Roger Federer
Despite not having a happy ending, Roger Federer called his tennis career a “perfect journey”. After losing the doubles match against Frances Tiafoe and Jack Sock, in which he teamed up with his longtime rival Rafal Nadal. Roger Federer, a 20-time Grand Slam winner bids goodbye to his tennis career in an emotional way. The Laver Cup took place in London, In which Europe’s duo lost to Team World 6-4, 6-7 (2/7), and 9-11.
The 41-year-old grand slam champion had undergone knee surgeries and hadn’t competed since the 2021 Wimbledon quarter-finals. Roger announced his retirement on September 16, 2022. Throughout his 24-year playing career and participated in more than 1500 matches.
With British singer Ellie Goulding capping off a memorable night in London, it might have been the music that brought out the emotions. Alternatively, it might have been the memories that these tennis legends have shared in their tennis carrier. Roger broke down in tears alongside his close friend and fierce rival Rafel Nadal. the whole arena was chanting Federer’s name. Nadal hugged and gave him one final round of applause.
Tennis was Federer’s first sport when he was eight years old, and at age fourteen, he won the junior Swiss championship. In 1998, he took home victories at both the Wimbledon Junior Singles Championship and the Miami Orange Bowl Junior Tournament.
The season after, Federer made his Davis Cup debut for Switzerland and became the youngest tennis player to end the year among the top 100 players in the world, heading in at number 64. Federer competed in the 2000 Sydney Olympics and won the bronze medal. Federer only reached one Grand Slam final in 2014 following a season marred by injuries in 2013.
He competed in the Wimbledon and U.S. Open finals of 2015 but lost both matches to Djokovic. He withdrew from the remainder of that tennis season shortly after dropping out of the Wimbledon semifinals in July 2016 due to a lingering knee injury. Federer extended his winning streak, with the sixth Australian Open singles victory of his career.
In addition to 103 titles overall and more than $130 million in prize money, he retires with the men’s record of eight Wimbledon victories, eight titles overall, and a game that is distinguished by a rare elegance and accuracy.