Roger Federer is in London to face what will be his farewell to tennis. The Swiss will hang up his racket for the Laver Cup, pitting a selection of European players against another from the rest of the world.
The former world number 1 admitted on Swiss television (RTS) that it was difficult for him to make the decision to leave tennis. “It was hard for me not to tell so many people after making my decision in July, a few days after Wimbledon. The decision was emotional, but I knew it was the right one. Later and finally, I wrote a letter, which turned out to be very long. I read every word countless times, in the end there were probably 25 different versions. I’m very pleased with the result.”
The champion of 20 Grand Slam titles did not want to give details about the state of his knee. “This is a private matter. I don’t even know. I just want to know what rehab I should do: How long, what are the steps? That’s the information I need” he briefly explained before pointing out what he wanted to do in the future.
“I don’t know what my future will be, but I don’t want to completely walk away from a sport that has given me everything. I want to continue playing exhibition games. I still have a chance to sell outside of stadiums. I want to stay in shape and it will be on my list of priorities to continue training, I want to play exhibitions. In fact, I thought of doing an exhibition tournament in the next 6 months with players of my choice” he revealed.
At the Laver Cup, Federer said “I couldn’t play singles, that was obvious. I guess I’ll play doubles here Friday night and that’s it.. I asked our Captain Björn Borg if that was all right. He said he can do whatever he wants, seeing me on the court again would be a dream for everyone. For my part, the pressure I have is intense, since I haven’t played in a long time, but I will try to be competitive. I think I can play at an acceptable level.”
The Swiss trained on Tuesday at the O2 track in London with Greek Stefanos Tsitsipasone of his teammates in Team Europa completed by Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Casper Ruud, under the captaincy of Bjorn Borg, assisted by Thomas Enqvist.
Federer, at the age of 41, tried the sensations after saying publicly that his right knee, which has been operated on three times, does not allow him to continue competing at the highest level. His idea was to be able to say goodbye to play, successfully doing so in one of the scheduled doubles matches against Team Mundo.
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The former world number 1 wants to hang up his doubles racket to close out Friday’s Laver Cupwhich opens on September 23 and closes on Sunday 25.
“Maybe I can play doubles with Rafa (Nadal), that would be an absolute dream.“, he admitted.
It is the repetition of an iconic image of two players who were condemned for decades to compete in their classic and for whom the Laver Cup, the Ryder Cup of tennis designed by Roger Federer himself, allowed them to join forces, even share a partner.
With Federer-Nadal scheduled for Friday at around 10 p.m., as the afternoon session starts at 8 pm with an individual.
Who will be the rival? John McEnroe has fellow Americans Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe and Jack Sock, Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman and Australia’s Alex de Minaur.
Source: La Verdad
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
