Roger Federer said goodbye to tennis practice this year realizing he could no longer compete at the highest level. The Basel genius did everything possible to treat himself to one last tour in 2023, but the state of his right knee forced him to resign.
The three operations that the Swiss has undergone in the last two and a half years have been useless. The 41-year-old from Basel had attempted a timid comeback in 2021, playing only 13 official matches and stopping again after Wimbledon.
The 20-time Slam champion announced his decision to retire via a letter posted on Instagram and played his last match alongside Rafael Nadal in the Laver Cup. However, the former world number 1 has vowed that he will not walk away from the sport that made him a global icon.
In this regard, it has been reported that the Master could join the BBC commentary team at the next Wimbledon. On the latest episode of RMC’s “Court No. 1” podcast, Gilles Simon revealed that he used a rather simple tactic against Federer.
“Tactically it was easier for me to face the big three, because they are such strong players that they don’t have many weak points. They do everything more or less perfectly. I didn’t adopt any brilliant tactics when I faced Roger Federer.
I played him as much as possible backwards, it was the only thing I could do. His serve was extremely precise, with his forehand he left you two meters from the ball and he felt comfortable at the net. If there was one area of the court where I could breathe a bit, it was definitely the backhand diagonal,” Simon said.
“I’ve always struggled more against those players who gave me more options, because that’s where I had to choose.” Roger Federer’s game was one of the hardest to break, as he hardly had any weaknesses in his tennis arsenal, said former world No.
6 Nicolás Lapentti.
Federer has retired from tennis
Roger Federer revealed that he was glad that he didn’t take the sport too seriously and was able to enjoy his time on the court. “I feel like I had a lot of fun on the tour.
It was not just about tennis. It was also about going to nice dinner with friends and I’m happy that I didn’t take tennis almost that serious or professional. Still had a bit of an amateur twist to it,” he said. “A bit worried that every sport is going into such a professional direction which I hope we don’t lose the fun in it. It’s important,” he added.
