On July 3, 2022, Roger Federer attended a special ceremony at Wimbledon to mark the 100th anniversary of the Centre Court. A year ago, he had trudged out of the same hallowed turf in a pensive mood, following a painful straight-set defeat — including a dispiriting 0-6 scoreline in the final set — to Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz in the quarterfinals. “I hope I can come back one more time. I’ve missed it here,” Federer said on that sunlit celebratory centenary Sunday. “I knew walking out here last year it was going to be a tough year ahead. Maybe I didn’t think it was going to take me this long to come back but the knee has been rough on me. But I’ve been happy.”
Just over 10 weeks later, Federer, announced that the upcoming Laver Cup (September 23-25) would be his last ATP Tour-level tournament. The Swiss could not sufficiently recover from the knee surgery he had undergone in the aftermath of the 2021 Wimbledon reverse. It was his third since the start of 2020, a period which saw him play just six professional tennis events. “The message to me lately has been clear,” he said. “I am 41 years old. I have played more than 1,500 matches over 24 years. Tennis has treated me more generously than I ever would have dreamt, and now I must recognise when it is time to end my competitive career.”
The ending may not have been to his many fans’ liking but in the future, when memories shift and time doesn’t act as a fixative, Federer’s will only be remembered as a stellar career, a fantastic longlist of achievements which can never be whittled down.
