Roger Federer reveals ‘shame’ of not being able to play Carlos Alcaraz
Roger Federer has spoken about the state of tennis since his retirement last year, with the 20-time Grand Slam champion revealing his disappointment of not being able to play Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz.
Federer is at the Laver Cup once again this year, however the tournament co-founder is only in Vancouver as a spectator following his retirement at the event last year.
Roger Federer retired from professional tennis a year ago today ? pic.twitter.com/87dqbvUm5b
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) September 23, 2023
Despite no longer playing on the ATP tour, the Swiss revealed that he is still keeping up with tennis, “A lot still going on in tennis of course, as always. The records will always tumble. Or just the stories always rewritten. And just for example the US Open was great with the record [24 Grand Slam titles] of course by Novak Djokovic.”
He continued, “And of course I was also very happy about Coco Gauff’s victory. I’ve known her for five years, when she was very young, and this was a great victory for her. We have a new world No.1 in women’s tennis [Aryna Sabalenka], Alcaraz, who won Wimbledon.
“And just the new generational change is really noticeable. It’s a bit of a shame for me that I haven’t been able to play against a few in the last couple of years. But I think it’s great what’s going on in tennis at the moment and I still follow it very, very closely.”
Federer dominated men’s tennis alongside Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic as the ‘big three’, and some fans have suggested that Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Holger Rune could be the ‘new big three’.
And the 42-year-old has specifically named those three when claiming the ‘future looks bright’, “There are young people arriving, a generation against whom I haven’t played at all, Rune, Sinner and Alcaraz. Unfortunately, I couldn’t play against them. The future looks bright, the game will always evolve, and the good thing is that I really enjoy watching and following many results.
“I think it’s still going well, not that there would somehow be a slump after I retired or that Rafa is injured at the moment. The story continues and that will always be the case. Tennis will always be played by new players but at the same time, the way I see these players moving on the court now is unbelievable. And I think many more will come.”
Federer concluded, “The new players have interesting personalities and tennis is still right up there in the world of sport, and that is beautiful for me to see.”
Cheeky from Nadal ?
Wonder who Federer’s favourite doubles partner is? ?
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) September 23, 2023
The Laver Cup will continue later today, with Team World fully in the driving seat after winning all four of the opening rubbers on Friday.
Roger Federer Career Achievements
As Federer enjoys his tennis life as a spectator, we at Tennishead wanted to look back on some of his many achievements as a player:
Career-high: No.1 (310 weeks)
ATP titles: 103
Grand Slam titles: 20
ATP Masters 1000 titles: 28
Olympic medals: 2 (Doubles Gold – 2008, Singles Silver – 2012)
ATP Finals titles: 6 (2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2010 & 2011)
Davis Cup titles: 1 (2014)
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