Simona Halep, the world’s No. 2 tennis player: “When Federer retires it will be a tragedy for everyone”

Romanian Simona Halep, one of the most outstanding tennis players of the last six years (current world number 2, reached the top of the ranking in 2017), is, openly, a big fan of Roger Federer. Two-time Grand Slam winner (Roland Garros 2018 and Wimbledon 2019), He stated that the day the Swiss legend no longer plays professional tennis will be “a tragedy.”

“When Roger Federer retires, it will be a tragedy for all of us. What he has accomplished is enormous and he will remain an idol for a generation. His decision will have to be respected because life means more than tennis, “said Halep, winner of 22 titles, in the Romanian environment www.digisport.ro.

Federer, 39, has not competed since the 2020 Australian Open and, after two knee surgeries, he had planned to reappear at the next Aussie Grand Slam, from February 8, however he canceled his trip to Melbourne and, instead of playing in a contest with matches to the best of five sets and with high temperatures, expected to return to tour at ATP 500 Rotterdam, from March 1 (indoors, on hard surface).

Put at a crossroads over her preferences between Federer and Rafael Nadal, Halep acknowledged: “I like Federer more for the beauty of his game, for the way he plays this sport. You have the feeling that he doesn’t sweat, that the shirt is still ironed after the end of the game. “This does not mean that he praises the Spaniard, of course:” If in 2020 he was able to win Roland Garros with all the new conditions that existed, cold, hard terrain and he did not lose a set, I see him winning two or three more times there, and even four. “

Halep is still very much in mind the day he met Federer. It was in 2007, at Wimbledon, when she was still a junior player. “I went to the training courts, I had the junior credential and I went to drop off a racket, I saw him there, I froze. I didn’t know how to react and asked if he could give me an autograph. He asked me what I was doing there, how I was doing. It was very warm and gave me a very pleasant feeling. Although he was very famous and very good at our sport, he spoke to me and wished me the best, “Halep recalled. Over the years, the Romanian and the Swiss have built a cordial relationship.