It is apt that London should act as the backdrop for Roger Federer’s farewell. The ambition had always been for Wimbledon, rather than the O2, to play host for the final act of an illustrious career.
But at 41, and with more than 1,500 matches in his legs, his ailing knee, which was last operated on after Wimbledon last year with a view to returning to SW19, decided it was a dream too far.
