Roger Federer: "At the end I was relieved and happy to retire, it ended in the most perfect way"

Roger Federer has no regrets about his retirement, admitting in a recent interview that he now feels relieved and at peace with his decision.

After a wonderful career that lasted more than two decades, the Swiss maestro called it a day last year, retiring with one final hurrah at the Laver Cup. Federer was joined at the event by his biggest rivals on tour - Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray - as well as other colleagues like Casper Ruud, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Frances Tiafoe.

An emotional farewell ceremony took place in London after the 20-time Grand Slam champion partnered with Nadal to play a doubles fixture, the final tennis match of his professional career. Federer broke into tears during the ceremony, as did Nadal, Djokovic and the rest of the group.

Speaking to the New York Times, the former World No. 1 touched on his retirement and the days since, saying that he initially did not know how life without tennis and fans would look like, having had them as part of his life for so long.

The 41-year-old was, in a way, lucky with the COVID-19 pandemic, as he had already slowed down playing before the knee injury that eventually forced him to hang up his racquet.

"I always feel like I’ve reached a high point, and then it keeps going. Life without the game, and life without the fans, and life without the schedule that has dominated my life for 25 years has definitely been something I didn’t know how I would take. For the longest time I tried to come back and give it one more shot and leave the game healthy, but it was not doable," Federer said.

"But the good/bad thing about Covid, and with my knee surgery, is that everything started to slow down in the past three years, so it wasn’t like I came from playing 100 matches and then boom, it’s over," he added.

Reflecting on the Laver Cup ceremony, Federer called it the "most perfect" end to his career, adding that the presence of his family and friends at the occasion made it all the more sweeter for him.

Now that he's retired and happy, the Swiss maestro no longer has to "chase that itch" of competition anymore, for which he's very grateful.

"At the end I was relieved, I think, and happy to retire. It ended in the most perfect way at the Laver Cup.

"I was surrounded by my biggest rivals, and my family was there and my friends. For me it felt like, “OK, I’m good now. I don’t need to chase that itch anymore,” Federer said.

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"It’s nice to realize that people are still happy to see me" - Roger Federer

Roger Federer, F1 Grand Prix of Miami

Since calling it a day as a tennis professional, Roger Federer has taken to retirement life well and has been spending more time with his family on trips.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion has been busy exploring things that simply were not possible when he was still playing on the ATP Tour and sharing photos of himself experiencing all that on social media.

Having seen the response from fans, the 20-time Grand Slam champion is chuffed, admitting that it's nice to realize that people are still happy to see him.

"I started doing more trips that are fun with the family. I took my kids to Lesotho for my foundation’s trip to Africa. We went to the Met Gala. We went on the Orient Express with my parents, things that were just not doable when I played because it took too much time away from the game," Federer said.

"So different sorts of photos are coming out of me, and it’s nice to realize that people are still happy to see me," he added.