Roger Federer’s career officially ended on 23 September 2022 at the Laver Cup, the exhibition he himself founded in 2017. The former world number 1 tried in every way to treat himself to one last ride on the carousel, but the conditions of his right knee led him to make a decision as painful as it was inevitable.
The Swiss, who hadn’t set foot on the pitch for over a year, played his last match alongside his arch-rival Rafael Nadal against the Americans Frances Tiafoe and Jack Sock. The 20-time Grand Slam champion received a splendid tribute at the end of the match, testament to the enormous impact that the Basel Master has had on the sport.
The Swiss reassured fans by declaring that he will not move away from the sport that made him a global icon. The King is rumored to be joining the BBC’s commentary team at the upcoming Wimbledon. In an interview with the ‘Wall Street Journal’, Martina Navratilova expressed some interesting considerations about Federer’s future.
Navratilova praises King Roger
“Roger Federer could be an ambassador, or maybe president. And it might not be Switzerland, either!” Martina Navratilova wrote in a recent column for The Wall Street Journal. Navratilova feels that if the Swiss legend was not hindered by serious injuries late in his career, he would have “undoubtedly” prolonged his career even beyond the age of 41.
“Roger would no doubt still play if he could do it physically,” Navaratilova expressed. Former World No. 1 Andy Murray recently reflected on Swiss legend Roger Federer’s farewell during the Laver Cup held in London.
“I think the way it was done was brilliant, him finishing alongside Rafa just kind of felt right, and I really enjoyed the week and getting to spend some time with those guys again, there has hardly been any tournament in the last four or five years where all of us have actually competed in the same event, primarily because of injuries and age,” Murray said.
“So yeah, it was great to be a part of that and it was obviously really sad to see him go but that’s what happens in sports. Get to a certain age and your body is not able to do what it once did and it’s tough and it’s brutal but he seemed totally at peace with the decision,” he added.
“He was in brilliant form, and like I said, it was a really nice way for him to finish, and obviously tennis will take a while to recover from that.”