World of sport reacts to Roger Federer’s retirement for non-competitive reasons
This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.
Please enable Javascript to watch this video
(CNN) — As Roger Federer prepares to retire for the second time in his career, some of the world’s top sportswriters and fans are reacting with anger and surprise.
A tennis legend after winning a Grand Slam at almost 37 years of age, Federer could win just two more major titles and never regain the status of world number one.
Federer has always lived up to the expectations of how he should be perceived as a world champion. However, his career has been interrupted by drug and infirmary issues.
Now, he will need to look towards his future without the prestige, the media attention and the chance for bigger money to win Grand Slam titles.
“I’ve always said, and still believe, that I’m a world number one. Even after losing my No. 1 ranking in my first year, I’ve only lost three matches out of my last 12”, he said at the end of June.
Federer has lost his top ranking, and the opportunity for more money as well, but the 32-year-old Austrian hopes to be remembered as one of the greats of his generation.
“I don’t need anyone else to win or be greater than I am”, he said. “I will always be great.”
Federer’s statement came after he was forced to say farewell to his family and friends at a tennis tournament in his native Austria.
In May, Federer announced his retirement from the sport, after which he said he has been “fighting an illness”.
He told reporters in the Austrian capital that it was “not good for me to play here anymore”.
“After that, it’s not possible to compete here on the tour. It’s not good for me to play, to feel the pressure here in such a place on a surface where you are always being under threat”.
Federer was forced to say his farewell on a Sunday afternoon and didn’t win his match against world number 61 Viktor Troick