Roger Federer announces his retirement from the ATP Tour and Grand Slams


“I’m 41 years old. I’ve played more than 1500 games in 24 years. Tennis has treated me more generously than I ever dreamed and now I have to realize when it’s time to end my competitive career,” said the 20 year old. Times Grand Slam winner in an Instagram post.
The final years of Federer’s career have been marred by a spate of injuries as he underwent two knee surgeries in 2020 and one more after being defeated by Hubert Hurkacz in the 2021 Wimbledon quarter-finals – his last competitive game to date.

“As many of you know, the last three years have been challenging for me with injuries and surgeries,” he said. “I worked hard to become fully competitive again. But I also know the capacities and limitations of my body and its message to me has been clear lately.”

Federer’s long career coincided with that of 22-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal and 21-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic, with whom he has dominated men’s tennis for the past two decades.

“I would also like to thank my competitors on the pitch,” said Federer.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to play so many epic games that I’ll never forget. We fought fairly, with passion and intensity, and I always did my best to respect the history of the game. I’m very grateful.”

Nadal went to twitter in memory of his great rival and friend: “Dear Roger, my friend and rival. I wish that day had never come. It’s a sad day for me personally and for sport around the world. It has been a pleasure but also an honor and a privilege to share all these years with you and experience so many amazing moments on and off the pitch.

“We will spend many more moments together in the future, there are still many things to do together, we know that … see you in London.”

Despite playing alongside two of the greatest players of all time, Federer has still broken several records including becoming the oldest ever world No. 1 at 36 and staying at the top of the rankings for 237 consecutive weeks.

Among his many accolades, Federer won a career Grand Slam: the Australian Open six times, the French Open once, the US Open five times and Wimbledon – the tournament he was synonymous with – a record eight times.

He also won 103 ATP titles – the second-most in the Open era behind only Jimmy Connors – a record six ATP Finals, the Davis Cup and a gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in men’s doubles alongside Stan Wawrinka.

“It’s a bittersweet decision because I’m going to miss everything the Tour gave me,” he said.

“But at the same time there is so much to celebrate. I consider myself one of the happiest people in the world. I was given a special talent to play tennis and have done it at a level I could never have imagined, for much longer than I ever thought possible.”

“The last 24 years on tour have been an amazing adventure. While at times it feels like they’ve passed in 24 hours, it was also so profound and magical that it seems like I’ve already lived a lifetime.

“I’ve been incredibly fortunate to play in front of you in over 40 different countries. I’ve laughed and cried, felt joy and pain, and most of all, I felt incredibly alive.”

Federer not only thanked his fans but also his team, sponsors, parents, sister, wife and children and remembered his childhood in Basel, Switzerland.

“When my love for tennis began I was a ball kid in my hometown of Basel. I watched the players with a sense of wonder. They were like giants to me and I started dreaming. My dreams made me work harder and I caught to believe in myself,” he said.

“Some achievements have given me confidence and I have been on my way to the most amazing journey to date. So from the bottom of my heart I want to thank you all, everyone around the world, who helped make the dreams of a young Swiss ball kid come true.”

Almost immediately after Federer announced his retirement, tributes rolled in from the tennis world.

Newly crowned US Open champion and men’s No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, who was two months old when Federer won his first Grand Slam, tweeted a heartbroken emoji, as did two-time Grand Slam champion Garbiñe Muguruza.

“Roger, where do we start?” Posted Wimbledon’s official Twitter account.

“It has been a privilege to witness your journey and see you become a champion in every sense of the word. We will miss seeing you gracing our dishes so much, but all we can say for now is thank you for the memories and the joy you have given to so many.”

On his own terms

Federer’s retirement announcement came a month after Serena Williams also declared her intention to “evolve away from the sport”, signaling an almost simultaneous end to eras in which she had shaped men’s and women’s tennis.

Williams’ likely swan song unfolded at the US Open – in her home country and the site of her first Grand Slam triumph – but Federer told CNN’s Christina Macfarlane in 2019 that he had no such concrete plans.

“I think it’s all going to come down to whether it’s the body, is it the family, is it the spirit, is it a morning I wake up, how is it going to happen?” he said.

“The day it happens maybe that’s the end or maybe I’ll say I’ve got a few more tournaments in me, I don’t know. And then this one tournament that I think could be is maybe way too far away and then you just can’t make it there… Wimbledon stands out as a place but there are actually many others.

Federer won his 20th and final Grand Slam at the 2018 Australian Open.

Due to injuries, Federer missed this year’s main draw at Wimbledon for the first time since 1998 and he will end his career at the Laver Cup – a tournament in which he was a driving force, which pits six players from Europe against six players from the rest of the world.

“I’d like to go out on my terms,” ​​he added in 2019. “I don’t have that fairytale ending in my head that says it has to be another title somewhere, and then I have to announce it big and say, ‘By the way, that’s it folks.’ I don’t have to have it like that.

“The media’s expectations are that everything has to end so perfectly, and I gave up a long time ago. I just think as long as I’m healthy and I’m enjoying myself at the end, I know it’s going to be emotional anyway.”