe it was because he wanted to return to Centre Court as a player, or maybe it was because he already had one foot out the door.
I've played a lot of games on this court. He said it felt awkward to be in a different role. It's great to be a part of this group. The court gave me my biggest victories and losses.
The admiration between him and his competitors was mutual. In the last 72 Grand Slam men's singles titles, the Big Three have won 65 of them.
Nadal was asked how he has pushed his career. "We talked about that a lot," Nadal said. To be in the middle of these three players that achieved that much in the same era is something that is going to be hard to see again.
It is done with great reverence whenever the Serbian talks about the Swiss tennis player. "Obviously Roger is an icon of our sport and people around the world love him, that's what I told you back in 2021." They like to see him play. He is very important for our sport. He talked about the importance of having a chance to say goodbye to the sport.
The true nature of the rivalry between the two men was explained by the Serbian at Wimbledon in 2022. Nothing but admiration for these guys. Both of them have influenced my development as a tennis player a lot.
It was against Roger that the most important match I have played in Wimbledon. Similar to Nadal, it's pretty much the same thing. You feel like you're in a match when you step on the court with Roger. There's a lot more to it than just the match. It's an ultimate challenge to play tennis on grass and clay. Two guys have excelled on those surfaces.
Some of the most amazing tennis matches have been shared by the trio. Ask any tennis fan what their favorite match in history is and the majority will mention one involving one of that trio or a match featuring both. The epic five-set match that Nadal and Federer played in the Wimbledon final in 2008 is widely considered to be one of the most perfect matches of all time.
The army of fans of the tennis player have their own favorites. The 2001 victory over Sampras was one of the early important wins. He became the dominant force in tennis after his win over Agassi in the Tennis Masters Cup final. He won the Wimbledon title in 2007, his fifth on the bounce, and then he beat Andy Roddick in the Wimbledon final. He played a part in Switzerland's victory in the Davis Cup, where he defeated Richard Gasquet in the final.
He came back from two sets down to beat Marin Cilic in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in 2016 and we have seen the fight from him in the last few years. There were two Australian Open wins over Nadal and Cilic after they were injured. There was a loss in the Wimbledon final to Serbia's Djoker.
There could be many other names. His legacy only includes them.
The face of Switzerland tourism is Federer. The ads he shot with Anne and Robert have gone crazy. It's just a small part of what he has been through. The "Federer Express" tram was unveiled in October of 2021, the same month as the 15th anniversary of when he won the Swiss Open. He has streets named after him.
Switzerland will always be a part of the country. In August, Forbes named him the highest-paid tennis player in the world for the past year, having brought in an estimated $90 million. His stake in the company behind the running shoe On is part of the reason for that.
He has built a foundation that helps children living in poverty, as well as school programs in South Africa and Switzerland. Over the past 18 years, the foundation has invested over 50 million dollars in the region.
He will be busy in retirement, but he will also be busy with his family. His twin girls Myla and Charlene are 13 years old. He told Caminada Magazin that he wanted to find the right balance between his tennis and the needs of the children. One can feel the wheel turning faster and faster as they get older. I'm in the middle of my life and have enough energy and experience to get things done.
He will end his tennis career first. He announced on Thursday that he would retire at the end of 13 years. He read the statement out on his social media in less than a minute. Those words went around the world.
Past and current players paid tribute to the announcement. There were people from greats of the game who called him the champion. Carlos Alcaraz said thatRoger has been one of his idols.
There was also Nadal. He wrote a letter to Roger on the social networking site. I wish it wouldn't happen. I think it's a sad day for sports around the world. It has been a pleasure but also an honor to share all these years with you, living so many amazing moments on and off the court.
He won't be retiring on the grass of Wimbledon, but he will be in London next week. Even when his knee gave him no other choice, he did it in his own way.
The last 24 years on tour have been an incredible adventure. It seems as if I have already lived a full lifetime because of the deep and magical nature of it.
I have laughed, cried, and felt pain, but most of all I have felt alive.
I used to be a ball kid in my hometown. I used to enjoy watching the players play. I started to dream that they were giants. I started to believe in myself after my dreams. I was on my way to the most amazing journey after some success.
I would like to thank everyone who helped make the dreams of a young Swiss ball kid come true. I love you and will never leave you.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
