{"id":1727,"date":"2022-09-16T06:25:03","date_gmt":"2022-09-16T06:25:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/roger-federer-retires-swiss-legend-a-tennis-great-who-reached-sporting-perfection\/"},"modified":"2022-09-16T06:25:04","modified_gmt":"2022-09-16T06:25:04","slug":"roger-federer-retires-swiss-legend-a-tennis-great-who-reached-sporting-perfection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/roger-federer-retires-swiss-legend-a-tennis-great-who-reached-sporting-perfection\/","title":{"rendered":"Roger Federer retires: Swiss legend a tennis great who reached sporting perfection"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1\">\n<p role=\"introduction\" class=\"qa-introduction gel-pica-bold\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-2\"><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-2.0\">&#8220;You have to wonder if he&#8217;s from the same planet.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<div data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-3\">\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-3.0\"><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-3.0.0\">Over the past 20 years it was not only Novak Djokovic who wondered if Roger Federer had been crafted and dropped onto Centre Court by the tennis gods.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-4\"><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-4.0\">The greats excel in sport. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-5\"><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-5.0\">Federer, who has announced <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/sport\/tennis\/62911876\" class=\"story-body__internal-link\" title=\"\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-5.$link-2\"><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-5.$link-2.0\">he will retire later this month<\/span><\/a><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-5.3\">, was also one of a select few who could draw you in and grab your heart, while seemingly reaching perfection.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-6\"><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-6.0\">Others may now have won more titles &#8211; let&#8217;s leave the &#8216;GOAT&#8217; debate for another day &#8211; but for many the once stroppy youngster was sport at its pure best.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-7\"><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-7.0\">With a graceful swish of a forehand, a pinpoint delivery of a serve or a gentle wave to the crowd, the Swiss legend gained fans unlike anyone before him.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-8\"><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-8.0\">The 41-year-old&#8217;s skills were learned on the courts of the Swiss National Tennis Centre in Basel.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-9\"><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-9.0\">As a teenager he was supremely talented but known for his temper. It is said he was given the punishment of cleaning toilets after one costly throw of the racket aged 16.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-10\"><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-10.0\">It may now be a distant memory but Federer&#8217;s penchant for petulance continued into his early years on the professional tour.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-11\"><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-11.0\">&#8220;It took me like two years to find that fire and ice,&#8221; he said in 2018. &#8220;The fire to win but the ice coolness to absorb losses and bad mistakes. Then my career went through the roof.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<figure class=\"gs-u-mt0 gs-u-mb-alt+ story-body__media story-body__media--figure qa-story-body-media\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$video-13\"><span class=\"gs-u-display-block story-body__media\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$video-13.0\"><span class=\"gs-u-display-block gs-o-responsive-image\" style=\"padding-bottom:56.25%;\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$video-13.0.0\"><noscript data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$video-13.0.0.1\"\/><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"gel-brevier gs-u-ph+ gs-u-pv-alt story-body__media__caption story-body__media__caption--video\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$video-13.1\">Roger Federer: Images of his 103 career ATP title wins<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-14\"><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-14.0\">In truth, when Federer found that state his game did not just go through the roof, it continued into another stratosphere.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-15\"><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-15.0\">After making his name as a 19-year-old by beating Pete Sampras at Wimbledon in 2001 and a year after the death of his influential early coach in a car accident, Federer won his first of a record eight men&#8217;s SW19 titles in 2003 &#8211; and cried during his post-match interview with Sue Barker to endear himself to a nation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-16\"><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-16.0\">In the four years that followed he won 11 of the 16 available Grand Slams in a period of dominance the sport had rarely seen. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-17\"><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-17.0\">A swagger, shown in the gold-trimmed cardigans worn on court, was now fully justified.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-18\"><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-18.0\">Another eight Slams would come across the next 11 years but Federer&#8217;s story, and his popularity, has been shaped by crushing lows too. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-19\"><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-19.0\">The first came in 2008 when he was beaten in the Centre Court gloom by Rafael Nadal in the Wimbledon final &#8211; a five-set epic widely regarded as one of the greatest tennis contests of all-time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-20\"><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-20.0\">Six months later when the Spaniard denied him again in the Australian Open, the Swiss broke down in tears. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-21\"><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-21.0\">&#8220;God this is killing me,&#8221; he said. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-22\"><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-22.0\">A great was forced to bare his soul.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-24\"><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-24.0\">But in June 2009, Federer was overcome again &#8211; this time shedding tears of joy &#8211; after responding to the previous loss by winning a long-awaited first French Open title.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-25\"><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-25.0\">That completed the career Grand Slam, a feat only five men had previously achieved although both Nadal and Djokovic have matched it since. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-26\"><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-26.0\">Three more wins quickly followed, including a victory over an emotional Andy Murray at Wimbledon in 2012, but for five years afterwards it seemed as though Federer&#8217;s Grand Slam tally would remain at 17, as the first signs of serious injury began to seep into his career.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-27\"><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-27.0\">To come, though, was a second golden period for Federer &#8211; one shorter but no less remarkable.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-28\"><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-28.0\">Now aged 35, and after six months out with a knee injury, he won the 2017 Australian Open &#8211; Nadal, of course, the opponent in another five-set thriller. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-29\"><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-29.0\">After a winning forehand Federer screamed in disbelief, while the world cherished another encounter between great rivals turned friends. His eighth win at the All England Club, and a sixth in Australia, followed in the next 12 months.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure class=\"gs-u-mt0 gs-u-mb-alt+ story-body__media story-body__media--figure qa-story-body-media\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$image-30\"><span class=\"gs-u-display-block story-body__media\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$image-30.0\"><span class=\"gs-u-display-block gs-o-responsive-image\" style=\"padding-bottom:56.25%;\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$image-30.0.0\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"gel-brevier gs-u-ph+ gs-u-pv-alt story-body__media__caption story-body__media__caption--image\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$image-30.1\">Federer won the 2017 Australian Open to end a five-year spell without a Grand Slam title<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-31\"><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-31.0\">Federer&#8217;s legacy will of course be intertwined with that of Nadal and Djokovic, who gatecrashed the Swiss&#8217; one-man party at the top of the men&#8217;s game and made it an event for three.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-32\"><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-32.0\">Federer set the benchmark at 20 Grand Slams but, while struggling for fitness in much of the past three seasons, has seen first the Spaniard and then the Serb go past his major tally.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-33\"><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-33.0\">Throughout it all, though, Federer has been number one for fans and also sponsors.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-34\"><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-34.0\">He sits alongside Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, LeBron James and Tom Brady in a list of the world&#8217;s richest sportspeople.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-35\"><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-35.0\">Federer and another tennis great Serena Williams, who also announced her retirement last month, have not just excelled in the sport. They have transcended it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-36\"><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-36.0\">Wherever he has gone, Federer has been cheered by spectators, none more so than at Wimbledon this year when he was given the most raucous reception among a cast of legends as part of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/sport\/tennis\/62029016\" class=\"story-body__internal-link\" title=\"\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-36.$link-2\"><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-36.$link-2.0\">Centre Court&#8217;s centenary celebrations<\/span><\/a><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-36.3\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-37\"><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-37.0\">Such is his longevity, two generations do not remember a sporting landscape without him.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-38\"><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-38.0\">Touching tributes following Federer&#8217;s retirement have <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/sport\/tennis\/62919956\" class=\"story-body__internal-link\" title=\"\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-38.$link-2\"><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-38.$link-2.0\">come from Nadal<\/span><\/a><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-38.3\"> and further afield, a regular theme that &#8220;tennis will never be the same again&#8221;. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-39\"><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-39.0\">Federer, plus Nadal and Djokovic who look set to play on for a while yet, have left the next generation with a task similar to following The Beatles at Glastonbury.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-40\"><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-40.0\">The Swiss will appear once more on the professional tour, in the Ryder Cup-style Laver Cup later this month &#8211; a tournament he has helped create. Given it is more than a year since he last played, what standard he will be able to reach is not clear.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-41\"><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-41.0\">Tennis fans will descend on London, however, even if just to say one thing;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-42\"><span data-reactid=\".1xvqo311808.0.0.0.1.$paragraph-42.0\">&#8220;Thank you Roger, for the memories.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/sport\/tennis\/62920480?at_medium=RSS&#038;at_campaign=KARANGA\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;You have to wonder if he&#8217;s from the same planet.&#8221; Over the past 20 years it was not only Novak Djokovic who wondered if Roger Federer had been crafted and dropped onto Centre Court by the tennis gods. The greats excel in sport. Federer, who has announced he will retire later this month, was also [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1728,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1727"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1727"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1727\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1729,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1727\/revisions\/1729"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}