Roger Federer, the elegant Swiss star who dominated men’s tennis for two decades but saw his final years marred by injuries and surgery, said Thursday that he was retiring from the sport.
“I’m 41 years old and I’ve played more than 1,500 games in 24 years,” Federer said in an audio clip posted on social media. “Tennis has treated me more generously than I ever dreamed possible and now I have to realize when it is time to end my competitive career.”
Federer, the winner of 20 Grand Slam singles titles, said his appearance at next week’s Laver Cup in London will be his last competitive match. He said he will continue to play tennis but will no longer compete on the ATP Tour or in Grand Slam championships like Wimbledon and the US Open, which he once dominated.
“The past three years have been challenging for me with injuries and surgeries,” he said in a video on Twitter. “I’ve worked hard to get back to my full competitive form, but I also know my body’s capacities and limitations and its message to me has been clear lately.”
Federer leaves the game with one of the greatest competitive records in the game’s history: 103 ATP singles titles, 20 Grand Slam championships, a record eight men’s singles titles at Wimbledon and a record five at the US Open.
His decision to retire from the game comes after a similar one by Serena Williams, who announced she would do the same ahead of this year’s US Open.
This is an evolving story and will be updated.
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