Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic pen heartfelt notes to wheelchair tennis ace Shingo Kunieda on his retirement

Top players including Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer took to social media to pen heartfelt notes congratulating Shingo Kunieda on his decorated career in wheelchair tennis. The Paralympic gold medalist announced his retirement online on Sunday (January 22) after a long and illustrious 21-years in the game.

The 38 year old has won a total of 50 Grand Slam titles across singles, doubles and four Paralympic gold medals and hung up his racquet as the reigning World No. 1.

Far beyond statistics, he is known to have inspired young para-athletes since he began playing at the age of 11 after being diagnosed with a tumor in his spinal cord that left him paralyzed from the waist-down.

The Japanese revealed in the post that he came to the decision after completing his 'Golden Slam', where a player wins all four major titles and the Paralympic gold medal, with his victory at his home Paralympics in Tokyo and then at Wimbledon last year.

"Today on Jan. 22, I made a decision to retire.Thank you, everyone!," Kunieda announced.

Tennis legend Roger Federer took to social media to congratulate Kuneida on his "incredible career" in wheelchair tennis and on a lighter note, welcomed him to the "retirement club."

"What an incredible career. It has been a privilege to watch you play and see you leave such an incredible mark on wheelchair tennis. Welcome to the retirement club," Federer posted.

Screengrab from Roger Federer's post

Novak Djokovic, too, took the opportunity to congratulate him and thanked him for being an inspiration to many.

"Congratulations on an amazing career. Thank you for inspiring so many people," he posted.

Screengrab from Novak Djokovic's post

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Novak Djokovic to lock horns with Alex de Minaur in R4 of the Australian Open 2023

Novak Djokovic in action at the 2023 Australian Open

Novak Djokovic will square off against Alex de Minaur in the fourth round of the 2023 Australian Open.

The Serb juggernuaghts into the fourth round, having won 24 consecutive matches in Melbourne, including the title at the Adelaide International 1 earlier this year. Despite facing a hamstring issue, the fourth seed showed no signs of slowing down, defeating Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets in the previous round.

Home-favorite De Minaur will step on-court after defeating Yu Hsiou Hsu, Adrian Mannarino, and Benjamin Bonzi in the previous three rounds. The 22nd seed will surely be looking to extend his deepest run at the tournament so far.

It will be an interesting watch as this will be their first on-court encounter.