Roger Federer announces his retirement from the ATP Tour and grand slams
The end is near for the man who’s won six major titles, including four Wimbledons, four Australian Opens and a US Open. He announced that he was giving up tennis this week.
In a rare admission, Federer said, “I do not think this is still my best season at all. It’s been tough going, from a mental and emotional standpoint.”
He added: “I want to look forward, not backward. My future is in Australia. For the rest of my career, I want to spend time at home where I have a lot of my memories, play on indoor court, a place where I feel like I can breathe.”
Federer’s announcement is the first since 2005. A report on him in the New York Times said he had “decided for certain he is done.”
In his statement, he said, “I want to put my tennis years behind me.”
Federer has a 12-year-old daughter with partner Mirka Radulovic. He is in the midst of a $25 million sponsorship deal with the Bank of New York. The deal has been extended twice and includes $15 million in guaranteed annual compensation.
Federer’s retirement is not a bad way to go out. He has had a long and distinguished career on the tennis court. In 1996, he won his first Olympic gold medal in singles, the first for a male tennis player. When Federer was asked by CNN’s Christiane Amanpour how he wanted to finish his career, he said:
“I want to end it on a high note.”
That would seem to include a Wimbledon crown. Asked if he thought he could win a fifth Wimbledon crown, the 33-year-old Federer said, “I don’t know. I haven’t gotten to that stage yet, but I feel it’s there on the horizon.”
He added
