(London) For Roger Federer, his farewell press conference will take place before the start of what he has announced will be the last competitive tennis event of his career.
Posted at 3:17 p.m.
Federer is in London training ahead of the Laver Cup, a tournament founded by his management team that kicks off on Friday with the fifth edition of this Team Europe vs. Team World format.
His main rivals whose careers have overlapped with Federer’s — Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray — are also taking part.
Ahead of the start of the Laver Cup, Federer will meet the media on Wednesday morning to discuss his retirement from competitive tennis at 41 after a career that began in the 1990s, stretched into the 2020s and includes 20 Grand Slam titles, 83 victories in other tournaments and hundreds of weeks at the top of the rankings.
He bids farewell shortly after Serena Williams played what is expected to be the last game of her career at the US Open, a sign of a changing of the guard in a sport they both transcended for decades. decades.
Williams made her intention to quit playing known in a magazine article, then did not hold a press conference until after her first game at Flushing Meadows. The 23-round Grand Slam champion reached the third round there before losing to Ajla Tomljanovic.
Federer played his last match at Wimbledon in 2021, when he lost in the quarterfinals to Hubert Hurkacz. Shortly after, Federer had surgery on his right knee for the third time in the space of around a year and a half.
The Swiss star had hoped to play Basel at home next month and said he might be able to take part in Wimbledon one last time next year. But his recovery and the rehabilitation of his knee convinced him to hang up his racquet.
He called his retirement “bittersweet” when he announced it last week via social media. On Wednesday, we’ll get the chance to find out more about what prompted his decision and what Federer might have in mind for the future.
His tweet concluded: “Finally, to the sport of tennis: I love you and I will never leave you. That would bode well for Federer fans who hope to see him continue to play a role in the sport — and it would be good for the sport, too.
Djokovic wrote on Instagram after learning of Federer’s retirement that it was “difficult to live this day and put into words everything we have shared together in this sport. »
It’s unclear how much Federer will actually take part in the Laver Cup. There are singles and doubles matches over the three days, and his agent has revealed that Federer will definitely play.
In February, when news broke that Federer would be in London, he announced that Nadal had messaged him last year, suggesting he play doubles together again. They teamed up to win a doubles match at the inaugural Laver Cup in 2017.
“If we are able to share the pitch once again in doubles,” Nadal said at the time, “then it would be a really special experience for both of us at this stage of our careers. »