'Roger Federer was always moving in the air', says legend

 

2022 will also be remembered for being the year of Roger Federer's retirement. After 24 years of career, the Swiss champion has decided to hang up his racket. The former world number 1 played his last match at the Laver Cup alongside his friend and lifelong rival Rafael Nadal, who flew to London despite his wife Xisca being about to give birth to their first child (born 8 October).

The last two and a half years had been a real ordeal for the King, struggling with a serious right knee injury. The 20-time Grand Slam champion underwent three operations, but he was unable to recover the form necessary to compete at the highest level.

The 41-year-old from Basel had tried a timid comeback in 2021, collecting nine wins and four defeats. The condition of his knee did not allow him to increase workloads, convincing him to say enough. As a guest on the latest edition of the 'Advantage Connors' podcast, boxing legend Mike Tyson has revealed that he has always been a Federer fan.

Tyson on Roger Federer

"Novak Djokovic, definitely, and Roger Federer. Talking about Djokovic, he came back from all those injuries," Tyson said. "You know, I love Djokovic personally but I'm just a big fan of Federer.

When he was in his prime, he was always moving in the air. He's smooth. He's really smooth. Nadal was just all over the place. He's a great player, but he doesn't look great playing. Federer is smooth and very elegant."

Even in the past, Tyson has expressed his likeness for Djokovic as he once picked him as his favorite for overcoming injuries and beating his biggest rivals. “Novak Djokovic is my favorite at the moment. If he is okay, I really like to watch him.

He is my favorite because the way he has come back from injury and beaten guys like Nadal and Federer is amazing. He's a true fighter,” Tyson said. Since the vaccination mandates came into play, Djokovic has missed out on many important tournaments.

The most hurting ones for his fans were two Grand Slam events that he missed. At the start of this year, he could not travel to Australia to defend his Australian Open title. Later he had to skip the US Open because of travel restrictions for unvaccinated foreigners.

Here’s what he said. “My decision was not going to Australia, and I was prepared not to go. I understand that not being vaccinated today, I’m unable to travel to most of the tournaments. That is the price that I am willing to pay”.

Copyright 2022 tennisworldusa. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to tennisworldusa.org as the source