Tennis great Roger Federer announced his retirement last week. He will say goodbye to professional tennis forever after the Laver Cup tournament. Federer has reached London for this ATP tournament to be held from 23 to 25 September.
From 22 September, Federer will take part in a practice session with Team Europe. He will be seen alongside other tennis greats Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray at the Laver Cup. These four players are in Team Europe. These four are called the Big Four (4) of the 21st century.
Federer announced his retirement last week:
Federer announced his retirement on Thursday (September 15). Federer is the third most Grand Slam winner in the world. He won a total of 20 Grand Slams in his career. These include six Australian Open, one French Open, eight Wimbledon and five US Open titles.
Federer announced this and said – I am 41 years old. I have played more than 1500 matches in a career spanning 24 years. Tennis has treated me more generously than ever before and now I have to recognize when it is time to end my competitive career.
Laver Cup will be the last professional tournament:
Federer said – Next week the Laver Cup in London will be my last ATP event. I’ll definitely play more tennis in the future, but it won’t be at a Grand Slam or a Tour. The last 24 years have been wonderful for me. Sometimes it seems that these 24 years have happened in just 24 hours. It is an experience as if I have lived my whole life.
I am fortunate to have got a chance to play in front of an audience like you and in 40 different countries. During this I have laughed and cried, felt joy and pain, but I have felt good for myself.
Which players are included in Team Europe:
Team Europe is gearing up for the 2022 edition of the Laver Cup with a dream line-up. Nadal, Federer, Djokovic and Murray are known as the Big Four of world tennis. These four players have dominated tennis in the 21st century so far. Together these four have won 66 of the last 76 Grand Slam tournaments.
Nadal leads the list with 22 Grand Slams. It is followed by Djokovic (21), Federer (20) and Murray (3). From 2003 till now, only one of these four players has won the Wimbledon title. At the same time, any of these four players topped the ATP rankings for 18 consecutive years between February 2004 and February 2022.
Which players are included in Team World:
Apart from these four, Casper Rudd and Stefanos Tsitsipas from Team Europe will also be seen playing. Former tennis great Bjorn Berg will be seen captaining Team Europe. At the same time, this team will face Team World. Team World will be captained by former legend John McEnroe.
Diego Schwartzman, Felix Auger-Aliassim, Taylor Fritz, Alex de Minaur, Frances Tiafo, Jack Sock will be seen playing in this team. Italy’s Matteo Barrettini has been included in Team Europe and Tommy Paul as an alternate in Team World.