Just months after his last visit, eight-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer descended on his beloved Center Court on Friday. Accompanied by his former coach and friend Severin Lüthi, Roger had a wonderful day in London, returning to the field where he won his first Major won and played his last singles match of his career.
Federer captured the Wimbledon junior title in 1998 before making two early pro exits in subsequent years. The Swiss made it to the quarterfinals in 2001 after that epic triumph over seven-time champion Pete Sampras in five sets.
Two years later, Roger won it all, claiming his first Major crown after beating Mark Philippoussis in the title shot. Federer had an incredible run up to the 2008 final, winning five consecutive titles before losing to Rafael Nadal in a thriller in that year’s final.
Roger regained the title in 2009 and added another in 2012 to match Pete Sampras’ record.
Roger Federer attended Wimbledon with Severin Lüthi
Novak Djokovic was too strong for Federer in back-to-back Wimbledon finals in 2014 and 2015, bouncing back two years later to become Wimbledon’s first eight-time winner.
The Swiss was one point away from the ninth All England Club Trophy in 2019, gave it his all against Djokovic and dropped two match points on serve in the fifth set in the most exciting Wimbledon final ever!
Federer’s 22nd and final Wimbledon season came last year, he was struggling with a knee injury but still wanted to do his best in the beloved event. The veteran stopped the clock and defeated four rivals to advance to the quarterfinals as the oldest player of the Open Era!
Entering just his sixth tournament since the start of 2020, Federer forgot his physical problems and moved on to week two. Lorenzo Sonego crashed on the fourth lap and the Swiss wanted more against Hubert Hurkacz.
Instead, the Pole pulled off a 6-3, 7-6, 6-0 triumph in an hour and 48 minutes for a place in his first Major semifinal. Federer experienced his first 6-0 since the 2008 Roland Garros final, running out of energy after a tight second set and ending his campaign before the semifinals.
Despite having more winners than unforced errors, Roger was far from the pace of his rival, struggling on serve and return and making too many fundamental errors. Federer earned a break in the second set and was unable to keep up the pressure on Hurkacz after being broken five times out of 15 chances offered to his opponent.
Hubert won the lead with a break to make it 3:2 in the first set and closed game nine after 28 minutes with a winning serve. Eager to up his game, Federer took an early break in set number two before Hurkacz pulled the break back at 2-4 with a deep comeback to regain his composure.
Roger didn’t play well in the tiebreak, struggling with his footwork and losing 7-4 when Hubert sacked two winners in the last two points. In one of his worst Wimbledon sets of his career, Federer took just 15 points in the third set to go on a 6-0 run and hit the exit door in the worst way possible.
Roger underwent surgery a few weeks later and never played singles matches again. The Swiss maestro retired alongside Rafael Nadal at this year’s Laver Cup in London, leaving tennis after 25 years on the tour.
