The retirement of Lord Federer: All that Federerverse will miss, and more

Roger Federer announced his retirement from professional tennis at age 41 after winning 20 Grand Slam titles

David Foster Wallace’s definitive piece ‘Roger Federer as a Religious Experience’, came out in the New York Times in August 2006. The year he wrote it, was RF’s best season ever — one where he won 12 singles titles, three Grand Slams, reached the finals in an astounding 16 of the 17 tournaments he took part in and ended with a season record of 92-5. Sure, watching Federer compete that year was mind boggling, simply because it was rare to see aesthetics and efficiency so gloriously come together in one sentient being. But even then, that very year he’d lost