"The last set against Hubert Hurkacz was one of the worst hours of my career" - Roger Federer 

The reasons behind Roger Federer's retirement announcement and the factors that led to the decision have been subjected to a lot of speculation.

Over the course of an interaction with nzz.ch, Federer shed light on how difficult his comeback was during the Wimbledon Championships last year.

The Swiss got past Adrian Mannarino in the first round of the grass-court Major before defeating Richard Gasquet, Cameron Norrie and Lorenzo Sonego to set up a quarterfinal clash against Hubert Hurkacz of Poland.

Federer lost the match in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-0, and stated that the last set was "one of the worst hours of my career."

"The last set against Hurkacz was one of the worst hours of my career," he revealed. "I realized that nothing works anymore. It's over. The disappointment felt like fireworks in my head. I didn't know how to proceed with this knee. At the press conference, nobody asked how the knee was doing. I thought: Hey, am I such a good actor that nobody noticed?"

Roger Federer also recalled that he was not at his best en route to becoming the oldest Wimbledon quarterfinalist in the Open Era.

"It was tough, the whole comeback was extremely difficult. I was so far from 100 percent. Reaching the quarter-finals at Wimbledon was unbelievable for me," he said.

"I love the city, and to have someone like Bjorn Borg on the bench and to be surrounded by a lot of other players makes me very happy" - Roger Federer on ending his career at the O2 in London

John McEnroe alongside Roger Federer

Roger Federer, who will bid his final farewell at the O2 Arena in London, which is hosting the Laver Cup this year, stressed that he loved the city and relished having other players around him during his last tournament.

"I love the city. And to have someone like Björn Borg on the bench and to be surrounded by a lot of other players makes me very happy. Usually a career ends in defeat, you play alone, there's something sad about it. It would have been okay if I hadn't been able to play here at all, but now I can say goodbye to the fans on the pitch, as a player," he stated.

Team Europe has been captained by Bjorn Borg since the tournament began in 2017 and the Swedish tennis legend will continue in the same role at the 2022 edition as well.

Federer also informed fans that he would only be taking part in the doubles event and not the singles.

I'm happy and surprised at how good my shots are. But I won't be able to play singles, that was pretty clear beforehand. That's why it was no longer an option to compete at the Swiss Indoors at the end of October. I guess I'll play doubles here on Friday night and that's it," he stated.

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