Four months have passed since Roger Federer’s last official match of his career. The Swiss champion decided to put an end to his career in the world of tennis due to his continuous knee problems and play one last tournament in the company of his two historic rivals Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.
The Laver Cup turned out to be the perfect setting to close the curtain and say goodbye to all his followers. Team Europe, for the first time, failed to win the team event dedicated to Rod Laver, but it offered great emotions on and off the track.
The image of Federer holding hands and tearfully with Nadal after the doubles match will forever remain in the history of tennis and sport. Adriano Panatta, a great admirer of Federer, revealed that he follows tennis less frequently since the Swiss left in an exclusive interview with the weekly Chi.
“Now that Federer has abandoned, I follow him much less. The reason? Everything has changed. Now the champions go around with a court of miracles. There is too much stardom, it seems that they do who knows what… After all, they’re just playing with a ball,” Panatta said without mincing words.
“However, when you drop it and it’s all over, you have to be prepared, it’s certainly not a walk in the park. I also had ups and downs. But now I have been reborn. I have my own business, house, friends. I like to travel by bicycle, every day.
I do amazing hikes. And I live very close to Venice and Cortina, where I go often throughout the year.” After reaching the Australian Open semifinals for the 10th time and beating Andrey Rublev in three sets, Djokovic greeted Federer himself in the post-match interview.
“Let’s give a big round of applause for Federer, he deserves it. I’ve had some great battles with Roger over the years. Obviously, tennis misses Roger Federer. I saw him dressed very elegantly at Fashion Week.”
Federer is not a fan of ‘un-retiring’
A comeback from retirement has never been on the cards for Roger Federer.
“I’m not a big comeback fan,” Federer said, as per CNBC. “I’ll never retire and come back. It’s not something for me, squeeze that lemon out and when the last drop is out, I’ll know I’m done,” he explained. “Honestly, this knee situation has been complex, been difficult,” the former Swiss player stated.
“If you would have told me three or four years ago, that 2021-22 you’ll have three knee surgeries and still coming back, I’d have been like, ‘Are you crazy?'”
