Roger Federer announces his retirement, next week’s Laver Cup will be his final tournament

Tennis legend Roger Federer introduced on social media Thursday that the Laver Cup, scheduled for subsequent week in London, could be his closing aggressive tennis occasion. In an emotional video shared on social media, Federer acknowledged that “[t]he Laver Cup subsequent week in London might be my closing ATP occasion. I’ll play extra tennis sooner or later, in fact, however simply not in grand slams or on the tour.”

Within the assertion, Federer referenced the current accidents that he has handled whereas making an attempt to take care of his presence on the tour. “As lots of you understand, the previous three years have introduced me with challenges within the type of accidents and surgical procedures. I’ve labored arduous to return to full aggressive kind. However I additionally know my physique’s capacities and limits, and its message to me these days has been clear.”

Response to Federer’s announcement poured in from all through the tennis world.

Federer shouldn’t be the one legend to step away from tennis this yr. Serena Williams introduced in early August that she could be retiring after the U.S. Open. Williams superior to the third spherical of the occasion, earlier than shedding to Ajla Tomlajanovic. Though on Good Morning America this week, Williams hinted that extra tennis might be in her future:

As for Federer, this announcement attracts to an in depth a legendary profession within the sport. He received his first singles title at Wimbledon in 2003, when he was 21, and that touched off a dominant stretch of play. From 2003 by means of 2009, he appeared in 21 out of 28 main singles finals.

Federer surpassed Pete Sampras’ report of 14 main males’s titles at Wimbledon in 2009.

Accidents began to mount for Federer, and he missed half a yr in 2016 to get better from knee surgical procedure. When he got here again, nevertheless, it touched off one other stretch of spectacular play. He received three extra majors, together with the 2017 Australian Open when he beat Rafael Nadal within the closing, and Wimbledon later that yr.

When he received the 2018 Australian Open, he grew to become the primary man to win 20 main singles titles, and received a complete of 103 occasions in his singles profession, inserting him second within the Open Period, behind solely Jimmy Connors.

Now good luck getting tickets to the Laver Cup.