Roger Federer announced his retirement from tennis last month and played his last match at the Laver Cup. The Swiss teamed up with his great friend and now former rival Rafael Nadal at the O2 Arena in London, but both men were beaten by Americans Frances Tiafoe and Jack Sock.
When the King announced his decision to hang up his racket, social media literally exploded and reactions came from all over the world. This decision did not come out of the blue, given the serious knee injury that plagued the maestro in the latter part of his career.
Last year, the 20-time Grand Slam champion had a tentative comeback, with nine wins and four losses. Everyone was hoping for a final round in 2023, but his body has been sending clear signals to Roger in recent months.
Guest of the latest edition of ‘ATP Tennis Radio’, Borna Coric has revealed that Federer is one of the reasons he started playing tennis.
Coric on his passion for Federer.
“I looked at him (Roger Federer), Goran Ivanisevic, Mario Ancic, all my big idols. I started playing tennis thanks to them, and he was one of those idols.
I watched him on TV and hoped to be able to play against him one day, that was my main goal,” Coric said. “I still remember watching Roger against Rafa in my old flat with my dad, wishing we could play against them in the first round.
He was one of the main reasons I started playing tennis and what he’s done for tennis is amazing so all we can do is say ‘Thank you so much’.” he added.
Borna Coric won his first ATP 500 title at the 2018 Halle Open beating Roger Federer 7-6(6), 3-6, 6-2 in the final. “It was the most special tournament of my entire career because just before the tournament I had only won two or three matches on grass in the last four years.
So, I was coming onto the grass and I wasn’t really hoping for the best, even if I won a round or two, everything would be perfect,” Coric said. Reaching the final playing against Roger in Halle was enough.
But obviously I played very good tennis and yes, it was something really amazing for me,” he added.
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