The duo of Federer and Nadal lost to Americans Jack Sock and Francis Tiafoe with the result 6-4, 6-7 (2:7), 9:11.
“It was a wonderful day. I’m happy not sad. I enjoyed this moment when I tied my shoes for the last time before the match. Everything happened for the last time,” said Federer, unable to hold back tears.
With 20 Grand Slam singles titles, 41-year-old Federer is the third most-titled player in men’s tennis behind Spain’s Nadal and Serbia’s Novak Djokovic.
The legendary athlete has been battling a knee injury for the past two years, last playing at last year’s Wimbledon where he lost to Hubert Hurkac in three sets in the quarterfinals. The Swiss tennis player underwent the operation so that he could decide the end of his career, rather than being forced by an injury.
In April, Federer announced that he would return to the court in September and play in the Laver Cup, suggesting that it could be one of the last events of his career. Initially, it was planned that he would participate in the home tournament in Basel in October.
As one of tennis’ Big Three, Federer held the record for most Grand Slam titles for several years, but his record was first matched and then surpassed by both Djokovic and Nadal.
During his career, Federer won 103 ATP titles, 20 of which were won in “Grand Slam” tournaments – eight in Wimbledon, six in Australia, five in the USA and one in France. The Swiss won his last “Grand Slam” trophy in 2018 in Australia, but the last time he won in ATP tournaments was in 2019, when he won four prizes, including winning the Miami “Masters”.
Federer spent 310 weeks at the top of the ATP rankings, including 237 in a row, which is an ATP record. Having not played for more than a year, the Swiss left the ATP rankings in July.
Federer earned more than $130 million in professional tennis. Although the Swiss did not play last year, income from advertising contracts and business allowed him to keep his place in Forbes’ top ten highest-paid athletes.
