Roger Federer’s retirement was one of the key moments of 2022. The news was in the air, since the Swiss master had not set foot on the courts for more than a year, but his announcement marked the end of an era. The Swiss tried by all means to take one last lap of the carousel, but the condition of his right knee did not allow him to continue.
The 41-year-old player from Basel had attempted a timid comeback last year, playing just 13 official matches and stopping again after Wimbledon. The last two and a half years have been a real ordeal for him, who has not been able to play as much as he would have liked.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion played his last match with Rafael Nadal at the Laver Cup, the exhibition that he himself founded in 2017. On the day of his farewell, in addition to his historic rivals Rafael Nadala, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, his the family was there too.
His wife Mirka I was especially close to him at those times.
Mirka: «I fell in love with Roger Federer singing the Backstreet Boys!»
Today, Roger can finally enjoy his family, after many trips around the world.
Roger and Mirka had been dating since before they got married, in 2009. In fact, there is also a very curious anecdote about the birth of their love story, in the early 2000s, which suggests some details about Federer’s personality.
Mirka, at the end of the nineties achieved good results. Roger and Mirka had represented Switzerland together at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Federer said: «Mirka lost in the first round to Dementieva. My losses to Haas and Di Pasquale were not easy to swallow, but Mirka stayed there to support me.
It was then that we realized that ours was more than a friendship.» Mirka herself told the funny anecdote: «Roger sang the Backstreet Boys in falsettoand I was already in love!» A trick that worked very well!