Federer holds nine records over Nadal and Djokovic ahead of retirement

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Roger Federer shocked the tennis world when he announced that he would be retiring at next week’s Laver Cup. The 20-time Grand Slam champion has seen many of his records surpassed by long-time rivals Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in recent years, but he will still end his career with seven big feats that his fellow Big Three members are yet to match.

Federer announced his impending retirement in a lengthy post to his social media accounts on Thursday. The former world No 1 has not played since suffering a “setback” with his ongoing knee injury at Wimbledon in 2021, undergoing a third knee surgery shortly after.

He was set to make his comeback at next week’s Laver Cup before playing his first proper tour event at home in Basel next month, then eyeing a proper season in 2023. But the 41-year-old confessed that he had to listen to his body as he made the decision to end his professional career at the upcoming team competition.

The 103-time title winner has long been named one of the GOATs of the sport, becoming the first man to break Pete Sampras’ former record of 14 Grand Slam title wins, winning his 20th and final Major at the 2018 Australian Open. It was only this year that his record was finally surpassed, with Nadal now sitting on 22 Grand Slams and Djokovic holding 21.

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But Federer will still retire with nine big records to his name despite seeing his Big Three rivals surpass plenty of his other achievements. Djokovic passed the Swiss star’s record for most all-time weeks at world No 1 in ATP history last year, but the 41-year-old still holds the record for most consecutive weeks at the top, with 237 in a row.

He also became the oldest-ever ATP world No 1 twice in 2018, returning to the top spot twice in February before reclaiming it in June at the age of 36 years and 10 months. While his Grand Slam record was overtaken this year, he still holds the most ATP Finals titles in history with six, though Djokovic is hot on his heels with five.

Federer is also unbeaten in some areas at the Grand Slam tournaments, even if he no longer has the most outright titles. He is the only player in ATP history to reach 10 consecutive finals at Major level from Wimbledon in 2005 to the US Open in 2007, the only man to win three of the Grand Slams at least five times, and the only man to reach the final of all four Majors in the same season three times over.

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Djokovic recently surpassed Federer’s record of 31 Grand Slam finals appearances, but he still holds the record for most semi-final and quarter-final showings with 46 and 58 respectively. And he went on an unbeaten streak at the US Open, winning five consecutive titles from 2004 to 2008. 

But there are no hard feelings between the members of the Big Three despite Nadal and Djokovic surpassing some of Federer’s most poignant records, as the 103-time title winner will say farewell to tennis with his long-time rivals by his side as they all join forces on Team Europe at the Laver Cup.

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