Roger Federer feels "really relieved" to have retired from tennis.
Roger Federer has opened up about life after tennis
The sports star walked away from the game in September 2022 almost 20 years after he won his first major singles title at Wimbledon in 2003 at the age of 21 and he's now enjoying spending more time with his family, travelling the world and branching out into fashion design but he still finds it "strange" to be retired at 42.
In an interview with GQ Sports, he was asked how he feels about being retired and Federer replied: "I’m really relieved, if that makes any sense ... I mean, the last few years have been tough with my knee [injury]. You could feel the end coming closer. So when it’s all said and done and you’re over the line and you’re retired officially, you take a deep breath and you’re like, 'Wow, okay, that was good'."
He added: "You’re not [a tennis player any more]. You’re 'retired'. They’re like, 'What do you do?' I don’t know. I’m retired. It’s strange."
However, Federer has been keeping busy with projects including designing sunglasses for Oliver Peoples and he's also been working on a documentary for Amazon about his career.
He recently attended a screening of the film and admits he burst into tears.
Federer explained to GQ: "This [the film] was something I didn’t want to do. It’s like writing a book. I didn’t want to write a book. I just was not ready to write my story. So that was never an idea. Then when the end was coming nearer ... the question was: 'Well, do we want to have anything documented?'
"Just maybe more for my own story, for my own kids, for friends and coaches and my team. How about if we film a little bit of an over-the-shoulder type thing? Then at least we’d have something ... "
The movie was filmed before and after his final match in 2022 and he admits it was a tough watch.
The sportsman added: "It’s super emotional, hard-core to watch ... I watched a screening the other day, it was hard-core. I cried like six times."
Tagged in Roger Federer