As Roger Federer enters into the world of retirement after playing on the Tour for 24 years, some are wondering what he might do next.
The opportunities in front of the 21-time Grand Slam champion are pretty extensive. He remains one of the highest-paid athletes in the world with Forbes magazine valuing his endorsement pay between 2021-2022 at $90M. He is an investor in the start-up shoe brand On which is already valued to be worth millions. Some of his sponsorship deals include Barilla, Credit Suisse Group (ADS), Mercedes-Benz, Rolex, Switzerland Tourism and Uniqlo.
In a way, Federer could easily decide to do nothing in the future considering he has already made his millions in the sport. One report estimates that the 41-year-old has earned an incredible $1.1BN throughout his career before taxes and agent fees.
Although, Federer has previously said he has no intention of disappearing from tennis in the future and hopes to remain involved in some capacity. How he plans to do this is unclear but one option could be to enter into the world of coaching. Something other greats of the sport such as John McEnroe, Ivan Lendl and Boris Becker have all done.
“I think that Roger can offer a lot. I mean, it’s logical to expect him to be able to share so many useful and valuable things with anybody, really. I mean, 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, I’m sure,” Novak Djokovic replied when asked by reporters about the possibility of Federer becoming a mentor.
“He’s undoubtedly one of the greatest players to play the game the way he played it, with his style and effortlessly. You know, people probably think that he was a god-given talent, but he always talks about the amount of time that he would have to spend working on perfecting the game so it looks easy.
“I respect that, and I know what he has to go through in order to execute the shots that seem easy but are actually very difficult to do.”
Throughout the Laver Cup, Federer was seen speaking with his teammates about match tactics. One of the unique qualities of the competition is that players can exchange advice among themselves whilst playing. Similar to that of on-court coaching on the WTA Tour but in a more casual manner.
Weighing in on the debate, former world No.1 Andy Murray believes a possible challenge Federer faces if he goes into coaching is teaching those who are not as naturally talented as him.
“I’m sure if he was to coach one day, which he obviously doesn’t need to, he’d pick players that I’d imagine he’d be motivated to be coaching in the big matches and helping there,” Murray said.
“The one thing that is I think 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. Sometimes he might see a shot and be, like, oh, maybe, you know, he should have played that one.
“He had the ability to play everything and he had so many options at his disposal that that’s the challenging thing also as a coach sometimes. But look, he’s great on the side. He watches a lot of tennis. He loves the game.”
It remains to be seen what Federer will do next after taking a well-deserved break from the sport. He will continue his involvement in the Laver Cup which his Team8 management company co-founded. Although there is one area of tennis he has no intention of going into.
“Not really keen to go into politics, to be honest, in this way,” Federer said. “Did some of it (he was a member of the ATP Player Council), was good in moments, but also sometimes not the best, you know.
“I need to step away from it and then maybe take a different direction. If I can be of any help, not an official role, I’ll always be there. An official role at the moment, I don’t see that.”
Federer ends his career with an extraordinary 30 Guinness World Records to his name.
