World of sport reacts to Roger Federer’s retirement from tennis
Roger Federer retired from tennis today after a long 14-year struggle with his demons of drug abuse.
The Swiss superstar’s decision comes after a medical examination and, as a result of that, he will be taking a break from the sport for at least another year – and possibly longer.
Federer’s retirement means he will not compete at the 2019 French Open and the 2019 Australian Open. He will, however, be taking part in the Davis Cup competition in Monte-Carlo.
Federer’s decision to retire means he will only play three competitive matches on the ATP Tour during an 18-month period; the first is a rubber against Stan Wawrinka in Abu Dhabi in February, the third is a final against Novak Djokovic in Doha the following month and finally it’s a semi-final against Stan Wawrinka in Los Angeles in December.
The decision means Federer will miss playing in the finals of the year-end ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events in Auckland (11-11-2019) and Dubai (11-18-2019) and the season-ending French Open (11-11-2019) and Miami Masters (11-23-2019).
Federer said: “This is the decision that I have to make. After talking with Roger I believe I can go about life as a father and husband. I’m going to remain as active as I can be in my sport. I cannot tell you how happy I am to announce my retirement from tennis.
“It is probably the best choice for me. There are many players who would have retired earlier, but I am not one of them.”
Federer will play the following three ATP Tour tournaments: at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the 2020 Dubai Tennis Championships and the 2020 Australian Open.
The 37-year-old tennis star also said he’s “excited to be back in tennis” and welcomed a reunion with his close friend, former coach Greg Rusedski.
“I believe that tennis has been the best thing that ever happened to me. I have to go back as soon as