Roger Federer has decided to say goodbye to his over 20-year professional tennis career. Last week, he announced his plans to retire after the Laver Cup. However, recently, Federer opened up about the emotions and efforts that went into landing the decision and forging the retirement letter.
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Federer has been on the sidelines since last year’s Wimbledon and was looking forward to a strong comeback initially. Though as his knee surgeries didn’t pan out as expected, the 20-time Grand Slam champion opted to give his body rest and shared a letter expressing himself. Here’s the story behind the final draft.
Roger Federer about wife Mirka’s involvement
Federer, while speaking to ESPN post his announcement, detailed the number of takes and time it took him to write the letter. The Swiss legend, after admitting to having 25 takes and two weeks of time, addressed the double checking of the letter. When asked if his wife Mirka also went through and helped in the letter. He said, “Yeah, yeah, of course.”?
“You show it around and then, of course, everybody has something to say. What do you call that? Too many cooks stir the broth. Something like that, so of course, you go back and forth.” Mirka, a former Swiss tennis professional herself, first met?Roger Federer at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, and after having retired in 2002 because of a persistent foot injury, they tied the knot together in 2009.
The couple exchanged vows in at the Wenkenhof Villa in?Riehen near Basel surrounded by family and close friends. Further, they are parents of two identical daughters and two identical sons.
Federer’s last dance
The eight-time Wimbledon champion, after walking out of the tour from last year’s quarter-finals at Wimbledon, will make a comeback in this season’s Laver Cup. He will represent Team Europe for one last time in the O2 Arena alongside Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray.
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The fifth edition of the tournament will start on Friday and will name its winner on 25th September. Further, the former world number one was also supposed to participate in his home-based ATP 500 event, the Swiss Indoors Basel.
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But it seems the Laver Cup will mark the end of Federer’s legendary career.
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