Roger Federer Reveals Key Factor For Considering Retirement

Roger Federer agrees he is in the latter stages of his illustrious career but is not yet ready to hang up his racket and made it clear any decision on his retirement will depend on his family.

The Swiss ace won his 98th ATP singles title Sunday at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart. He beat Milos Raonic in straight sets to mark his return to the top of the ranking with his third tournament win of the season.

Federer took over at the top from long-time rival Rafael Nadal as the two continue their dominance over the rest of the players on tour. The duo have already won a combined seven tournaments this season and are well ahead of the chasing pack on the ranking table.

Despite the Swiss tennis legend dominating the tour and playing some of his best tennis, the question about his impending retirement is never far away. It always forms a part of his interviews and he has not changed his stance that at the moment he was not thinking of stepping away from the game that has spanned the last 20 years of his life.

Federer admitted he will retire when playing tennis becomes a burden on his family. The 20-time men’s singles Grand Slam champion revealed it could be an illness in the family or that his wife was not happy with the burden the ATP tour puts on the family, which he made clear was not the case at the moment.

The 36-year-old revealed more than his family, it was he who feels bad when he travels to train, which separates him from his four children and wife for lengthy periods during the season.

Federer is keen to play the rest of the 2018 season after taking a three-month break from mid-March to mid-June, and he has in the past refused to rule out the possibility of him playing at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. A singles gold medal in the summer games is the only major honor missing in the Swiss maestro’s kitty.

“It’s not like one of my four-year-old sons comes to me and says ‘Dad, that's enough’,” Federer said, as per the Express. “But I [will] stop when I feel that my tournament life is no longer good for the family.”

“Maybe somebody will get sick or my wife will not be happy anymore. But at the moment that's not the case. … She's happy when I play matches. If I have to go to exercise frequently, I'm more sorry that I'm so far away,” the Swiss ace explained.

Federer’s next commitment will be the Gerry Weber Open in Halle after which he will travel to London to defend his title at Wimbledon. He is the favorite to pick up his ninth title at SW19.