Roger Federer has been given a standing ovation as the eight times winner of the men’s singles at the All England Club was honoured on day two of The Championships.
Key points:
- Australia’s Alex de Minaur called Federer the “definition of masterful elegance on a tennis court”
- Federer’s last match came at Wimbledon in 2021
- Federer has won more Wimbledon men’s singles titles than anyone else
The crowd roared and rose to their feet as the retired Swiss great entered the Royal Box to sit between Catherine, Princess of Wales and his wife Mirka.
Wearing a cream-coloured suit with his purple All England Club member’s pin attached to a lapel Federer waved and tapped his chest, repeatedly saying, “thank you,” as the applause and roars cascaded under the closed retractable roof on a rainy day at the grass-court grand slam.
Federer, who turns 42 in August, announced his retirement at the end of last year following a series of knee operations.
The last match of his career was a quarter-final loss to Hubert Hurkacz at the All England Club in 2021.
The straight sets loss was only the third time overall and first since 2002 that Federer had lost in that manner on the hallowed turf of the All England Club.
It ran in stark contrast to the beautiful tennis he had conjured up on the famous courts throughout a magical career, and it was that tennis that was honoured in a tribute video, that began with a long-haired Federer walking through the grounds ahead of his breakthrough 2003 title.
Federer defeated Australia’s Mark Philippoussis to win that year, in what would be the first of 20 grand slam titles and the start of a run of five at Wimbledon that stretched through 2007, followed by additional championships at SW19 in 2009, 2012 and 2017.
Novak Djokovic, who won his first-round match on Monday, is trying to equal Federer this year by winning a fifth consecutive trophy and eighth overall at Wimbledon.
Martina Navratilova, who won the women’s singles title nine times, holds the overall record at the tournament.
“When I stop, the tournament still lives on. The tournament is bigger than any player who’s ever lived,” a younger Federer said in an interview shown during the film on Tuesday.
“I really look forward to the day where I retire and I can come back and just have tea time, you know, on the terrace.”
That day has now come but Federer’s impact on the sport is not forgotten and a host of players paid tribute to him in a video shown on Centre Court.
“Roger is legend. He makes every shot look easy,” 2022 Wimbledon runner-up Ons Jabeur said.
Australia’s Alex de Minaur called him the “definition of masterful elegance on a tennis court”.
Taylor Fritz called Federer an “inspiration,” Coco Gauff used the word “icon,” and current women’s world number one Iga Swiatek labelled Federer a “really special player … one of the goats”.
‘Jealous’ Alcaraz dominates
While Federer was the focus of the day one of the heirs to his crown, Carlos Alcaraz kicked off his Wimbledon campaign on Court One.
The 20-year-old Spanish world number one needed little time to send French veteran Jeremy Chardy into retirement with a dominant 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 victory, that showed his title at Queen’s Club was no grasscourt fluke.
But knowing Federer was at Wimbledon and not watching his match left Alcaraz seeing more green than the grass.
“I’m really, really happy to get through this round,” Alcaraz said.
“After the match I was with the phone checking everything I have, all the stories, all the posts. I saw that Roger Federer was here. I was a little bit jealous,” joked Alcaraz.
“Honestly, I want Roger Federer to watch one of my matches obviously. I wish to talk a little bit with him. For me would be amazing. I hope to see him around more than once.”
Alcaraz will next play another Frenchman depending on the outcome of the match between Arthur Rinderknech and Alexandre Muller.
ABC/AP