Roger Federer announces his retirement from the ATP Tour and grand slams
By Dan Murphy |
Dec 14, 2018
| Tennis
Federer announced his retirement from the ATP Tour and grand slams during a press conference on Wednesday. (AP)
(AAP)
BERLIN — Roger Federer has announced his retirement from tennis, saying he will be hanging up his racquets.
His decision came as a shock to the tennis world, with many in a state of shock having only just started to learn of his decision and with Federer’s popularity rivaling that of tennis legends Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
Federer’s announcement came a week after he was ousted as the world’s best in men’s singles as he withdrew from the 2018 Australian Open after suffering with blood-clot problems in his right leg. He also failed to recover from an Achilles tendon injury he experienced in August that has ruled him out of the upcoming Australian Open.
“I’ll be hanging up my racquets. I love tennis. This is a part of my life. My life is tennis,” said Federer in announcing he would not defend his title at the Melbourne Open after reaching his 20th grand slam final.
“There have been so many difficult moments. I’ve come to realize there are not that many great players in tennis. There are many people that have been special in their own way, but there aren’t that many special players. I’ve had a great time and I’ve learned much from my journey as a tennis player.”
He added, “I’ve learnt that you should never give up. If you want success you have to be persistent and you have to do everything possible to get to where you want to be. I never gave up. It hasn’t worked out all that great for me but I’ll always have a very happy memory.”
Federer will become the first male tennis player since Boris Becker in 1989 to have played in both the Grand Slams and the ATP Tour and has become the longest-serving tennis player in history to retire.