The 20-time grand slam champion, Roger Federer, will, pretty soon, hang up his tennis gear for good.
Federer has been dropping hints about his retirement for quite some time now. And there is no denying that, at this point, the tennis legend is getting closer and closer to the end of his glorious career. However, the Swiss athlete still goes on to remind the world exactly what he is famous for.
Even though he is not getting any younger, Federer still ousted Kevin Anderson, the world's top seven tennis player, in a recent match at the Miami Open. He proved that, even at 37-years-old, he is still one of the tennis players to be reckoned with.
It was not just his skills that made him beat the top South African tennis player but his incredible efficiency and agility as well. One would expect less from an older athlete; it seems though that it will take a lot to wear down this tennis legend.
In an upcoming tournament, he will have more chances at proving that, in sports, experience sometimes does hold more value over youth. He will be battling Dennis Shapopalov, a Canadian teenager as well as an 18-year old named Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Moreover, he won his 100th career title earlier this month in a series of matches in Dubai, and then went on to steal the show at another match at Indian Wells.
However, as he is nearing the inevitable big 40, Federer cannot avoid talks of retirement forever.
He tells reporters that the only sign he will take as true and bring him to eventually go through with his retirement is if he loses the drive to play and becomes less competitive than he is right now.
He elaborates further on, saying that, if he feels like he cannot win tournaments anymore, then that would be his only reason. Another would be feeling like he did not have it in him to beat the best anymore. That one would surely be a big and bold neon sign for him to call it quits, the tennis champion declared.
The athlete goes on to say that, if his playing did not bring much happiness to himself, his family, and his wife, in particular, he would already stop at this point. But he says that, if he ever starts to feel too much pain in his body or like his body cannot handle playing at the level he is at right now, he will have to think about finally throwing in the towel in the sport he has loved playing and growing in.
