“In the age of specialists, whether you are a clay specialist, grass specialist, hardcourt specialist or Roger Federer“. These words belong to Jimmy Connors, the American tennis player who dominated the world tennis scene from 1974 to 1983.

Next week (23-25/9) at the Laver Cup in London will be the final… performance of Roger Federer, the athlete who, as a ballboy in Basel, fell in love with tennis, played 1,526 matches at 24 and entered the pantheon of legends. The final of the “king” of sports due to injuries may not be what he dreamed of, but the final applause will be: he will be heard from … all the longitude and latitude of the earth.

“Roger ushered in an era of tennis development and increased the popularity of the sport,” said professional association president Andrea Gaudenzi, while Rafa Nadal tweeted: “I wish this day never came.”

Federer, along with Nadal and Djokovic, took tennis to … a new level, gave sports fans impressive fights and went down in history as the “Big Three”. Experts believe that the complete game of the Swiss pushed Nadal and Djokovic to improve theirs. It is no coincidence that Federer says in his resignation letter: “We pushed each other and together we took tennis to the next level.”

His earnings were not … accumulated in some bank, some of them were intended for children.

He was born in Basel, Switzerland. He loved sports from a young age. He played football, but when he got to know the world of tennis better as a boy with a ball, he abandoned the “round goddess”. To master this sport, he moved to the French-speaking part of Switzerland. When his classmates made fun of his French accent, he decided to be fluent in at least four languages. And that’s why later press conferences lasted for hours, because he answered in all languages.

But this is Roger Federer. Every day he tried to be better. Through his own… perfection, others have become better. He is called the “Picasso of tennis”. He “slid” across the courts with the plasticity of a figure skater. He quickly put the flashes of adolescence behind him and earned the title of gentleman.

The numbers of his success are… staggering. He won 1251 victories and did not give up in any of the 1526 games he played in singles. He has 20 titles out of 31 Grand Slam finals, where he scored 369 wins (60 losses). He has been world No. 1 for 310 weeks while he has a streak of 237 weeks. He has won over €130,000,000 in prizes and over a billion € in sponsorships.

But his income wasn’t… accumulated in the bank. Part of this, through his foundation, provides access to education for children in six of the world’s poorest countries. More than 650,000 people have taken part in its programs.

From a young age, Roger Federer, as he himself said, aspired to the stars. However, his lifestyle also made him a “star”…