Roger Federer, the Swiss superstar, announced his retirement from professional tennis recently following his final match at the Laver Cup. Federer did not have the best outcome in the last match that he played alongside long-time arch-rival Rafael Nadal for Team Europe as the duo lost. Taking to Instagram, Federer talked about his recent doubles, singles, and team losses. He also had a piece of advice against overthinking the "perfect ending".
"We all hope for a fairytale ending. Here's how mine went: Lost my last singles. Lost my last doubles. Lost my last team event. Lost my voice during the week. Lost my job. But still, my retirement could not have been more perfect and I'm so happy with how everything went. So don't overthink that perfect ending, yours will always be amazing in your own way," Roger Federer wrote in his Instagram post.
The post had more than 1.4 million likes at the time of writing this report.
An Emotional Farewell
Federer was spotted in tears and distraught after his last match at the Laver Cup. Nadal, too, couldn't keep back his tears, and a photo of the two crying together quickly went viral. Federer and Nadal were defeated 4-6, 7-6 (7/2), 11-9 by Team World's Frances Tiafoe and Jack Sock at the O2 Arena.
Federer has had a long-standing professional rivalry with Nadal and Djokovic. He played 40 times against Spaniard Rafael Nadal, with the Swiss trailing 16-24. Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer faced each other 50 times, with Djokovic leading the head-to-head record 27–23. These stars are the "Big Three", who controlled tennis as a sport like no one else.
Federer ended up winning five US Open championships, one French Open title, and six Australian Open titles in addition to his eight Wimbledon victories.
Federer's greatest success came in the 2006 season when he peaked in his tennis career and won 12 singles championships and had a match record of 92-5. The Swiss tennis prodigy advanced to the finals of 16 of the 17 events he competed in this season.