London, Sep 21 (EFE).- Swiss tennis player Roger Federer said Wednesday that it was sad to realize that it was time to hang up his racket.
The 20-time grand slam champion previously confirmed that he would end his professional career at the Laver Cup, where he will only be playing in the doubles category.
“You’re sad in the very moment when you realize, ‘OK, this is the end,” Federer said during a press conference he held at London’s O2 arena, where he discussed his plans for the future, his knee problems and reasons behind his retirement.
On his decision to bring his career to a close, the tennis legend said there was a “certain process that started at the beginning of the summer.”
“I tried to go to the next level in training and I could feel it was getting difficult so, obviously, at that point, I knew any hiccup, any setback was going to be ‘the one’ potentially.
“I guess I was also getting more tired as you have to put more effort into it to be able to, sort of, believe it was going to turn around, you start getting quite pessimistic… at some point, you sit down and go ‘OK, there is an intersection here, a crossroad, and you have to take a turn, which way is it?’
“I was not willing to go in the direction of ‘let’s risk it all’ and I am not ready for that… For me, it was always clear that I was going to end my career with no surgeries.”
When asked about the best match of his career, Federer said it was hard to choose one but recalled some of his glorious moments throughout the 24 years he played the sport.
He referred to his first Wimbledon, his match with Pete Sampras in 2001, his 2017 Australian Open win, as well as his French Open victory.
The 41-year-old highlighted that he thought of announcing his retirement at the US Open but he changed his mind when he decided he was going to miss the tournament.EFE
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