Roger Federer has won 17 Grand Slam titles thanks to his perfect timing – so he’s not going to make any errors with how he announces his retirement.
Federer may be approaching his 34th birthday but there is no sign of him slowing down, even though it’s three years since he won the last of his major titles at Wimbledon.
He is seeded second at the All England Club, arriving in London on the back of winning a record eighth grass court title in Halle.
In recent years, Pete Sampras retired at 31 and Andre Agassi at 36 but Federer is learning from his coach Stefan Edberg and keeping everyone guessing.
“Stefan announced he was retiring at the beginning of that season and he thought that was a bit rough,” said Federer.
“There was a farewell at every single event he went to and it was all just too much. I won’t be doing that.
“Honestly, I’m not really thinking about it. I’m not wanting to go there with my thoughts and the more I think about it, the closer I am to retirement.
“Obviously I need to think about it eventually but not at the moment.”
Federer – who lost last year’s final in five sets to Novak Djokovic – opens his campaign against Bosnia’s Damir Džumhur and claims to have benefitted from the extra week between the French Open and arriving in SW19.
“The game’s good and I’ve been playing well for a year now. It’s been a really good last week in Halle,” he added.
“It’s probably been the best preparation I’ve ever had for Wimbledon, for obvious reasons, because we have a week more on the grass but I’m sure everybody will say the same.
“Winning Halle has given me the extra confidence I guess it’s going to take for me to win this title again.”
