Roger Federer reveals excruciating details behind injury that forced him to quit tennis
Roger Federer has revealed details behind the agonising decision he was forced to make over ending his tennis career, with details of the long-running battle he had with knee and back problems highlighting the scale of the challenges he was facing.
Appearing on the Served podcast with his old rival Andy Roddick, the Swiss maestro opened up on the extent of his physical issues like never before, as it was revealed he was using crutches to get around when his knee problem became chronic a year before his retirement.
“I know that your knee went bad, worse, really bad,” said Roddick. “When I saw you in Boston on 2021, the year before you retired, you were hiding your crutches to take photos. Your knee was terrible.”
Federer responded with a chuckle, as he said: “Those crutches do not need to be in the pictures!”
Famously, Federer never retired from a match in a career that saw him win 20 Grand Slam titles and he revealed he was hiding the extent of his knee problems in the final phases of his career, as he reflected that his great rival Rafael Nadal took a different approach.
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“I was always famous for never being injured,” continued Federer. “I dealt with some back issues, hand stuff, foot things, but never to the extent like it was with the knee at the end.
“It’s only once you’ve had surgery or you are out for a period of time that you are appreciative of how good you used to feel. All of sudden, you are thinking everything through in every moment of the match.
“I didn’t want my opponent or the press to know about my injuries. To protect myself and then on the other side, Rafa was so honest about his issues and I was asking… why is he saying all of that? Me, I can’t get out of the chair with my bad back and everyone thinks I’m perfect.
“I was tricky navigating the media, as I was at 80 per cent and they judged me at 100 per-cent. Look, I had an amazing career with a good and body, but it all came together in the end with the knee.”
Federer went on to reflect on his final match at the 2022 Laver Cup, as he played doubles alongside Nadal before an emotional on-court farewell.
“I felt relief in many ways, because the uncertainty was over,” he said.
“You live with this hope that maybe, just maybe, your body will cooperate again. But once I accepted it, the ending was beautiful.
“Sharing that with Rafa was not planned years in advance; it just happened that way. And I think that made it even more authentic.
“It felt like a perfect ending, considering all the history, all the times I played against Rafa, that he could be next to me,” he told Andy Roddick during a live edition of Served at the Laver Cup.
“When I realised I wasn’t coming back, it was emotional but also peaceful.
“I could share that moment with my team, my rivals, my family, and the fans.”
