The timing of it all hardly could be more symbolic: All within a span of two weeks, Serena Williams plays what is believed to be her last match at age 40, Roger Federer announces he’ll be retiring at 41, Iga Swiatek wins her third Grand Slam title at 21, and Carlos Alcaraz gets his first at 19
The timing of it all hardly could be more symbolic: Within a span of two weeks, Serena Williams plays what is believed to be her last match at age 40, Roger Federer announces he’ll be retiring at 41, Iga Swiatek wins her third Grand Slam title at 21, and Carlos Alcaraz gets his first at 19.
After so much handwringing in recent years about what would become of tennis once transcendent superstars such as Williams and Federer leave the game — he told the world Thursday he will exit after the Laver Cup next week; she made her plans public last month, then lost in the third round of the U.S. Open on Sept. 2 — the sport does seem to be in good hands as it prepares to move on.
“They helped mold tennis into what it is today. We will miss them,” Nick Bollettieri, a Hall of Fame coach, said about Federer and Williams.
“Having these youngsters being No. 1,” said Bollettieri, who worked with the Williams sisters, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Monica Seles and Maria Sharapova, among others, “is going to make a big difference for the tours.”
First of all, let’s not forget: Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are still around — even if injuries, in Nadal’s case, and vaccination status, in Djokovic’s case, have limited their ability to compete at their best or always. They combined to win three of the year’s four Grand Slam titles, boosting Nadal’s total to 22, the most for a man, and Djokovic’s to 21.
Williams has 23, and Federer 20, and both have dozens of other trophies, Olympic medals, hundreds of weeks at No. 1 in the rankings, and so on.
They are standard-bearers not merely because of such statistics.
Williams became a celebrity as much as a record-breaking athlete and someone who helped expand the sport’s audience while inspiring plenty of kids to take up tennis.
Federer became a widely respected ambassador of the game, attracting fans and new players from around the globe, too.
