Roger Federer recently had a feature in GQ and admitted relief that he was the first out of the so called Big Three or Big Four including Andy Murray to retire, but that despite that, he still harbours some sort of a what do I do now mentality after spending most of his life on a tennis court.
Federer said that he retired at the right time and took scope soon afterwards and was glad at what he achieved. His final farewell came at the 2022 Laver Cup in which the Swiss legend played with his rivals including teaming with Rafael Nadal.
"I’m really relieved, if that makes any sense ... I mean, the last few years have been tough with my knee [injury]. You could feel the end coming closer. So when it’s all said and done and you’re over the line and you’re retired officially, you take a deep breath and you’re like, 'Wow, okay, that was good'," said Federer in GQ.
"You’re not [a tennis player any more]. You’re 'retired'. They’re like, 'What do you do?' I don’t know. I’m retired. It’s strange."
But also Federer will see the end of his career documented with a documentary being released just before Wimbledon which he admitted wasn't on his list to do initially and left him emotional. "This [the film] was something I didn’t want to do. It’s like writing a book. I didn’t want to write a book. I just was not ready to write my story. So that was never an idea. Then when the end was coming nearer ... the question was: 'Well, do we want to have anything documented?'
"Just maybe more for my own story, for my own kids, for friends and coaches and my team. How about if we film a little bit of an over-the-shoulder type thing? Then at least we’d have something ... "
"It’s super emotional, hard-core to watch ... I watched a screening the other day, it was hard-core. I cried like six times."
