Federer retirement?

Is it imminent?

Why is THoF doing this - http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2015/05/19/Newport-Federer-Hologram-Hall-Of-Fame.aspx ?

I wonder what Nadal's plans are. Out of the current top 4 (yes, I know he is ATP #7 after Madrid). Get married - like his peers?

I think as long as fed can compete and beat the best players in the world and has a legitimate shot at a slam he will keep playing. The money is too much to walk away from and I think he enjoys the game and the love he gets everywhere he goes, who wouldn't. The tour as a whole is older lots of guy are playing at or near their best in their early thirties. I think barring injury the only thing that may speed up the timeline is if he bombs at the slams. I mean if he follows his relatively early loss at the AO with three consecutive poor slam performances that may impact his decision making.

Socal

Agree with most of your comment other than that the money matters. Federer (and all the other top players) has more money than he and his family will ever spend, so that isn't a factor.

Agree that he will keep playing for as long as he feels he is competitive and has at least a credible outside chance of winning another Slam, and that he does seem to get enjoyment just from playing the game. Of course as he ages, injuries or chronic issues (such as the back) could become more significant, but Fed has had an amazing record with regard to his durability.

laverfan I would say it is just another PR event that all tennis players have to do. I don't see any other reason to read anything else into it especially as he just won a tournament as little as just over a week ago.

Not yet. Istanbul suggests he's doing the rounds to play everywhere before calling time. Leads to the question when he will grace queens club

temporary21 wrote:Not yet. Istanbul suggests he's doing the rounds to play everywhere before calling time. Leads to the question when he will grace queens club

He has very close ties with the Halle event so I don't see him appearing at Queens

I don't think the hologram means much. The museum is sponsored by Rolex so I'm sure when they asked Federer to do it, it wasn't that big of a deal or any clue.

I do think Federer is entering the period that I have seen so many athtletes go through where the love of the game is there, but the tiny % of motivation that seperates the GOATs from the rest starts to wane.  It's taken him a long time to reach that point, but notice he no longer shows up to tournaments 3 and 4 days ahead of time to get ready and used to conditions.   Istanbul had something to do with it, but he showed up at Madrid the day before his match.  Rome- he had a whole week to show up and came late in the day 2 days before his match..     He no longer is traveling with his family to every tournament as the girls have reached an age where he has said the plan is to let them stay at home and and schooling longer.  So that has to suck some pleasure from the traveling away.  So now he is torn wanting to stay with the family and delays a day or two than he did before.  All those little things like that are a big difference at the very top.

My guess is also- knowing the way other athtletes at this point thought- he feels he can turn on the motivation he needs when he needs it.   Clearly, his clay game has declined a bit moreso than other surfaces and he even said in an interview before instanbal that his goal for the clay season was semis at RG and be healthy and give top priority to grass.   Never before would Federer state a "goal" as anything more than a win.  that tells me he's somwhat going through the motions through clay and hope to be able to turn it on for grass.

I've never seen an athtlete near the end of the carreer truly be able to turn that extra % needed on and off, so it remains to be seen if Fed can.

In a recent interview he did mention that he had talked to Edberg about how he had retired and Edberg said he regretted announcing it a year or so ahead of time because every tournament he went to was like a farewell party and hard to concentrate.....   Fed indicated that when the time came, he would just announce it without much of a warning............     Now- sponsors and TD's trying to wring out every last cent of publicity might push him to have a farewell tour, so it might happen anyway, but I think Fed would prefer to just call it a day when the time is right.

I don't think Roger will announce his retirement either. I think it will be sudden and painless as possible.. like ripping of an Elastoplast

As for Rafa Im not a betting person normally but I would put my last $ on him not marrying until he retires.  Look at all the Spaniards and tell me how many are married..??

erictheblueuk wrote:

temporary21 wrote:Not yet. Istanbul suggests he's doing the rounds to play everywhere before calling time. Leads to the question when he will grace queens club

He has very close ties with the Halle event so I don't see him appearing at Queens

Not even once before he retires? Its a big event for him to never appear in

Haddie-nuff wrote:I don't think Roger will announce his retirement either. I think it will be sudden and painless as possible.. like ripping of an Elastoplast

As for Rafa Im not a betting person normally but I would put my last $ on him not marrying until he retires.  Look at all the Spaniards and tell me how many are married..??

Is Lopez married? Hes the only one I can think of

temporary21 wrote:

Haddie-nuff wrote:I don't think Roger will announce his retirement either. I think it will be sudden and painless as possible.. like ripping of an Elastoplast

As for Rafa Im not a betting person normally but I would put my last $ on him not marrying until he retires.  Look at all the Spaniards and tell me how many are married..??

Is Lopez married? Hes the only one I can think of

No he is not, there was rumour that a girlfriend had had his baby, but marriage ??? no
If you remember, Carlos Moya never married until after his retirement, and then straight away they had a baby girl

It is not conducive to Spanish family life. They are very committed to family and the constant touring leaving family at home is not the way they like to live. If you notice Uncle T has time out every now and again to go back home to his family. So if Rafa does marry whilst still an active player I would be most surprised

temporary21 wrote:

erictheblueuk wrote:

temporary21 wrote:Not yet. Istanbul suggests he's doing the rounds to play everywhere before calling time. Leads to the question when he will grace queens club

He has very close ties with the Halle event so I don't see him appearing at Queens

Not even once before he retires? Its a big event for him to never appear in

Federer actually signed a "lifetime" contract with Halle a few years ago- They announced it with big signing ceremony. Basically he committed that as long as he is an active player and able too- he would play at Halle.. Huge for halle as it gives them the ability to lock up sponsorships to multi year commitments and know they have the top draw as long as he is playing. No way in hell Halle would let him out of that to go play Queens!

...play Queen's and pay taxes to Cameroon

dummy_half wrote:Socal

Agree with most of your comment other than that the money matters. Federer (and all the other top players) has more money than he and his family will ever spend, so that isn't a factor.

Agree that he will keep playing for as long as he feels he is competitive and has at least a credible outside chance of winning another Slam, and that he does seem to get enjoyment just from playing the game. Of course as he ages, injuries or chronic issues (such as the back) could become more significant, but Fed has had an amazing record with regard to his durability.

I disagree, no matter how much money you have it is really hard to walk away from a million dollars a week. Athletes are not like financiers, industrialists, real estate moguls. They will never see this kind of money again. They have to make as much of it as possible as fast as possible and squirrel away some investments. Sure Fed can continue to make money in endorsements and exhibitions, broadcasting etc. But as long as he is competitive and can command that kind of pay day, I guarantee you that it will be one of the big factors in his decision making. Maybe not the biggest, but it will be a major factor. A business owner when he wants to retire can sell his assets, fed's only asset is his ability as tennis player and it is a quickly depreciating one. As long as he is good can't see him walking away from it.

He has earned close to a billion $, I think its more of a sponsorship contracts that need to be respected then just earn money.

Moët signed a 5 or 10y one 2 years ago I think, so he has to push as far as he can playing.

But money is good, or so they say

I don't think it has much if anything to do with money as far as Federer is concerned.. its about the Kudos.  I think the adulation is somewhat addictive and its that he will find hard to give up.

I cannot imagine the state of Tennis without Fedalovicurray. The corresponding age differential at least makes it a bit easier on respective fans.

There was a poster on MTL, who followed Federer regularly. I recall a house in Valbella, CH that Federer had in the works.

http://www.perfect-tennis.co.uk/roger-federer-property-developer/

laverfan wrote:I cannot imagine the state of Tennis without Fedalovicurray. The corresponding age differential at least makes it a bit easier on respective fans.

There was a poster on MTL, who followed Federer regularly. I recall a house in Valbella, CH that Federer had in the works.

http://www.perfect-tennis.co.uk/roger-federer-property-developer/

The amount of gold hemming and gold plating that thing will have...

socal1976 wrote:

dummy_half wrote:Socal

Agree with most of your comment other than that the money matters. Federer (and all the other top players) has more money than he and his family will ever spend, so that isn't a factor.

Agree that he will keep playing for as long as he feels he is competitive and has at least a credible outside chance of winning another Slam, and that he does seem to get enjoyment just from playing the game. Of course as he ages, injuries or chronic issues (such as the back) could become more significant, but Fed has had an amazing record with regard to his durability.

I disagree, no matter how much money you have it is really hard to walk away from a million dollars a week. Athletes are not like financiers, industrialists, real estate moguls. They will never see this kind of money again. They have to make as much of it as possible as fast as possible and squirrel away some investments. Sure Fed can continue to make money in endorsements and exhibitions, broadcasting etc. But as long as he is competitive and can command that kind of pay day, I guarantee you that it will be one of the big factors in his decision making. Maybe not the biggest, but it will be a major factor. A business owner when he wants to retire can sell his assets, fed's only asset is his ability as tennis player and it is a quickly depreciating one. As long as he is good can't see him walking away from it.

You're right in most cases, but Federer is like Michael Jordan...There are a few at the top, the GOATs that will make far more after they retire.  Jordan, Nicklaus, Montana... guys like that that set up the right moves, reap massive benefits. they sit on boards of corporations and get paid crazy money just so CEO's can hang out with them. They are given shares in teams just so their name can be attached. The most Jordan made as a player was 45 million his last year with the bulls, and that was basically a huge bonus from the team for all the revenue he had brought in.. his regular pay was somewhere in the 12 million range.  His endorsements at the time raised it close to 75-100 million.  He's pulling down a cool $150 million a year now in his 50's.   Montana- no one ever hears about him barely... his highest salary 8 million.  He's on boards, a few commercials, apparel deals-  pulling down 25-30 million a year.   The world today is wide open for beloved athletes.

Fed's brands and contracts will make him hundred of millions of dollars after he retires..   Godsick, his agent and business partner in the management company recently said in Forbes that they have locked in contracts and deals in place when he retires that will earn him more than he is making per year now for at least the next 10 years.   Fed's Rolex contract is lifetime, his nike contact for 25+ years.   The management company will be a force when they ramp that up after he retires.  He'll prob own a tournament like Basel...     My prediction is Fed will flirt with being a billionaire when it's all said and done.  He is too smart and his team is too good not to rake it in.

So- I firmly believe Federer is playing for love of the game and also for the glory that athtletes feel from the adulation. That's the hardest thing to walk away from.     It's nice to make a million from your apparel sales, but a lot nicer to make $500,000 while people are screaming their love for you.   Certainly no one ever screamed for me, but I've been in the mix with the athtletes as they were jostled, screamed for, surrounded, and it's incredibly exciting.. even on the fringe.

I agree that Fed will be able to make a great deal of money after he is done. But even Jordan for example you don't see him on many commercial or endorsement deals once he was done. The kind of yearly money he makes now he won't be able to get after he is done. I am sure he has huge money invested and can easily and very comfortably live off of those investments. And I am sure he has plenty of doors to revenue open to him after he leaves and TRuffin you did a good job of documenting it. But it will still be a big drop off in income. Eventually, like you said if he manages his money well he could get to the billionaire status you discussed in your post. And remember though I never stated that money was the only or main reason, but I can guarantee you that the amount of money we are talking about as rich as Fed is will weigh in on him to stay as long as he still enjoys it and is healthy.

Fed will only worry if he gets down to his last 20million in the bank and nobody asks for his autograph

socal1976 wrote:I agree that Fed will be able to make a great deal of money after he is done. But even Jordan for example you don't see him on many commercial or endorsement deals once he was done. The kind of yearly money he makes now he won't be able to get after he is done. I am sure he has huge money invested and can easily and very comfortably live off of those investments. And I am sure he has plenty of doors to revenue open to him after he leaves and TRuffin you did a good job of documenting it. But it will still be a big drop off in income. Eventually, like you said if he manages his money well he could get to the billionaire status you discussed in your post. And remember though I never stated that money was the only or main reason, but I can guarantee you that the amount of money we are talking about as rich as Fed is will weigh in on him to stay as long as he still enjoys it and is healthy.

No argument and certainly it's a factor.. Like I said- it's more fun for these guys to make $500,000 while the crowds are screaming, then make 1 million from selling RF hats..so that is always a factor when deciding to retire- but to your  example- while you don't see Jordan doing the public deals he did before--   he's making far more now than when he was in all those commericals.  Trust me, I did it for a living-  marketing and setting up Athletes endorsements and portfolios.    Federer is making around 70 million a year right now--    He WILL make more than that per year for many years after he retires..  He has too many things set up properly not to..    

He and Nadal could actually just show up for Expos' and make more per year than they do on the tour in tournament winnings. Nadal gets towards 1 million an appearance and Fed up to 1.5... which the tour being just a small part of their income anyway.

It's nice problems to have for sure.   Back in my main years--  what these guys made was great money, but no where near the stratosphere the top guys make now.

I thought I would have a nose around to see what tour boys have been earning over recent times and came across this. Life after tennis is well assured for Rafa it seems

http://www.tennisworldusa.org/Rafael-Nadal-and-Enrique-Iglesias-Join-Hands-to-Start-a-Restaurant-Chain-articolo22472.html

I think if someone twisted my arm I could be persuaded to eat there

https://www.google.ca/search?q=tatel+madrid&biw=1093&bih=475&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=eL5TVdnfJYetyQTzi4CoBw&ved=0CF4Q7Ak&dpr=1.25

Nice, Rafa's restaurant adventure on a Fed retirement thread

On a more serious note, I think these Top athletes of their time, say Jordan, Tiger, Fed, Nadal etc. must try to hang on for as long as they can, not just for money/endorsements, but I can only think of the mental panic they must feel when their careers end and they are not on tour, but signing books, or doing silly TV adverts, they will get bored crazy, even with all the money, they will not be doing the thing they are known for.

ORIGINAL COMMENT BY OP

wonder what Nadal's plans are. Out of the current top 4 (yes, I know he is ATP #7 after Madrid). Get married - like his peers?

Nadal's plans for retiring, NOT Nadal's investment plans.

OP is about retiring, not what will they do with money.

Get the difference?

Haddie-nuff wrote:ORIGINAL COMMENT BY OP

wonder what Nadal's plans are. Out of the current top 4 (yes, I know he is ATP #7 after Madrid). Get married - like his peers?

ttp://en.mediamass.net/people/rafael-nadal/married.html

UPDATE 14/05/2015 : This story seems to be false.

Haddie-nuff wrote:It is not conducive to Spanish family life. They are very committed to family and the constant touring leaving family at home is not the way they like to live. If you notice Uncle T has time out every now and again to go back home to his family. So if Rafa does marry whilst still an active player I would be most surprised

OT, I assume Xisca (and in general Spanish significant others) will probably follow tradition. It must require enormous patience and very good planning.

temporary21 wrote:

laverfan wrote:I cannot imagine the state of Tennis without Fedalovicurray. The corresponding age differential at least makes it a bit easier on respective fans.

There was a poster on MTL, who followed Federer regularly. I recall a house in Valbella, CH that Federer had in the works.

http://www.perfect-tennis.co.uk/roger-federer-property-developer/

The amount of gold hemming and gold plating that thing will have...

T2, I do not think he knows what number to pick yet.

laverfan wrote:

Haddie-nuff wrote:It is not conducive to Spanish family life. They are very committed to family and the constant touring leaving family at home is not the way they like to live. If you notice Uncle T has time out every now and again to go back home to his family. So if Rafa does marry whilst still an active player I would be most surprised

OT, I assume Xisca (and in general Spanish significant others) will probably follow tradition. It must require enormous patience and very good planning.

Well as you see from my posts above, which contrary to opinion does have some  some bearing on the discussion,. Im sure that Xisca is more than happy to wait knowing that her future as  well as  Rafa 's is well and truly secure  when he retires

I have a question for those on the site who aren't fans of Federer. Sorry, it's nothing to do with this thread but it's popped into my head so I'm going to ask it:

What do you think of the brand of tennis that he plays?

If people thought I was a Murray fan, can I pass judgement?

Silver wrote:I have a question for those on the site who aren't fans of Federer. Sorry, it's nothing to do with this thread but it's popped into my head so I'm going to ask it:

What do you think of the brand of tennis that he plays?

One of my favourite events in sport is in test cricket, on a fifth day when a team is just trying to desperately hold out for a draw. Seven down with 20 overs left, and just the bowlers trying to keep in line with the ball and french cricket it out. Jimmy and Montys 2009 Cardiff rescue is one of the tensest most exciting things ive seen.

I say this to point out that Federers brand, though almost religiously worshipped, isnt typically my favourite sort of style. It WAS till I got older. Its the style of Novak, Nadal and Ferrer and co, that desperate struggle sort of tennis, back against the wall that while doesnt have the same flair is what I like. Federers style is a nice change of pace, and its especially good if hes up against the opposite style I like.

Nowadays though I find hes a lot more reliant on his serve, big points being saved by aces, or heavy kicked second serves, very gutsy, but a style Sampras put me off a while ago. A superbly skilled man no doubt but without a virtual wall for him to get by, I find his matches are too easily predicted by his serve.

Silver wrote:I have a question for those on the site who aren't fans of Federer. Sorry, it's nothing to do with this thread but it's popped into my head so I'm going to ask it:

What do you think of the brand of tennis that he plays?

A judicious mix of Federer and Nadal styles, is what I prefer. Djokovic seems to blend both styles with ease.

I am neither a fan of serve and serve and serve, nor of interminable rallies which rely on errors to win points. 20 shots (arbitrarily) may be my limit.

I too am not a fan of Fed's game, whilst I can appreciate the reasons why he has his followers. Sampras, brilliant he may have been, too left me cold frankly. Having been an enormous fan of Borg, (also Connors though different in his game) who I found electrifying. Then came Rafa and the world of tennis changed for me.
Never would I for one moment denigrate Federer, for all he has done for the game and all he has achieved is to be applauded. But he is not for me

So, what brand of tennis does Fed play, as you see it? Not who you liked and why?

Interesting comments, thanks

I'm surprised that two of you think that Federer is close to Sampras in terms of his approach, but I guess I can see the argument - especially when compared to the other top players.

Federer is the evolution of Sampras, his natural successor. His gliding movement and magic shots are the filler, the cornerstone of his game is his serve. He has the third best serve in the world, the two above him are nearly 7 feet, first and second its laser accurate, and super consistent. The serve forehand combo is whats won him his majors, the rest is the bonus stuff.

Feds a bit like John Cena. Johns the most famous wrestler of his generation, he does endless bits for charity, hes excellent, and well loved. However a lot of people dont take to him because in his prime all the stakes in wwe were gone because he barely lost! Neither he or Roger are to blame for that, but after a while some people look more to unpredictable drama, rather than the pure spectacle. Thats why Nadal and Novak are so important to the health of tennis as well.

Nadal is important, Novak will be forgotten then next day he quits tennis.

Well little late, so I'll comment on the OP and the whole existentialism bit Silver brought up.

- Story was revealed as false, but u think barring a pressing reason, or increasing time spent off the tour, it's incredibly hard for an athlete to retire. TRuffin touched on it, but it's incredibly difficult to find the high you get when 20 000 people are screaming your name, and you're the center of the universe. More than the money, thats the bit that really gets athletes. Ricky Hatton touched on it when he went through his depression. He couldn't get himself up for everyday existence. Couldn't feed the high that is live performance.

- As for Feds game. I'm not actually a huge fan of his game. I like the guy a lot, and there are moments where he turns it on, and I think woah, business just picked up. But as a rule, no, leaves me a little cold. I'm more of a fan of ridiculous athletes who are talented enough to play a sport, than ridiculously talented people who are athletic enough to play a sport. So Ronaldo and not Messi. Blake Griffin, not Tim Duncan etc. It's not a scientific classification and it's inherently wrong, but it's probably the easiest way to explain it looks.

@KR... Love your location. Fantastic bit of prose.

Talent is such a multi-faceted entity, that definitions can lead to perennial arguments across generations, technologies.

I ignored Federer completely in Federer v Cuevas and was taken by Cuevas who is probably considered cannon-fodder for the tour. There is a very thin line between the journeyman and the elite. Federer v Anderson, same.

Watched Fognini v Berdych and Djokovic v Bellucci. There is no lack of skills and athleticism . Fognini is a shot maker, but is an unsung player. The step below the elite is chock full of fantastic players.

Why should Isner be considered any less skilled than Berdych? He is using his assets to the most, as he can. He could have made much more moolah, IMHO, playing the NBA than playing Tennis.

It not just Fedal who are unique, every single player in ATP/WTA is unique, irrespective of their ranking. For example, Radwanska (U - for unknown compared to A) is an excellent one to watch.

Im with temp21 here. I like it when I see the effort put in, the passion, the fight till the very end, not the boring 6-0,6-0 effortless kind of tennis.

Fed has Rafa and then Novak to make his matches interesting, otherwise we may have very predictable and boring matches. Having say that, Fed these days has to fight harder to win, and I do appreciate him more these days. What I like to see is competition, not boring dominance. Even when Rafa was dominating on clay in the past, his matches werent easy all the time, and because of the nature of his style, his matches werent looking effortless and many times he brought his fans to roller coaster rides that were scary but exciting, that might explain why I'm his fan, and not a fan of Fed.

Belovedluckyboy wrote:Im with temp21 here.  I like it when I see the effort put in, the passion, the fight till the very end, not the boring 6-0,6-0 effortless kind of tennis.  

Fed has Rafa and then Novak to make his matches interesting, otherwise we may have very predictable and boring matches.  Having say that, Fed these days has to fight harder to win, and I do appreciate him more these days.  What I like to see is competition, not boring dominance.  Even when Rafa was dominating on clay in the past, his matches werent easy all the time, and because of the nature of his style, his matches werent looking effortless and many times he brought his fans to roller coaster rides that were scary but exciting, that might explain why I'm his fan, and not a fan of Fed.

I'm exactly the opposite as a watcher of sports, which is why I'm a Fed fan. I've always preferred the guys who make the near impossible look ridiculously easy, so Fed over Nadal, Lara over Tendulkar etc. The oddity is that when I was playing competitive sport my character was much more the Nadal type where I would fight for everything. Never minded losing if I was beaten by someone better (heck, realistically none of us here are THAT good at any sport, so we will always come across someone who can perform to a higher standard), but hated it is I lost because I did not perform well enough.

Well, maybe thats because you admire someone who can do it better(than you) hence you admire their effortless style. Anyway that doesnt mean a guy like Rafa doesnt have seemingly impossible shots, so to me having impossible shots is a skill in itself, regardless of whether it looks effortless or not.

For me Federer's style is very enjoyable but I find it boring after awhile unless he is properly challenged by a player who can return his serve and deal with his forehand. So often when he plays the average player on tour especially in his peak it was like watching target practice. It is when he is forced to defend and attack, and is put under pressure that his matches for me become enjoyable. For example, at times Tsonga on the faster courts would challenge Federer attack v. attack as opposed to relying on counterpunching to beat him and that was very enjoyable as well.

Like temp and others, I like the battle aspect of tennis. I like to watch athleticisim, shot making, and point construction. I enjoy beautiful winners like the next guy but better after a lengthy rally with a lot of great gets and movement. That way you know the guy who hit it had to come up with something really special. That doesn't mean I want to see endless rallies I just prefer a baseline oriented game and enjoy players that can attack and defend with equal or near equal ability.