Despite age and injuries, Roger Federer is retiring from tennis after making it look perfect at times during his storied career, writes DanWolken
But exactly two hours into his fourth-round match against Tommy Haas, it looked like an opportunity lost. Down two sets and serving at 3-4, 30-40, Federer was a point away from being broken and likely finished in the next few minutes.
It is impossible to know how much hinged on that shot, how many demons Federer might have battled if he had not made it. But its mere existence and the daring spirit from which it was born explains what it was like to watch Federer on a tennis court for two decades. Since then, there has been no expectation that Federer would be able to return at age 41 and play at a level representative of his greatness. Even if everything had gone perfect in his recovery, playing in 2023 was going to be little more than a goodbye tour. Still it feels wrong that Federer, perhaps the most universally beloved athlete of the modern era, will not even get that much.
More often, the all-time greats have to accept some level of indignity in their final act. Bjorn Borg lost two consecutive Grand Slam finals to John McEnroe in 1981 and decided he had lost his passion. Andre Agassi poured everything out at age 36 to upset Marcos Baghdatis in his final U.S. Open and had nothing left in the tank for the next round against the unknown Benjamin Becker.
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