Roger Federer is one of the greatest individuals to have ever picked up a tennis racket.
The Swiss Maestro, who retired in 2022, won 103 ATP Tour titles during his career, including 20 Grand Slams.
Federer, who could return to the court to face Rafael Nadal in the future, won his final Grand Slam title at the 2018 Australian Open.
The eight-time Wimbledon champion defeated Marin Cilic in the final, 6–2, 6–7, 6–3, 3–6, 6–1.
After Federer clinched the title in Melbourne, another tennis legend weighed in on Federer’s status among the tennis greats.
Rod Laver said Roger Federer was ‘certainly the greatest player that has come along’ after his 2018 Australian Open triumph
Having won 11 Grand Slam titles and multiple Davis Cups, Rod Laver is the most iconic and the greatest figure in Australian tennis history.
He is the only man to have won all four Grand Slams in a year, doing so twice: in 1964 and 1969.
After Roger Federer won his 20th Grand Slam title at the 2018 Australian Open, Laver said Federer was ‘certainly the greatest player that has come along.’
As reported by the Herald Sun, Laver said: “For me, I think Roger Federer is certainly the greatest player that has come along,” Laver said.
“Yes, we’ve got lots of great players — look at (Rafael) Nadal with a record that says ‘I’ve just won 10 French Opens’, and you can’t sort of push that under the mat.
“But I think Roger plays his greatest tennis on the big occasions, on any surface.
“He’s stood the test of time — that’s probably the one thing that puts you in that category of the best ever. That’s one of the things that he has done. He loves the game, and everything he does around his life is somewhere related to all the great (things he has done).
“It’s just unusual to see a wonderful champion like that be able to win at age 36 after seven tough matches. You just marvel at his tenacity and his floating ability on the court.
“He just seems like he’s floating all around the court — he’s not running. That’s something else.”
Roger Federer’s Wimbledon heartbreak
At the 2019 Wimbledon Championships, Federer made his final Grand Slam appearance.
Federer had beaten the likes of Matteo Berrettini and Kei Nishikori on his way to the semi-final stage.
There, Federer defeated Rafael Nadal 7-6, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, setting up a mouthwatering final against Novak Djokovic.
The final was an all-time classic. After four gruelling sets, Federer found himself having two match points on serve at 8-7, 40-15.
Federer was unable to convert these championship points: Djokovic won four consecutive points to break the Swiss star’s serve.
Djokovic went on to win the match in a fifth-set tiebreak. The final score was 7–6, 1–6, 7–6, 4–6, 13–12.
The match lasted four hours and 57 minutes.
Federer retired from his playing career after competing alongside Rafael Nadal at the 2022 Laver Cup.
