Returning at length this Friday on the Youtube channel of the ATP on his farewell, two weeks ago in London during the Laver Cup, Roger Federer confessed that he did not expect so much praise, and even less that they concern the man more than the tennis player.
Roger Fededer is not at the end of his emotions. The legendary Swiss champion, officially retired for two weeks and these monumental farewells on the side of the O2 Arena in London during a Laver Cup 2022 which will forever mark the history of tennis, had already been full of emotions, d first in the arms of his daughters and then of his wife Mirka, throughout this poignant ceremony on the court. As for the images of a Federer sobbing and completely disconcerted to the point, once seated, of seeking (and finding) the hand of a Rafael Nadal, both a lifelong rival and an immense friend, and also totally devastated by the retirement of the “Maestro”, no one is about to forget them. The Swiss had not yet seen anything, because emotions, he was still going to live. Since this bow after a final double lost against the Americans Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe, tons of love have indeed been poured out on the hero with 20 Grand Slam coronations. A momentum which the Basel admits that he did not expect.
“A wonderful surprise for me”
More exactly, if the now freshly retired imagined that his supporters would pay tribute to him very quickly, he had obviously not expected that a lot of the praise would target Roger Federer the man and not only Roger Federer the tennis player. It was enough to greatly move him again, this Friday at the microphone of the Youtube channel of the ATP. “I was overwhelmed by all the beautiful things that have been written about me, including a lot about my personality and my person. Almost less as a tennis player, on my forehand or in any other aspect of the game. It was a wonderful surprise for me to find that a lot of people supported me because of my character. It’s a bit of an unexpected turn of the story. I thought they were going to talk about my accomplishments, my accomplishments, what I meant to the game, and that’s it. But it was much more than that. It totally exceeded my expectations,” admitted Federer, once again on the verge of vertigo. And it might go on for a while.