Swiss tennis maestro Roger Federer on Thursday announced that he would be retiring from professional sport after the upcoming Laver Cup. Ever since his announcement, tributes have been pouring in on social media. Federer's long-time rival Andre Agassi also took to Twitter to pay his tribute, saying: "Your game and spirit taught us how beautiful tennis can be played, @RogerFederer. Every moment you shared has left us all better off. Thank you, RF."
To this tweet, Federer replied: "Means a lot Andre, loved our matches and miss you."
Federer and Andre Agassi played against each other 11 times, and Federer leads their head-to-head 8–3. Federer and Agassi had first met in only the third tournament of Federer's career at the 1998 Swiss Indoors.
Agassi also defeated Federer at the 2001 US Open and the finals of the Miami Masters in 2002.
The duo had played a memorable quarterfinal match at the 2004 US Open that spanned over two days, with Federer eventually prevailing in five sets. They also played in the finals of 2005 US Open. Federer was victorious in four sets, claiming the 6th Grand Slam tournament of his career.
Federer, the first men's player to win 20 grand slam titles, announced his decision to retire from the sport after Laver Cup 2022. Federer informed of his decision with a post on his Twitter handle. Federer won his first grand slam in the year 2003 when he won the Wimbledon title. He has since gone on to win 6 Australian Open, 1 French Open, 8 Wimbledon and 5 US Open titles. He has been struggling with a knee injury for a long time.
"The Laver Cup next week in London will be my final ATP event," he said in a statement posted on his Twitter account.
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The 41-year-old winner of 20 Grand Slam titles has been out of action since a quarter-final loss at Wimbledon in 2021 before undergoing another bout of knee surgery.
Federer's announcement comes on the heels of the retirement of Serena Williams. Serena retired with the second most grand slam titles to her name in the women's game (23).