"Roger Federer doesn't pull out, otherwise he doesn't walk on court" - When Swiss icon spoke about his dislike of mid-match retirements
Roger Federer boasts one of the most impressive resumes on the ATP Tour, out of which one record stands out more than others — the fact that the Swiss icon never retired midway through a match in his career.
Across two decades and more than 1,500 professional matches on tour, not once did Federer exit the court before the final point was played. Despite many instances where he was physically hampered and where pulling out of the match would have been the sensible alternative, Federer stood his ground on this particular principle of his.
One such match happened at the 2005 ATP Finals, where the 20-time Grand Slam champion took on David Nalbandian in the final. After beating Ivan Ljubicic, Guillermo Coria, and Nalbandian in the group stage, he took down Gaston Gaudio in the semifinals to reach the summit clash.
In the rematch against Nalbandian, Federer took the first two sets, both in tiebreakers. It was there that fatigue caught up with the former World No. 1, as he ended up falling 6–7(4), 6–7(11), 6–2, 6–1, 7–6(3) in a marathon battle.
Speaking at his press conference afterward, Roger Federer admitted that he experienced some "big fatigue" and that he couldn't serve the way he wanted in the final three sets.
"No, pain. Not real pain. Real big, big fatigue. I mean, the foot, obviously, was never at 100% the whole tournament long, but that actually didn't bother me. I mean, still can move better than I did this whole week, I know that. So that was already a little problem for me," Federer said.
"But then, you know, with the legs, that was what killed me because I couldn't push off, I couldn't stand the long rallies, I couldn't serve the way I wanted to. Really made things hard, you know. I had to shorten down the points, and obviously what he likes is to rally," he added.
However, when one journalist asked him if he considered retiring at that stage, and if perhaps he would have done so if it had not been the final of the ATP Finals, Federer immediately answered in the negative, saying:
"No, Roger Federer doesn't pull out. Otherwise he doesn't walk on court."
"Disappointment is always there, because I don't lose very often" - Roger Federer
In the fifth set, Roger Federer was actually 0-4 down before mounting a fightback, only to lose the match in the tiebreaker after that. When asked at this press conference if that mini-comeback was a silver lining for him, the 20-time Grand Slam champion stated that it wasn't the case, and that he was still disappointed about the result going against him at the end of the day.
At the same time, he was happy to finish the year on a good note and playing at a high-level, considering he was injured just prior to the tournament, to the point that he even had to use crutches at one stage.
"No, not really, no. I feel like I've had a great year and a great tournament. Disappointment is always there, because I don't lose very often, you know. I still get that feeling. It's good like this. I mean, I came much closer than I ever thought, you know, I would come to this tournament victory," Federer said.
"But, you know, it was unfortunate in the end. I cannot believe myself I came back in the fifth, but somehow I did. Yeah, there's sort of also pride in there, you know, of course, because three weeks ago I was still on crutches. Now to be back playing at the best level, I'm very happy about that," he added.
Roger Federer retired from professional tennis in 2022, playing in front of his fans for one last time at the Laver Cup in doubles with close friend Rafael Nadal. The former World No. 1's last competitive singles match came at the 2021 Wimbledon, where he lost to Hubert Hurkacz in the quarterfinals.