The tennis legend is saying goodbye. Recall Roger Federer’s career

It is almost exactly 25 years since he first appeared in the singles rankings on the ATP circuit. Since then, he has had a number of successes that have made his indelible mark on the history of world sport. Now, at the age of 41, he has decided to close his professional tennis career for good. We’re talking about none other than Roger Federer.

He was born in Basel on 8 August 1981 to a Swiss father and a South African mother, so thanks to his parents he owns the citizenship of the country of the Helvetic Cross and the vast state from the black continent. Since the beginning of his sporting career, however, he has represented only Switzerland.

Achievements from his youth

Roger Federer’s first successes came in his early youth, with his most notable results from this period including winning the junior doubles title at Wimbledon 1998, where he conquered both singles and doubles. In the same year he rose to the top of the world junior rankings.

He soon began to make a name for himself among adults as well. In 1999, he scored his debut triumph in the senior category when he won a challenger tournament in Brest, France. A year later, he played final matches in Marseille and at home in Basel.

The year 2001 brought Federer the title at the ATP indoor event in Milan. In the same year, he also succeeded at the Hopman Cup team event, which he then captured in 2018 and 2019.

First major titles

His first trophy from a Masters 1000-level event came on the Hamburg clay, where he defeated Marat Safin in the final in May 2002. His initial Grand Slam triumph came in 2003 on the Wimbledon grass. He also finished the season with his first win at the Tournament of Champions, where he defeated Andre Agassi in the final clash.

One of his breakthrough years was the following one, during which he dominated the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. In the 2004 season, he also reached the top of the ATP rankings for the first time. Federer gradually added more valuable results to his collection in the following years, not only from the “Big Four tournaments”.

A single triumph on the Paris clay and Olympic medals

One of his most notable triumphs came at the 2008 Olympic Games. In Beijing, he conquered the men’s doubles competition together with Stan Wawrinka.

The year 2009 was a successful one for him both from a sporting and a personal point of view. He reigned for the first and finally the last time at Roland Garros, where another legend Rafael Nadal, with whom the Swiss has friendly relations, is the king. Before that, he married Slovak-born tennis player Mirka Vavrincova in April. Their love affair has lasted since the Sydney Olympics at the turn of the millennium. Three months later, their twins Myla Rose and Charlene Riva were born.

In the following years, he gradually collected a number of other trophies and in 2012 he won his second precious metal under five rings. This time it was a singles silver, and on the London grass courts, he was only able to beat Britain’s Andy Murray.

Davis Cup championships and recent Grand Slam trophies

The year 2013 was not the brightest for Roger Federer, even in the years to come the Grand Slam trophies did not add up to such a large number for the multiple top Swiss athlete.

In May 2014, he became the father of more twins as his wife gave birth to sons Leo and Lenny. In the same year, he also celebrated one of his lifetime achievements in the sporting arena, winning the ‘salad bowl’, the only Davis Cup triumph for Switzerland so far.

The Basel native won his first Grand Slam title since Wimbledon 2012 at the 2017 Australian Open. He won the last of his eight Wimbledon trophies this summer. He celebrated his final, 20th Grand Slam triumph a year later in Melbourne, Australia, where he rejoiced a total of six times.

Roger Federer holds a number of records. Let’s mention at least the longest uninterrupted period of time at the top of the ATP rankings, 237 weeks, or the most triumphs in the open era at Wimbledon and the US Open, where he reigned, like Sampras and Connors, five times. He conquered the Masters Tournament on six occasions, also a record.

The end of a great career for the Wimbledon king

He won his last titles in 2019, celebrating at the Masters 1000 in Miami and at home in Basel, among others. The title from the Swiss event is symbolically the one that closed the collection of 103 singles championships.

Knee problems have prevented him from continuing fully on the circuit in the last two years. One of the most prominent figures in tennis history last played at the All England Club last year, where he first lifted the Grand Slam trophy in 2003 as a twenty-two-year-old rising star.

It will also be a symbolic end to the career of a legendary athlete. Federer will make it at the event of which he is the founder. His last appearance as a professional tennis player will be at the Laver Cup, the first edition of which was held in Prague five years ago.

This time, London is hosting the tennis show at its O2 Arena. So the phenomenal Swiss will bid farewell to his playing career in the metropolis on whose grass courts he made the history of the most famous tournament. Roger Federer is undoubtedly an icon of white sport, given his achievements.

Source: ATP, Tennis Portal, Wikipedia