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Roger Federer Laver Cup 2022

Roger Federer reveals ‘unexpected twist’ in his retirement


Roger Federer says he felt an ‘unexpected twist’ in the story surrounding his retirement.

Federer decided to walk away from tennis this year after a three-year struggle with a knee injury. His last match came partnering Rafael Nadal in the doubles at the Laver Cup last month, and it was an incredibly emotional send-off.

Naturally, the tributes to Federer immediately started to roll in, as you would expect for a player who had achieved so much in the game.

However, most of them praised his character more than his accomplishments, and Federer says that is something he did not expect.

“It’s been overwhelming to be quite honest, how many nice things have been written about me, a lot of them about my personality and about me as a person,” Roger Federer told the ATP.

“Less almost as me as the tennis player, about my forehand or whatever you want to call it.”

“That’s been a wonderful surprise to me that a lot of people looked or supported me because of maybe my character. That was a bit of an unexpected twist to the story.

“I thought they were gonna talk about his achievements, his accomplishments, what he meant to the game, and that’s it. But it was much more than that.

“It totally over-exceeded my expectations.”

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Michael Graham, Tennishead.net Editor, has been a professional sports journalist for his whole career and is especially passionate about tennis. He's been the Editor of Tennishead.net for over 5 years and loves watching live tennis by visiting as many tournaments as possible. Michael specialises in writing in-depth features about the ATP & WTA tours.