Roger Federer has announced that he will retire at the end of the Laver Cup, a competition which takes place in London from September 23 to 25.
Adored around the world, the Swiss has written some of the most beautiful pages in the history of tennis, a sport that he marked forever with his twenty Grand Slam titles.
Back, in pictures, on the most beautiful moments of the career of "Roger" in major tournaments.
Roger Federer's first brilliance in a Grand Slam tournament dates back to July 2, 2001 on the London lawn of Wimbledon.
That day, the Swiss beat the American Pete Sampras, undefeated since 1996 in London in five sets (7-6, 5-7, 6-4, 6-7, 7-5), and qualified for the quarterfinals of final.
Two years later, Roger Federer won his first Grand Slam title still on the grass of Wimbledon.
He won against the Australian Mark Philippoussis (7-6, 6-2, 7-6).
In 2004, Roger won the first major of the season in Australia.
In the final, he beat the Russian Marat Safin (7-6, 6-4, 6-2).
In addition to his second career Grand Slam title, he became world number one at the end of the tournament.
It is also the beginning of his most prolific years.
In the 2004 Wimbledon final, Roger Federer beat American Andy Roddick (4-6, 7-5, 7-6, 6-4).
Two months later, the Swiss emerged victorious from a battle in five sets against the American and former world number one André Agassi (6-3, 2-6, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3) in quarter-finals of the US Open in New York.
The rest of the tournament is a formality.
He defeated Australian Lleyton Hewitt 6-0, 7-6, 6-0 in the final and won his third Grand Slam tournament during the 2004 season.
On the clay courts of Roland-Garros, a slower surface which is a little less suitable for his game, the Swiss fell from 2005 on a certain Rafael Nadal.
The Spaniard takes out Roger Federer in the semi-finals (6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3) and then wins his first title in Paris.
The beginning of a long series...
At Wimbledon, the Swiss met the American Andy Roddick in the final for a remake of the year 2003. Roger Federer won again (6-2, 7-6, 6-4) and demonstrated that the grass of the court central London has become his garden.
At the US Open, Roger Federer beat the American André Agassi (6-3, 2-6, 7-6, 6-1) and won his sixth career Grand Slam.
The following year in Australia, the Swiss defeated the Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis (5-7, 7-5, 6-0, 6-2).
Roger is alone in the world on the other three clay surfaces.
For his first final at Roland-Garros, Roger Federer falls again in front of the Spaniard Rafael Nadal.
A real machine on clay.
The Swiss managed to pocket the first set but lost in the next three (1-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6).
The two men meet a few weeks later in the Wimbledon final.
This time in his garden, Roger Federer won in four sets (6-0, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3).
In New York in 2006, Roger beat once again in the final of a Grand Slam tournament the American Andy Roddick (6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1).
This is his second year with three Grand Slam titles after 2004.
The start of 2007 resembled that of 2006… Roger Federer flew over the Australian Open and won against Fernando Gonzalez (7-6, 6-4, 6-4).
After another lost final at Roland-Garros, Roger took off again in the Wimbledon final and won against Rafael Nadal in five sets (7-6, 4-6, 7-6, 2-6, 6-2).
The Spaniard is increasingly bothering the Swiss on his favorite turf.
In New York, Roger Federer is still floating and wins in the final against the young Serbian Novak Djokovic (7-6, 7-4, 6-4).
In 2008, Roger Federer was corrected in the Roland-Garros final by Rafael Nadal (6-1, 6-3, 6-0).
The worst defeat of his career in Grand Slam.
A few weeks later in the Wimbledon final, the Swiss lost his title after a long night in London against Rafael Nadal during a daunting match (6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 9 -7) in 4h48.
However, Roger manages to bounce back at the US Open to win a new Grand Slam title during 2008.
In 2009, Roger Federer pocketed the only Grand Slam tournament missing from his collection.
In the Roland-Garros final, he beat Sweden's Robin Soderling and became the second player in the Open era after André Agassi to win all four Grand Slam tournaments.
He then went on to Wimbledon beating Andy Roddick again in the final, but this time in a more contested match (5-7, 7-6, 7-6, 3-6, 16-14).
A fifteenth Grand Slam victory which places him alone at the top of the rankings.
He started 2010 in the best possible way by winning the Australian Open against Briton Andy Murray (6-3, 6-4, 7-6).
In 2012, he found the Briton at home, in the Wimbledon final.
The Swiss won (4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4).
In 2017, Roger Federer came out of nowhere and reached the final of the Australian Open.
He finds his best opponent Rafael Nadal.
The Swiss won in five sets (6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3) in an extraordinary final after having been without a major victory for almost 5 years.
A form of rebirth at over 35 years old!
He returned to his London garden in July 2017. The Swiss won the Wimbledon final against Croatian Marin Cilic (6-3, 6-1, 6-4).
Roger Federer wins his twentieth and final Grand Slam title in Australia on Sunday, January 28, 2018. A victory that allows him to be the first player to reach the bar of 20 titles in a major tournament (today two less than Rafael Nadal and one less than Novak Djokovic).
Slideshow
Grand Slam
Australian Open
Retirement
Roger Federer
Roland Garros
U.S. Open
Wimbledon