If you’re a die-hard tennis fan, you’ll never forget how the 2019 Wimbledon final turned out. It was one of the longest Grand Slam finals ever played and featured the most improbable victory in the sport. It was the match in which Roger Federer reached his last Grand Slam final and faced a heartbreaking defeat at the hands of his archrival, Novak Djokovic. Although the game itself was challenging for the 20-time Grand Slam champion, the post-match press conference was equally difficult.

Dealing with such a defeat was not easy for the Swiss Maestro. Nevertheless, the Wimbledon committee person in charge of press conferences mentioned in Federer’s biography the atmosphere surrounding Federer when he lost the Wimbledon final.

How did Roger Federer’s defeat at Wimbledon in 2019 look on the inside?

Michael Gradon is a former Wimbledon committee member who was close to the swiss ace. Thus, he was one of those committee personalities who used to handle press conferences after the tournament. In the biography, The Roger Federer Effect, Gradon addressed the 41-year-old tennis star as a consummate professional. He highlighted that the only difficult time came when he faced defeat in big matches.

Not only that, the Wimbledon committee member also talked about the time when Federer lost the 2019 Wimbledon. He shared that the atmosphere after the loss was understandable. He said, “It’s like a funeral. You just don’t know what’s the right thing to say because almost anything you say sounds really trite.”

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And along with that, Gradon revealed that the former world number one was quite frustrated with himself. He recalled, “I’ll be honest with you, I was completely gutted in one sense—to miss any one of them, you know, would have been sad. To miss [what could have been] the absolute last one ever.” In addition, he also recalled the moment after the loss and shared how no one likes to be there in those sad moments. But he wanted to be there for the 41-year-old tennis legend.

Federer’s emotional outbreak after the defeat 

The Swiss Maestro spoke about his emotional breakdown after losing the championship match to the Serb in an interview with Gazzetta Dello Sport earlier in 2019. He discussed in that chat how he managed to keep his tears back during the match and the presentation ceremony.

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But as he returned to the locker room, he sobbed uncontrollably. And he even told himself that it was just his bad luck that he was unable to cross the finish line. The Swiss tennis legend retired from competitive tennis last year, making the 2019 Wimbledon his last Grand Slam final match.