FEDERATE. Engaged in the Laver Cup from Friday, September 23, Roger Federer will not play singles matches.
With his retirement announced, eyes are on Roger Federer’s latest tournament. But will he really fight it? The Swiss, injured for several months in the knee, has doubts about his participation and has already announced that he will not play the singles, but probably the doubles, with Rafael Nadal? “No, I won’t play singles, it’s impossible, he told Le Temps newspaper. That’s also why I gave up going to the Swiss Indoors in Basel. I think I’ll play the doubles on Friday night. I think I manage to play at an acceptable level but it’s been a long time since I played a real match, it’s going to play hard and the pressure will be high. But if I don’t play no, it won’t be a problem. The main thing is that I can thank the fans and that they can see me. I have always been accessible, present, and I want to be that until the end. Maybe that I can play doubles with Rafa (Nadal), that would be an absolute dream.”
From angry to a true artist on the courts, Roger Federer marked several generations with his talent, his matches and his trophies. How not to talk about his career and Wimbledon. If he is at home on a court, it is in London with 8 Grand Slams in total. Several dates are to be remembered. In 2001, the young Swiss took over from a certain Pete Sampras, who had not lost at Wimbledon since 1996 before meeting this 19-year-old. In 2008, the anthology final against Rafael Nadal, interrupted three times by the rain before the Spaniard scored the match point to win 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7 , 9-7 after 4:48 of fighting.
The year 2009 is also a year of consecration for the Swiss. After three failures in the final against Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer finally won Roland-Garros, the only Grand Slam he lacked, against the Swede Robin Soderling. In the same year, the Swiss won a new anthology final at Wimbledon against the American Andy Roddick 5-7, 7-6, 7-6, 3-6, 16-14. In 2012, the Swiss, on the other hand, missed a very big meeting with his defeat in the final against Andy Murray after having made another historic match against the Argentinian Del Potro (3-6, 7-6, 19-17) .
More recently, in 2017, Roger Federer made his big comeback with his Australian Open final victory over Rafael Nadal 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. A year later, he won his 20th and final Grand Slam of his career in tears, beating Croatian Marin Cilic won 6-2, 6-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. Meanwhile, in 2019, the Wimbledon final is likely to leave him with many regrets with the longest final in Wimbledon history (4:57) swinging in the Serbian’s favor after a mad tiebreaker set. is concluded in the tie-break established for the first time at 12-12 (7-6, 1-6, 7-6, 4-6, 13-12).
On social media, Thursday, September 15, Roger Federer announced his retirement, here is his press release:
“Of all the gifts tennis has given me over the years, the greatest, without a doubt, have been the people I’ve met along the way: my friends, my competitors and, above all, the fans. who give life to this sport”, first writes the Swiss in his message. “As many of you know, over the past three years I’ve had to deal with challenges in the form of injuries and surgeries. I’ve worked hard to get back to full competitive form. But I also know the capabilities and limitations of my body, and the message it has sent to me lately is clear. I’m 41. I’ve played more than 1,500 matches in 24 years. The tennis has treated me more generously than I ever imagined, and now I have to recognize when it’s time to end my career.”
It’s a bittersweet decision, because I will miss everything the Tour has given me, continues Roger Federer. But at the same time, there is so much to celebrate. I consider myself one of the luckiest people on the planet. I was given a special talent to play tennis, and I did it at a level I never imagined, for much longer than I thought possible.”
“The last 24 years on the circuit have been an incredible adventure. Sometimes it feels like they have passed in 24 hours, but they have been so profound and so magical that I feel like I have already lived an entire life. I had the immense chance to play in front of you in more than 40 different countries. I laughed and cried, I felt joy and pain, and above all, I felt felt incredibly alive. (…) To tennis: thank you and I will never leave you,” he concluded.
For years, the rivalry between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal has punctuated the tennis courts. With the announcement of the Swiss’s retirement, the Spaniard also loses a “friend”. Asked, his uncle Toni Nadal explains that his godson would never have been the same without Federer. “Of course not, because I believe that with Federer, Rafael always had to raise his level of play. And it was the same with Djokovic. These three players raised the level of all the others. is a very bad day for anyone who, like me, loves tennis.”
“Dear Roger, my friend and rival. I wish this day never happened. It is a sad day for me personally and for the sport around the world. It has been a pleasure and also an honor and a privilege. to share all these years with you, to live so many incredible moments on and off the courts. We will still have many moments to share together in the future, there are still many things to do together, we know that. For now, I really wish you all the happiness possible with your wife, Mirka, your children, your family and enjoy what awaits you. I will see you in London” launched Nadal on the networks.
Biography Roger Federer. Roger Federer was born on August 8, 1981 in Basel, Switzerland. Son of a Swiss father, Robert, and a South African mother of French and Dutch descent, Lynette, Roger grew up in Münchenstein in German-speaking Switzerland, not far from Basel and the German and French borders. He started playing tennis at the age of eight when he joined the TC Old Bys club, located in Basel, where he met Marco Chiudinelli, another Swiss professional player. If the Swiss takes time to decide between the yellow ball and football, he will eventually go to tennis where he manages to become national champion in the junior categories.
In 1995, Roger Federer joined the Swiss National Tennis Center where his beginnings were difficult. Away from his relatives, he must also learn French. The “Maestro” continued to progress and develop his game during his “junior” period where he finished world number one in 1998 after winning Wimbledon in boys’ singles and doubles. He ended the year by winning the Orange Bowl ahead of Guillermo Coria. He decides the same year to take the next step and go to the professionals where he will win a lot of trophies and build himself a legendary status.
Over the years, Roger Federer has been able to reinvent his game, as the greatest athletes can do. He surrounded himself with Stefan Edberg between 2014 and 2015 in order to develop his volleys, his climbs to the net and thus dominate the exchanges even more. A fruitful association for the Swiss whose technique is no longer to be demonstrated on the world circuit.
Since the beginning of his professional career, Roger Federer has won 103 ATP titles including 20 Grand Slam trophies (six Australian Open, one Roland-Garros, eight Wimbledon and five US Open). Six victories at the Masters at the end of the season, twenty-eight Masters 1000, a gold medal at the Olympic Games in doubles with Stan Wawrinka in Beijing in 2008, a silver medal in singles at the Olympic Games in London in 2012 and the Davis Cup in 2014 are added to his list. Since the beginning of his career, Roger Federer has played 1526 games for a total of 1251 wins for 275 defeats.
World No. 1 for 310 weeks during his career, Roger Federer is one of five players to have finished at least five seasons in the place of No. 1 in the ATP rankings (with Rafael Nadal, Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras and Novak Djokovic) . The first time the “Maestro” held the top spot was on February 2, 2004, and the last time was on June 18, 2018. The Basel native holds the record for the biggest gap between the first and last week instead of #1 worldwide: 14 years and 4 months. For the first time since April 2001, Roger Federer is no longer the Swiss number 1. It was Henri Laaksonen who put an end to the twenty-one-year reign of the “Maestro”. Since July 11, 2022, “Roger” no longer appears in the ATP rankings.
Thanks in particular to the gains of the 103 titles he has won, Roger Federer has massaged since the beginning of his career in 1998 more than 130 million dollars (130,594,339 m $) in prize money. In 2021, the Swiss became the first billionaire tennis player after being the highest paid tennis player of the year for the 16th season in a row.
Since April 11, 2009, Roger Federer has been married to Miroslava “Mirka” Vavrinec, a former Swiss tennis player of Slovak origin. They met during the Sydney Olympics in 2000. Besides being his girlfriend, Mirka manages Roger Federer’s career.
Together, they had twins on July 24, 2009: Charlene Riva and Myla Rose Federer but also twins on May 6, 2014, Leo and Lenny.
Despite his success in tennis, Roger Federer has always known how to manage notoriety vis-à-vis his children: “For a long time my children had no idea of ??my successes. They discovered through their friends that their father was once n No. 1 in the world. They were impressed and surprised. We never made my success an important topic at home.”
It’s no secret that Roger Federer has always been involved in various humanitarian actions, especially those in favor of children. In 2003, he even created the Roger Federer Foundation which helps underprivileged people around the world. His foundation, which promotes sport, supports projects in South Africa, Mali and Ethiopia in particular. UNICEF International Ambassador, Roger Federer never hesitates to make donations to support people around the world during natural and health disasters.
On March 18, 2022, the Swiss announced on his social media that he would donate $500,000 to assist Ukrainian children: “My family and I are horrified to see the photos from Ukraine and we are heartbroken for the innocent who have been so terribly affected. Approximately 6 million Ukrainian children are currently out of school and we know this is a very critical time to provide them with access to education and we would like to help them deal with this traumatic experience. . Through the Roger Federer Foundation, we will support War Child Holland with a donation of $500,000 to promote access to education for Ukrainian children.”
