All tennis fans were moved when Roger Federer played his last official match at the 2022 Laver Cup. The Swiss shared the court with his historic rival Rafael Nadal, who hurriedly rushed to London’s O2 Arena to greet the opponent of a thousand battles.
At the end of the match, the former world number 1 received a splendid tribute and could not hold back the tears. The end of King Roger’s career has sparked a wave of reactions in every corner of the world, testament to the enormous impact the Master has had on tennis and the sport in general.
Fans had hoped the Basel legend would make one last Wimbledon in 2023, but the condition of his right knee has prompted him to call it quits. The 20-time Grand Slam champion had already tried a timid return in 2021, playing just 13 official matches and stopping again after Wimbledon.
On the latest edition of the AO Show, Jim Courier highlighted Federer’s innate talent for speaking into the microphone.
Jim Courier praises Roger Federer
“Players these days, they know that they’re still performing when they’re in the interview, they know they’re still selling themselves to the audience and showing a little bit more of themselves,” Jim Courier said.
“It’s really because Roger Federer showed that it was okay to do that. He was the one who showed that it’s okay to laugh at himself and to show a little bit more and talk a little bit more about himself off the court. That one has a lot of deep meaning because it represents the kind of end of his career.
It represents him giving sort of a synopsis in many ways of his career and then the people that got him there and it was an emotional moment that I’m not going to be involved in an interview again, I can’t imagine,” he added.
Patrick McEnroe has claimed that Roger Federer loved playing tennis compared to some of the other greats who laid more emphasis on winning. “A lot of players, I tell this to people all the time, some players love to win, Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras,” Patrick McEnroe said.
“Roger Federer loves to win obviously, that made him one of the greatest ever, but he just… I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone that just loved to go out there and just hit the ball around, a great player as much as him.”
