Roger Federer’s retirement at the 2022 Laver Cup marked the end of an era. The King has decided to hang up his racket at the age of 41, having realized he can no longer compete at the highest level. The Swiss did his best to treat himself to one last round of the carousel in 2023, but the conditions of his right knee led him to say enough after a 24-year career.
20 Grand Slams, 103 ATP titles, 6 ATP Finals and 28 Masters 1000 are just some of the numbers that have made the Master one of the greatest athletes ever. Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have broken several records from him in the last two years, but none can ever match the impact Federer has had on the sport.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion received a stunning tribute after playing his last match alongside Rafael Nadal at London’s O2 Arena. Guest on the latest edition of the talk show ‘En Aparté’, Stan Wawrinka spoke about his relationship with Federer.
Wawrinka comments on Federer
“When I arrived, Roger Federer was already at the top of tennis. He took me a little like a big brother. He helped me, we trained a lot together. I was lucky to be able to rub shoulders with him a lot, in training, in tournaments.
In the Davis Cup, we shared a lot of things. Afterwards, he simply became a friend. We were a little at the same level, not career, but behavior, mutual aid,” Wawrinka said. “I owe him a lot in my career. There was something positive.
I grew up and improved thanks to him. He helped me a lot. Thanks to him, I won the Olympic Games and the Davis Cup. These are two of the biggest headlines of my career,” he said. “It is certain that arriving behind him, especially in Switzerland, no matter what results I could have, anyway, it would always be light years away from him.
No one will be able to do what he has done, at least not in Switzerland. What I do, I do the best I can. You must also be able to appreciate this kind of career,” Wawrinka said. Roger Federer is a highly respected figure in the tennis world and many players look up to him in admiration, with Stefanos Tsitsipas being one of them.
“He said, I remember, many years ago that ‘if you don’t improve and if you don’t change something in a positive way, the opponents are gonna kind of find out what you are doing and what you’ve been doing is not anymore as efficient as it was before.”
