Roger Federer announces his retirement from the ATP Tour and grand slams
With an official retirement looming, Roger Federer announced his retirement from the ATP Tour and the grand slams on Friday.
“I have decided to announce my retirement from tennis. I will miss the players, the tournaments and the fans,” he said before posting on Instagram. “I am so grateful to all the people who have supported me over the years. I will always be grateful to everyone who has been with me the last 20 years.”
Since he became a professional in 2002 Federer has won four major titles and 32 titles in the Premier-5. He also holds the record for the most singles titles and the most career titles, and he has been the most successful male player on the tour in terms of wins and number of titles — both titles being measured by ATP rankings.
The 34-year-old will go down in tennis history as one of the best ever, but he also had a great career as a Grand Slam champion and he will never be replaced. He is the only player to have won four slams, and his record in Grand Slam finals is also second most to Roger Federer.
Federer was also the first tennis player to beat his idol Novak Djokovic at the ATP Finals in 2014.
In September Federer announced that he was suffering from Guillain-Barré syndrome and had taken a leave from competitive tennis in 2017, when he had only one Grand Slam, the U.S. Open, to his name. He then explained that he did not feel that he had to retire, calling the 2017–18 season a failure and wanting to turn it around.
“I think it’s important for me to step away from competitive tennis for a year,” Federer said. “I feel like I let myself down by not being able to perform to the best of my abilities. I know I will come back and I will work hard to get back to the level I was at last year. I don’t think it’s a failure at all.”
It is an astonishing decision by Federer, considering he will not make it past the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam a number of times.
He will retire at the age of 35, but it’s unclear if Federer will continue to play at the ATP tournament level, or perhaps play lower level tournaments. Roger Federer
Federer will make
