Roger Federer announces his retirement from the ATP Tour and grand slams
Former world No. 1 Rafael Nadal has been announced as the world’s first celebrity athlete to retire from his professional tennis tour due to a knee injury. According to Nadal’s official website, the “King of Clay” will stop playing the sport for the first time in his career.
Nadal confirmed to AS that he would retire from tennis on Monday after his withdrawal from the ATP Finals over a severe knee injury. He had been in good spirits over the holiday period, with his team offering up some hope for his recovery.
With the retirement of Federer, a former 10-time grand slam winner, all of the men’s rankings will fall by seven spots. The current world No. 1, Novak Djokovic, will move to No. 2 in the world after ending his title winning streak for the first time in his career.
Former world No. 1 Roger Federer will retire from the ATP Tour after his 11-year reign as world No. 1. Federer’s official website said that he will continue to coach tennis and live his “normal life”, even though he will no longer play the sport professionally.
Federer said he had an “absolutely wonderful” 12-year relationship with the Argentine.
Federer has played 545 official ATP matches, winning 10 grand slam titles and holding the world No. 1 ranking for five years and six months.
“It’s been an incredible ride. It was the best time of my career and I’ve won a lot of big tournaments,” Federer said. “I’m very grateful to be a part of this tour and the people at the organization have been wonderful to me.”
Djokovic has finished every match for the last 22 weeks, beating Federer in the last eight grand slams matches. The No. 2-ranked player is also the highest-ranked player to finish the last four tournaments of the season without winning a title.
“I’ve really enjoyed being here in New York,” said Djokovic, who earned his first career ATP title by defeating Federer in the U.S. Open final
