On the heels of Serena Williams' retirement came Roger Federer's announcement (last week) that he, too, would hang up his tennis shoes after a few Laver Cup matches, never to play again in a Grand Slam tournament.
While his retirement was not unexpected (he has had surgeries and has been off the tour for much of the last couple of seasons so I wondered if we'd ever see him again), it was still a sad thing to hear his announcement in its finality.
I love Roger Federer. Not only is he arguably the best tennis player of all time (I loved watching him play much more than I did Serena), he was classy, graceful, and always the ultimate sportsman in victory, defeat and also off the court. His shot-making was brilliant (even as I watched more of him in the twilight of his career), and had it not been for the contemporaries and contestants for the "GOAT" (greatest of all-time) men's title (including Nadal and Djokovic), he may have very well won several more majors. It's incredible that he performed at as high level as he did until forty, and that he maintained such warm relationships with others (rivals) on the tour.
I am still thrilled at remembering watching his come-from-behind unlikely victory (and last Grand Slam won, his twentieth) against Nadal at the 2018 Australian Open and still disappointed in his heartbreaker of a defeat in the 2019 Wimbledon Final against Djokovic. We were lucky enough to see Federer play in person (a dream of mine!) along with other Grand Slam champions at Indian Wells in 2019, and my sister-in-law, Katherine, stood in line and scored me an autograph in 2017, a year we missed watching him play due to a walkover, which I treasure even more now!
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