Roger Federer hints at retiring, says he doesn't plan on playing in the Davis Cup

What’s the story?

Roger Federer, arguably the greatest player to set foot on a tennis court, recently talked about how it’s highly unlikely for him to represent his country at the Olympics again.

As he slowly moves into the twilight phase of his career, he has been facing a lot of questions from the media on when he plans to hang up his boots and bid goodbye to the game he loves so much.

He was quoted as saying, "I haven't officially retired from the Davis Cup. It's just because it's always highly unlikely that I'll play at this stage of my career. You know, I haven't set Tokyo Olympics as a goal either."

He added, "It hurt not being in Rio, but I was okay without it, too. I was flag bearer twice. I won gold. I won silver. I feel like I achieved a lot of great things at the Olympics. I'm not thinking that far ahead."

In case you didn’t know…

The 19-time Grand Slam winner has had a very successful 2017, having won the Australian Open earlier this year and the Wimbledon title for the eighth time in his career. He had last won a Grand Slam title five years ago, with his last win coming at Wimbledon 2012.

Critics had slowly written him off due to injuries and a drop in form. However, he shocked everyone this year by performing at an exceptional level and producing some amazing moments throughout the year, as he finished the year as World No. 2.

The heart of the matter

Since winning the Davis Cup for Switzerland in 2014, Federer has only played one tie for his country. He needs to play three more games so that he can be eligible for 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

He has suggested that he has no plans to play in the Davis Cup anytime soon, which means fans might not get to see him perform at an Olympics ever again.

What’s next?

Federer recently revealed that his plan for 2018 is to play as well as he did in 2017, as he hopes to win many more Grand Slam titles. Federer will begin his new campaign at the Hopman Cup that begins on December 30th in Perth.

Author’s take

Federer will go down as one of the most inspiring and loved players to ever grace the sport of Tennis. Having given many monumental performances in various tournaments over the years, age is slowly catching up with the legend.

He is no longer the youthful agile player he used to be and needs to prioritize his commitments so that he can prolong his playing career.