Roger Federer introduces a new definition of retirement. It has been nearly 21 months since the Swiss tennis maestro marked an end to his legendary career in the world of tennis. Fans started to see things in a different way when Serena Williams used the word ‘evolve’ instead of ‘retire’. As Roger Federer recently took center stage to address fresh graduates, he elaborated on his vision to see the retirement of athletes with a different vision.
Roger Federer’s agent Tony Godsick has always been more than just a professional associate. While his daughter Bella graduated from Dartmouth’s 2024 batch, the former pro did the honor of addressing the future generation with an enlightening speech at Dartmouth’s commencement. Dressed in black as a graduate himself, the Swiss tennis maestro started to see a similarity between the students and the players who dropped their studies to dedicate their lives to the sport.
Explaining how he sees graduation as a procedure in the world of tennis, Roger Federer said, “I’m even more impressed because I left school at the age of 16 to play tennis full time. So I never went to college but I did graduate recently. I graduated tennis.” While the statement lacked clarity, the former pro took a moment to explain the meaning behind the words.
“I know the word is ‘retire’ “Roger Federer retired from tennis” ‘Retired’, the word is awful! You wouldn’t say you retired from college, right? It sounds terrible! Like you, I’ve finished one big thing and I’m moving on to the next,” he explained.
Although the statement might seem to be unique in its own way, it came up with a close resemblance to the thoughts of Serena Williams. The former pro was the first one to oppose the word retirement openly.
Roger Federer’s words ring true with Serena Williams’
Serena Williams hung up her racket for good close to the time when Federer did. Even she didn’t find the word ‘retirement’ suitable and therefore coined a new term for it. In an interview with Vogue back in September 2022, the WTA legend mentioned the fact that she’s not retiring from tennis but actually evolving from it.
“I have never liked the word retirement. It doesn’t feel like a modern word to me….Maybe the best word to describe what I’m up to is evolution. I’m here to tell you that I’m evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me,” Serena said, enlightening the co-players and the whole tennis world with a thought that struck her mind while she planned to mark an end to her professional career.
The way Roger Federer explained the true meaning of retirement, not only enlightened the students but also gave players a new vision to look at their careers. As it found a close connectivity to that of Serena Williams, it also dropped a reminder to the good old days when they took the courts together.
