Some two weeks following Serena Williams announcing her retirement from professional tennis, Swiss star Roger Federer has announced that he, too, is hanging up his racquet. Federer, 41, has been hampered by a series of knee surgeries in recent years and has not played a tournament since Wimbledon in July of 2021. In that same tournament, Williams tore a hamstring. She, too, is 41 and has also expressed a desire to move on from tennis to explore other aspects of life. I remember watching TV as Serena lost to her sister Venus in the 1998 Australian Open, the first time the two faced off as pros. I can’t remember the first time I saw Federer play in a televised event, but I do recall thinking that he reminded me of what Baryshnikov might look like if he were a tennis player. Federer brings to an end to the long-running era of the so-called “big three” — Federer, Raphael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic. I’m sure I’m not alone in saying that I’ll miss seeing both Serena and Roger play, and I feel certain I’m not alone in wishing them well in the next chapters of their lives.
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