Retirement for Roger Federer | Ten games that made legend

(Paris) Since his first match on the ATP circuit in Gstaad in July 1998, until his last at Wimbledon in 2021, Roger Federer has written some of the most beautiful pages in the history of tennis. Here are ten:

Wimbledon 2001, 8^e final

Federer wins his only match played against Pete Sampras. The American hasn’t lost at Wimbledon since 1996 (31 consecutive victories), but at 29 he is 6^e world (nevertheless seeded number one) and at the end of his career. The Swiss, he is 19, is 15^e world and is about to write history. He plays for the first time on the Central of the All England Lawn Tennis Club… and wins 7-6, 5-7, 6-4, 6-7, 7-5 at the end of a match in the form of a transfer of power.

Rome 2006, final

5:05 a.m. of resistance to Nadal. In 2006, Federer lost only 5 games for 92 victories… One of these defeats was conceded at the Masters 1000 in Rome, where the Swiss resisted Rafael Nadal for more than five hours on clay before losing 6- 7, 7-6, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6, not without having offered two match points in the decisive set. The Swiss will play two more finals in Rome, but this tournament will remain one of the only holes in his incredible record.

Roland-Garros 2006, final

Deprived of Grand Slam by Nadal. In this same year 2006, one of his greatest vintages (92 wins for 5 losses, titled at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and at the United States Open), Federer very nearly won the Holy Grail of tennis, the famous Grand Slam only achieved in the Open era by Rod Laver (1969). But the Spanish king of clay proved intractable in the final, despite losing the first set (1-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6).

Wimbledon 2008, final

Twilight. Federer played, but lost one of the greatest matches in history, beaten in his London garden by Nadal after an anthology match interrupted three times by rain. So it was in the dark of nightfall that the Spaniard scored the match point to win 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 9-7 after 4 a.m. 48 combat. Before giving up in the decisive set, Federer saved two match points in the fourth set tiebreaker, including one on one. passing of alien setback.

Wimbledon 2009, final

Legendary. Logically beaten in their two previous finals on the London lawn (2004, 2005), Andy Roddick almost won the third. But Federer is in his garden, at the top of his game, and finally wins 5-7, 7-6, 7-6, 3-6, 16-14, surpassing Pete Sampras’ major record with this 15^e title. The widely held view was that the match was decided in the second-set tiebreaker where the American led 6-2, but let the Swiss tie one set all. In the unbreathable fifth set, Federer erased two break points at 8-8 and the two players each held their face-off until 15-14 for Federer. And it was he who immediately managed the only break in the set, synonymous with coronation (the sixth of his eight at Wimbledon), a few weeks after his first and only title on clay at Roland-Garros.

2009 US Open final

Federer knocked out by Del Potro (3-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, 6-2). Everything seems to be off to a good start for the Swiss who leads 6-3, 5-4 and serves to break away 2 sets to 0 against the Argentinian who is playing his first major final. But the South American pulls out some extraordinary and decisive shots to equalize to push the Swiss into the fifth set. And against all expectations, Federer is clearly dominated in this final round and finally deprived of a sixth consecutive title in New York.

Olympic Games-2012 (London), semi-final

4:25 a.m. for three sets on grass. Federer arrives at the Central of the All England Tennis Club all crowned with his seventh Wimbledon title won a few weeks earlier. He is the favorite of the tournament, but Juan Martin del Potro plays his luck thoroughly and does not give in until after almost four and a half hours of arm wrestling and 36 games in the only decisive set (3-6, 7-6, 19 -17). The Swiss will not win gold since he is swept away in the final by Andy Murray (6-2, 6-1, 6-4).

Australia 2017, final

The great return. Six months after ending his season to repair a painful left knee, nearly five years after his last major title, the 35-year-old Swiss won one of his finest titles after a breathtaking match against Nadal won 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. This fifth coronation in Australia when it fell to 17^e world rank, its 18^e major, completely relaunched the Swiss who would rise the following year to the top of the world hierarchy and add two more Grand Slam titles to his list (Wimbledon 2017 and Australia 2018).

Australia 2018, final

The 20^e major. It is in tears that Federer holds up his sixth trophy in Melbourne, the result of a very tense fight against Marin Cilic won 6-2, 6-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. Proof of the tension of the Swiss during this match: he had not yielded the slightest set of the tournament until then. He is 36 years old.

Wimbledon 2019, final

Despite two match points, Federer loses to Djokovic and misses his 21^e Grand Slam title. The longest final in Wimbledon history (4:57 a.m.) tipped in favor of the Serb after a crazy deciding set that ended in a tiebreaker established for the first time at 12-12 ( 7-6, 1-6, 7-6, 4-6, 13-12). After four rounds of a level of play that was ultimately not so high, the decisive set alone made the game fall into the anthology of tennis, both in terms of the quality of play and the unbearable tension.