Boris Becker says he ‘has a feeling’ this year’s Wimbledon Championships is the last one Roger Federer will play in his career.
The Swiss maestro, who will turn 40 next month, reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon in what was only his fifth tournament since returning from a knee injury. He scored wins over Richard Gasquet, Cameron Norrie and Lorenzo Sonego. However, in his last match Federer appeared to be far from his best as he fell in straight sets to Hubert Hurkacz. In one of those sets he got bagelled which hasn’t happened to him at the tournament since 2002.
Federer’s exit from the tournament has triggered speculation about his future with himself admitting that he ‘doesn’t know what’s around the corner.’ Although he says he hopes he will be able to play at The All England Club again.
Writing for The Daily Mail, Becker says he isn’t optimistic that Federer will return before suggesting that the former world No.1 might now be considering when he should retire from the sport. Federer made his ATP Tour debut in July 1998 which was before the birth of top 100 players Carlos Alzaraz, Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti.
“I think Roger arrived here thinking everything was pretty much going to his plan, which was to recover from his knee problems, get fit on the clay and put himself in a strong position to go very deep at SW19. I don’t believe that he came here deliberating when the best time is to retire, but he may well be doing so now. The manner of his defeat to Hubert Hurkacz changed things,” Becker commented.
“There is a hesitancy on my part to suggest what he should do because one thing I learned is that in tennis you are ultimately on your own. You can be supported and have all the off-court help but the sport puts you in the situation where you are alone out there. It is mentally very challenging and only he will know how losing that 6-0 set really felt.”
On Tuesday Federer announced his withdrawal from the Olympic Games due to what he describes as a ‘setback’ in his recovery from a knee injury. Last year he underwent two surgical procedures to treat the issue. The second procedure was made after the first one failed to produce the desired result.
“Roger has earned the right to go out on the terms that he likes. He has been the most popular player ever and taken interest around the world to new heights, giving more to the game than anyone has done before,” Becker continues.
“I believe he was originally thinking of playing on well into next year, but I doubt that is the case now.”
Federer has won 103 ATP titles, earned more than $130M in prize money and has spent 310 weeks as world No.1 so far in his career.
