With Federer announcing his retirement, his series of great records will also be frozen: 103 titles, including 20 Grand Slam titles, 310 weeks of world No. 1, 369 Grand Slam singles victories, 23 consecutive Grand Slam titles Slam semi-finals and 36 consecutive Grand Slam semi-finals, and the oldest world No. 1 since the birth of the ATP ranking system.

　　In recent years, Federer has fallen behind in the "Big Three" competition with Nadal and Djokovic because of his health and age. His number of Grand Slam titles has also been overtaken by Nadal and Djokovic.

However, the huge repercussions of Federer's retirement still remind the world that records can be chased and refreshed, but some qualities still make him irreplaceable.

　　He is a legend spanning the two technical eras of tennis, old and new.

Today's men's tennis emphasizes faster speed and stronger strength. More top players choose to return the ball vigorously from the bottom line. Federer is also good at this, but he also has a skill that is increasingly "lost" - -Elegant, calm and freehand strokes, a style that is more in line with people's perception of traditional tennis.

　　Practicality and aesthetics, which have been proven to be mutually exclusive in tennis and various other professional sports, have been fused together under Federer.

　　In String Theory, considered the most in-depth book about Federer, the author writes: "Federer is a rare, supernatural athlete. Ability, the ability to mix spin and speed, the ability to mislead and feint, the ability to plan tactics ahead of time, peripheral vision, muscle perception, instead of monotonous control of ball speed." In Federer's technical composition, strength and speed Although it is an important part, he has more tennis "equipment". It is no exaggeration to say that he is an "encyclopedia" of modern tennis.

　　He is a fighter who is indomitable and battling injuries.

Injury to his right knee and the aftermath of mononucleosis have plagued Federer for years, but he managed an unprecedented 1,251 singles victories in his career, despite the fact that there were no shortage of injuries in the game. , he did not leave a record of quitting even once in his long career.

　　Before 2018, when his condition declined and he had been away from No. 1 in the world for 5 years, the outside world generally believed that he was not far from retiring, but at the age of 36 years and 6 months, he came back in 2018 after a series of hard struggles. No. 1 in the world.

He not only surpassed Agassi (33 years old) to become the oldest world No. 1 in the world, and became the player with the longest interval between returning to the world No. 1 (the original record was 3 years), but also surpassed Nadal's 9 years with 14 years and 17 days. , became the first player in the world and the most recent player in the world for the longest time span.

　　The career of "super long battery life" is the result of Federer's self-discipline and struggle.

In the past two years, he has undergone three operations in a row, but due to his age, his recovery is not as good as before, and his right knee eventually became his "Achilles' heel".

If there is a powerful opponent that no one can win in the competitive arena than time, at least Federer and time have successfully tug-of-war for a long, long time.

　　He is a role model for the professional sports world.

On and off the court, he is always polite, calm and elegant, caring for his wife and children, and keeping himself clean. Fans who take Federer as their idol will never have to worry about "collapse".

He is also the first person to surpass Sampras's Grand Slam record. With him leading the way, the chasers such as Nadal and Djokovic can better stimulate their potential.

　　The compliments Federer has garnered match his accolades and records, but they don't stop there.

His presence in the world tennis arena and even the world sports arena is pinned on a kind of nostalgia.

In him, the timeless beauty of classical sports and the efficient stimulation of the industrial age seem to coexist - despite the fact that, in modern sports, the former is being swallowed up more by the latter.

　　From this point of view, no one can "beat" Federer, and neither can time.

　　Yangcheng Evening News reporter Zhao Liangchen