Last Friday, Roger Federer officially retired from tennis. The Swiss played his last doubles match in the Laver Cup alongside his great friend and now former rival Rafael Nadal, losing in the supertiebreak to Americans Frances Tiafoe and Jack Sock.
Although it was a painful decision, the former world number 1 had no other choice. At the beginning of the summer, the genius from Basel realized that his knee was not responding well to the effort and that there was no point in continuing to push.
He also underwent an MRI which confirmed his fears. There was no further progress. Within a few days, the 20-time Slam champion realized that he was finished and began to think about how to announce it. His letter posted on Instagram triggered endless reactions from all corners of the planet, testifying to the Maestro’s enormous impact on the sport in general.
Roger had attempted a timid comeback in 2021, playing just 13 games (with a record of nine wins and four losses). Interviewed by ‘RMC Sport’ during the Laver Cup, Federer recalled his last appearance at Roland Garros.
King Roger played his last Roland Garros last year, reaching the round of 16. After beating Dominik Koepfer in four sets on June 5, 2021, Federer withdrew from the tournament on the eve of his match against Matteo Berrettini.
“My last match in Paris was not memorable as there was no one in the stands due to curfew. I knew it could be my last game at Roland Garros and I hoped I wouldn’t play at night, but it couldn’t be any other way.
On the one hand, I was happy to be able to play despite the pandemic, but it was a !”# without the fans”, confesses the Maestro.
Lapentti comments on King Roger
Roger Federer’s game was among the most difficult to break as he barely had any weaknesses in his tennis arsenal, former World No.
6 Nicolas Lapentti opined. “He was that kind of a player where you would play a good shot and a better shot would come back. It was very difficult to find a weak spot,” Nicolas Lapentti said on a recent episode of The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast.
“Roger was awesome in all aspects,” Lapentti further said. “He was great on the court, he was great off the court, he was unbelievable in the locker room, he used to hang out and be funny and do jokes. He loved soccer so we talked about soccer.
He was all class. Of course, what he did to the tennis world was so amazing. I think no one will ever match what he did,” he expressed.
