Roger Federer communicated his retirement from professional sport via social networks. His body no longer cooperates. His thanks go to everyone who accompanied him on his way from ball boy to tennis pro.
“Sometimes it feels like 24 hours, sometimes like a whole life”: Roger Federer on his tennis career.
Roger Federer took 4 minutes and 34 seconds to communicate the decision that the tennis world expected, but which will still shake them in the long term. In a message that he published on his Instagram and Twitter channels on Thursday afternoon, he announced his retirement from professional sport after more than 1,500 matches played and more than 24 years.
To my tennis family and beyond,
with love
Roger pic.twitter.com/1UISwK1NIN— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) September 15, 2022
The last three years have been peppered with challenges, in the form of injuries and operations, the 41-year-old explains in English. He fought hard to get back into competitive shape. But the signals from his body have been clear lately. He must now realize that it is time to end his competitive career. The Laver Cup in London will be his last ATP event. But he will remain loyal to tennis in the future, outside of Grand Slams and the tour.
The decision was “bittersweet,” he continues, but he is very grateful: “Tennis was more generous to me than I ever dreamed of.” The people he got to know along the way are the greatest gift, “my friends, competitors and above all the fans who breathe life into the sport”.
Thanks to the family
Federer uses the second part of the message to say thank you; first his wife Mirka. She watched countless matches – some of them heavily pregnant – and over the past 20 years made sure that Federer didn’t lose his silly side. Next, he thanks his four children, Charlene, Myla, Lenny, and Leo, as well as his parents and sister. “Seeing my family cheering me on from the stands is a feeling I will cherish forever.”
Mirka Federer and her four children (front row) watch Papa Roger at the Wimbledon tournament in 2019.
He also finds words of thanks for his former coaches, who always steered him in the right direction, the Swiss Tennis Association, which gave him the ideal start, his team, the sponsors and tournament organizers and his competitors. He has played countless epic matches with them that he will never forget. “We pushed each other and took tennis to a new level.”
The Ball Boy’s Dream
Special thanks also go to his “incredible fans”: “Without you, these successes would have felt lonely instead of full of energy and joy.” The last 24 years have been an incredible adventure. “Sometimes it feels like 24 hours, sometimes like a lifetime.” He laughed and cried, felt joy and pain, “I felt alive”.
Finally, the Basel native looks back on the beginnings, on his time as a ball boy. The tennis players seemed to him “like giants” back then. His dream of becoming a tennis player came about during this time. It was his motivation to work hard and believe in himself before the first successes came. “Thank you to everyone around the world who helped make this ball boy’s dream come true.”
The very last words he addressed to tennis itself show that Roger Federer’s resignation is not a final farewell to the world of tennis: “I love you and will never leave you.”