Getty Images
Yet one other tennis legend is looking it a profession. Just weeks after Serena Williams performed what’s believed to be her last skilled event, Roger Federer introduced Thursday that he’s retiring from the game. The Swiss tennis legend is without doubt one of the most achieved tennis gamers not solely of his technology, however within the historical past of the game. He received 20 Grand Slam singles titles, third to Rafael Nadal (22) and Novak Djokovic (21) — each of whom are nonetheless lively.
In an announcement on his Twitter account, Federer wrote the Laver Cup in London, which will likely be performed from Sept. 23-25, would be the final skilled event he participates in. The 41-year-old tennis nice cited harm points as one of many most important causes he’ll cease enjoying.
“As lots of you understand, the previous three years have offered me with challenges within the type of accidents and surgical procedures,” he wrote. “I’ve labored laborious to return to full aggressive kind. But I additionally know my physique’s capacities and limits, and it is message to me recently has been clear… Tennis has handled me extra generously than I ever would have dreamt, and now I have to acknowledge when it’s time to finish my aggressive profession.”
Federer added that whereas the Laver Cup will likely be his last occasion on the ATP tour, he “will play extra tennis sooner or later,” however not “in Grand Slams or on the tour.”
Federer was ranked world No. 1 for 310 weeks in his profession, and that features at one level for a document 237 consecutive weeks. He was solely 21 when he received his first main singles Grand Slam at Wimbledon in 2003. He went on to win that event seven extra occasions, together with capturing it 5 occasions in a row from 2003-2007.
But it wasn’t simply Wimbledon that Federer dominated. He additionally received the US Open 5 occasions in a row from 2004 to 2008, six Australian Opens and one French Open.
“This is a bittersweet determination, as a result of I’ll miss every thing the tour has given me,” Federer wrote. “But on the identical time, there’s a lot to have fun. I think about myself one of the crucial lucky folks on Earth. I used to be given a particular expertise to play tennis, and I did it at a stage that I by no means imagined, for for much longer than I ever thought potential.”
