Roger Federer has dominated the tennis court for the past two decades, but at the end of his career, the Swiss said on Friday that he was "nervous to get on the mic to express his thoughts after his last match."
According to British news agency Reuters, the 41-year-old has given countless on-court interviews during his illustrious career, but was worried he would get emotional talking after the final double finals.
During the event, many fans and Roger Federer himself became emotional and shed tears.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion expressed his feelings for his fans, rivals and his family.
At one point during the closing ceremony, his doubles final partner, Rafael Nadal, broke down in tears.
"Part of him is going with Roger Federer," Nadal said.
"It was a great honor for me to be with them on this historic occasion," the Spaniard said. And we shared a lot over the years.
Federer said he felt there were more words of thanks he needed to offer to fans in other parts of the world.
On retirement, he said, "It's not the end of everything, you know life goes on." I am healthy, happy, everything is great. And this is only a moment in time.
"I don't have any plans for where, how or when, but I do know that I'd love to go and play places I've never played before or go to all these people and meet them," he said. I would like to thank those who supported me over the years.'
Regarding the last tournament, he said that the difficulty in the Lever Cup was that the tickets had already been sold. People who might have wanted to come here could not. Maybe we all together will throw a party for him in the future.
