Roger Federer on retirement plans: “I wanted to let the fans know that you’ll see me again”

The Swiss says he will stay in the tennis world long after he plays his final professional match at the Laver Cup this weekend

Roger Federer, Laver Cup 2022 – © James Manning/AP/SIPA

Simon Cambers

September 21, 2022

Roger Federer says he will “not be a ghost” when he hangs up his racquets as a professional for good after this weekend’s Laver Cup.

The 41-year-old will play his last match on Friday, a doubles clash, having announced last week that he is to retire due to his ongoing right knee problems.

In his retirement letter last week, Federer thanked his fans for their support throughout his career and assured them he would see them again. On Wednesday, at a press conference ahead of the Laver Cup, he reiterated he would not just disappear from the tennis world.

“I just wanted to let the fans know I won’t be a ghost,” he said, citing what happened to Bjorn Borg, his Europe captain at the Laver Cup, who largely disappeared from the tennis world for the best part of two decades after he retired.

#Federer : "Having Borg on the bench with me for my final game, having all the guys around, it was fitting. 99% of the time, you would lose in a tournament and feel lonely. Sometimes I was sorry for guys retiring (this way). It worked here, keeping the integrity of the event." pic.twitter.com/8f2HpncOgJ
— Tennis Majors (@Tennis_Majors) September 21, 2022

” I don’t think he returned to Wimbledon for 25 years (after he retired),” Federer told reporters on Wednesday.

“That, in a way, hurts every tennis fan. Totally acceptable; his life, his reasons, you know. But I don’t think I’ll be that guy, you know. I feel tennis has given me too much. I have been around the game for too long. Have fallen in love with too many things.

“I love seeing people again, and that’s kind of what I wanted to let the fans know that you’ll see me again. Not just never again. Now what it could be, in what capacity, I don’t know. So I still have to think about it a little bit but give myself time.”