Should Roger Federer Announce His Retirement Now?

Roger Federer is arguably the best male tennis player in this open era. He has won 20 grand slams so far in his career. However, Roger Federer won his last grand slam – Australian Open in January, 2018. After that, he failed to win a single grand slam title in 2019. Federer was beaten by Novak Djokovic in a very closely fought 5 set match in the Wimbledon final in 2019. The question is raised whether he can win any Grand Slam again in his career or the time gas come for him to announce his retirement.

Roger Federer is the most successful Tennis player in terms of records. He reached 31 grand slam finals so far in his career which is the highest to date in the tennis history. He has an all-time record of winning 8 Wimbledon titles. He also holds the record of staying at the number one position in ATP World ranking for 310 weeks. (237 consecutive weeks). Federer also reached 50 ATP Masters 1000 finals. He won this title 28 times which is the second-best of all time.

So, the career of Roger Federer is certainly a thing to watch out for the young aspiring tennis players. However, one thing is very much evident at this moment. Roger Federer is now 38 years old and the age is certainly affecting his game. In the long 5 set matches in the grand slams, Federer is lacking the edge because of this age factor. Federer won the last ATP 1000 Masters in March, 2019 (Miami Open). After that, he failed to win a single tournament in this calendar year.

If we analyze the performance curve of Roger Federer in 2019, the statistics will not be very much satisfactory.

Hard Court (First Quarter Of The Season) :

Roger Federer was out of the Australian Open in the fourth round as he was beaten by Stefanos Tsitsipas in a four-set match. After that, he was again beaten by the same player in straight sets in the final of the Dubai Tennis Championship.
In the final of Indian Wells Masters, Dominic Thiem edged past the Swiss tennis maestro in a three-set match. The only win in this calendar year came in the next tournament- Miami Open where Roger Federer was able to beat John Isner in the final in straight sets.

Clay Court

In the first tournament of clay court season(Madrid Open), Federer was outclassed by Dominic Thiem in the quarter-final. After that, in the Italian Open, Federer was retired hurt and he did not participate in the quarter-final against Stefanos Tsitsipas. Rafael Nadal eased past the star Swiss tennis player in the semi-final of French Open in straight sets. Nadal always has the edge over Federer on the clay court and in this season also there was no difference in it.

Grass Court

Roger Federer won the first tournament of Grass Court, Halle Open (ATP 500 tournament) with beating David Goffin in straight sets. However, he had to accept a defeat against Novak Djokovic in the final of Wimbledon. It was a five-set classic encounter where Djokovic clinched the victory with a scoreline of 7-6 1-6 7-6 4-6 13-12 in his favor.

Hard Court (Last Quarter Of The Season) :

The Swiss tennis maestro was out of the Cincinnati Masters with a defeat in the round of 16 against Rublev. Grigor Dimitrov was able to beat him in the quarter-final of the US Open in a five-set encounter. Recently Federer was beaten by Zverev in the quarter-final of Shanghai Open.

As far as the statistics are concerned, it is not in favor of Roger Federer at this moment. At this age, it might be impossible for him to win another grand slam title in his career. So, it will be best for Roger Federer to announce his retirement by the end of this calendar year.