Federer certain decision is final

The last procedure on his knee came shortly after a quarterfinal loss to Hubert Hurkacz at Wimbledon in July 2021, which will go into the books as the last singles match of a superlative career that began in the 1990s and included 103 tournament titles, a Davis Cup championship for Switzerland, Olympic medals and hundreds of weeks at No 1 in the ATP rankings.

In his online farewell message last week, Federer referred to retirement as a "bittersweet decision".

He was asked Wednesday at the news conference what aspect was most bitter and what was most sweet.

"The bitterness: You always want to play forever," he said. "I love being out on court. I love playing against the guys. I love traveling. ... It was all perfect. I love my career from every angle."

And then he added: "The sweet part was that I know everybody has to do it at one point; everybody has to leave the game. It's been a great, great journey. For that, I'm really grateful."

He will play doubles for Team Europe against Team World on Day 1 of the event, and then give way to 2021 Wimbledon runner-up Matteo Berrettini for singles over the weekend. That plan was run by the ATP and both team captains, John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg, Federer said.

"I grew up watching him, rooting for him, trying to learn from him," Berrettini said. "His charisma, his class will be missed — everything he brought to tennis on the court and off."

Those sentiments were echoed by other Laver Cup players. World No 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas said of Federer: "My biggest memory of him is watching him lift trophies at almost every Grand Slam he played when I was a kid." Frances Tiafoe, this year's US Open semifinalist, remarked: "I don't think we'll see another guy like Roger — the way he played, and the grace he did it with, and who he is as an individual."

As for Federer's doubles partner for the last hurrah? Federer would not say definitively — he said that's up to Borg — but the not-so-hidden secret is that it is expected to be Nadal, who holds the men's record of 22 major championships.

While other contemporaries of Federer and stars of the sport are on Team Europe, such as 21-time Slam champ Novak Djokovic and three-time major winner Andy Murray, the Federer vs Nadal matchup will go down in history as among the greatest rivalries in tennis and sports in general.

They played each other 40 times in all (Nadal won 26), with 14 Grand Slam matchups (Nadal won 10).Nadal came out on top in their classic 2008 Wimbledon final, considered by some the greatest match in history; Federer won their last showdown, in the 2019 semifinals at the All England Club.

"It could be quite, I don't know, a unique situation, if it were to happen," Federer said about the doubles pairing.

As for his future?

The father of two sets of twins — girls who are 13; boys who are 8 — wouldn't say exactly what he has planned, other than a vacation, but he did say he would remain connected to tennis in some capacity.

Recalling the way Borg stayed away from the sport for years after retiring, Federer sought to reassure his own fans by saying: "I won't be a ghost."

Agencies via Xinhua