Tennis star Roger Federer decides to hang up boots after Laver Cup

Roger Federer, the elegant and enduring Swiss star who dominated men’s tennis for two decades but saw his more recent years marred by injuries and surgeries, said Thursday that he was retiring from the sport.

“I am 41 years old, I have played more than 1,500 matches over 24 years,” Federer said in an audio clip posted on social media. “Tennis has treated me more generously than I ever would have dreamed and now I must recognize when it is time to end my competitive career.”

Federer, the winner of 20 Grand Slam singles titles, said his appearance at next week’s Laver Cup in London would be his final competitive matches. He said he would continue to play tennis in the future, but that he would no longer compete on the ATP Tour or in Grand Slam tournaments that he once dominated.

“The past three years have presented me with challenges in the form of injuries and surgeries,” he said in a video on Twitter. “I’ve worked hard to return to full competitive form, but I also know my body’s capacities and limits, and its message to me lately has been clear.”

Federer leaves the game with one of the greatest competitive records in the game’s history: 103 ATP singles titles, 20 Grand Slam championships, a record eight men’s singles titles at Wimbledon and a record-tying five at the U.S. Open.

His decision to step away from the game comes after a similar one by Serena Williams. But unlike Williams, Federer was more definitive.

“This is a bittersweet decision, because I will miss everything the tour has given me, but at the same time there is so much to celebrate,” he said. “I consider myself one of the most fortunate people on earth. I was given a special talent to play tennis and did it at a level I never imagined for much longer than I ever thought possible.”

Federer, the son of a Swiss father and South African mother, was born in Basel, Switzerland in 1981 and spent his early years playing many different sports and was considered a particularly promising soccer player. But he definitively chose tennis after beginning to work with the Australian player Peter Carter, who began teaching at the Basel tennis club Old Boys to supplement his income as an aspiring tour-level player.

Carter eventually chose coaching full-time, and he and Federer formed a special bond as he helped the youngster develop his flowing, elegant game, including his often-airborne forehand and his versatile and sweeping one-handed backhand.