Roger Federer's retirement announcement - who announced yesterday afternoon with his characteristic elegance that the Lieber Cup at the end of the month will be the last ATP tournament in which he will participate - was anything but surprising.
The Swiss is already 41 years old, has struggled in recent years with repeated injuries, has not won a Grand Slam title since 2018, has not participated in a major tournament since Wimbledon last year, has not appeared in the finals in four years, is as far from the game as he has ever been.
"As many of you know, for the past three years I have been dealing with injuries and surgeries," he wrote in his retirement notice.
"I worked hard to come back, but I have to recognize the limits of my body. I played over 1,500 games in 24 years. I understand that this is the end of my professional career."
In the case of Federer, the absence of the element of surprise does not prevent the astonishment.
His retirement announcement, even if it was expected, managed to produce the punch in the stomach that comes with big news that comes suddenly.
Suddenly, you need to digest.
Suddenly, you have to get used to the fact that Federer is not part of tennis.
"You changed the game," it says on the ATP website;
"A legend of the game" were the words they chose on the official Roland Garros page.
Federer celebrates his wins at the Wimbledon tournament, photo: AFP
"Tennis will miss you very much," wrote ESPN, while other sites went with the phrase "an era is over."
Past and present tennis players, as well as athletes from all fields, took to social networks to spread the words of farewell and especially thanks to the Swiss.
"Thank you for doing more for tennis than anyone else," wrote Canadian Milos Raonic.
"Thanks to you, people all over the world have learned to love our sport."
Federer, not that there was any doubt, walks off the court as a consensus.
He is such thanks to 20 Grand Slam titles, a record 369 victories in Grand Slam tournaments, 237 consecutive weeks in the first place in the world rankings, 65 consecutive victories on grass, 10 consecutive finals in Grand Slam tournaments, an appearance in the first place in the rankings at the age of 36, and also 0 retirements while playing.
It is a consensus because of all these, but not only.
Federer is one of those few athletes, known as GOATs, who have taken their sport to the purest places in terms of sport.
He was to the green tennis ball what Maradona was to soccer or Jordan to basketball.
He has made the sport he practices come closest to pure art.
His tennis was beautiful, clean, effortless, and above all good.
Watching his matches, especially against his great rivals Nadal and Djokovic, was sometimes an out-of-body experience.
Federer at his peak, photo: E.P
The last week, in which 43 Grand Slam titles in the form of Federer and Serena Williams left the sport, will surely re-flood the "greatest of them all" discussion.
In terms of numbers, the Swiss is not like that.
Nadal managed to save his strength and reach 22nd, Djokovic is stuck at 21st mainly due to bureaucratic matters, and the Swiss was stopped at 20th round.
And yet, just as the lack of the element of surprise has no meaning in his case, so do the numbers.
Federer, like the special athletes of his kind - unicorns they are called - is measured by the eyes and the heritage.
And these, plus tennis from another world, made it a consensus.
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