Roger Federer said goodbye to tennis played this year, being now aware that he can no longer compete at the highest level. The King did his best to be able to treat himself to one last round of the carousel in 2023, but the conditions of his right knee forced him to say enough.
The three operations to which the Swiss has undergone in the last two and a half years have been of no use. The 41-year-old from Basel had tried a timid return in 2021, playing just 13 official matches and stopping again after Wimbledon.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion announced his decision to retire via a letter posted on Instagram and played his last match alongside Rafael Nadal at the Laver Cup. The former world number 1 has however promised that he will not step away from the sport which made him a global icon.
In this regard, it is rumored that the Maestro could join the BBC commentary team at the next edition of Wimbledon. In the latest episode of the ‘Court N°1’ podcast on RMC, Gilles Simon revealed that he had a rather simple tactic against Federer.
Simon on facing King Roger
Guest of the Court N°1 podcast on RMC, the newly retired Gilles Simon, aptly nicknamed “the professor”, shared a reflection on Novak Djokovic before talking about his opposition against the Big 3.
He notably evokes his ultimately rather simplistic tactics adopted against Roger Federer, whom he managed to beat twice in nine games. “For me, tactically it was easier to play against these players because they are so strong that there are very few spaces, very few things that they do less well than others.
So in the end, there’s nothing tactically brilliant about telling yourself that when I face Roger, I’m going to try to block him on his backhand because anyway he only puts aces, in the forehand he leaves you at two meters and at the net he is comfortable.
If there is a place where you can play and breathe a little, it is on the backhand side. For this reason, it is not an incredible tactic. Where it has always been harder for me, on the other hand, is against players where I have more options, choices, before making a decision.
I asked myself a lot of questions: ‘Am I going to play attacking because when I attack there he finds it difficult to defend, but on the other hand, when I let him play here he also gives some…’ You are always a bit between two waters and it is less clear, ”explained the Niçois.
