Roger Federer rules out ‘political’ role in tennis after retirement as stars back icon to step into coaching
Roger Federer has ruled out taking on a role as one of tennis lawmakers in retirement and has no immediate plans to replace Bjorn Borg as Europe’s Laver Cup captain.
Federer was unable to have a winning end to his illustrious career, being defeated in the doubles with Rafael Nadal on Friday before being on the losing end in the Laver Cup overall for the first time to Team World.
When asked about a possible role in the ATP or one of the Grand Slams in his retirement, he said: “[I’m] not really keen to go into politics.
“I did some of it, it was good in moments but also sometimes not the best. I need to step away from it and then maybe take a different direction.”
Borg has a contract to lead the European team in the Laver Cup until next year and Federer ruled out replacing him in that role at the next event in Vancouver in 2023.
The 41-year-old has said his immediate plans are to spend time with his wife Mirka and the couple’s four children. But he has been backed for a future in coaching by two of his Laver Cup teammates and long-term rivals in Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic.
Djokovic said: “I think that Roger can offer a lot. If he ever would consider doing that, I’m sure that he’s going to bring a lot of positive things to the improvement of that player, whether male or female, in every aspect on and off the court.”
Murray backed the sentiment and said the only issue with Federer as a coach might be how good he was as a player.
“The one thing that I think is difficult when you are as talented and have as many options as him is to remember that not everybody can do the things that he did,” he said. “He might see a shot and be like, ‘Oh maybe he should have played that one’.
“But he had the ability to play everything and he had so many options at his disposal that I think that’s the challenging thing also as a coach sometimes. I don’t know if that’s something that he will go into but I hope he remains part of tennis.”
