After being victorious in Basel, Federer has withdrawn from Paris in an attempt to manage his schedule carefully. This might be seen that the 38-year-old legend’s retirement is a looming reality on the horizon.

During last week, Federer sped through his tenth Swiss indoor tournament to win the title. In his home town of Basel, he never dropped a single set against Alex De Minaur during their clash in the finals. Within 69 minutes Federer sealed a 6-2 6-2 victory over his opponent. Then Federer withdrew from the Paris Masters, scheduled the following week. His response to this was that he needs to pace himself to be able to remain longer within the ATP Tour.

Final Year before Retirement

Regardless of his withdrawal from Paris, the 38-year-old tennis star is still planning on playing in the ATP Finals set to take place in London during next month. It has been many years since he last won this season-ending tournament in 2011. Federer’s latest victory in his hometown placed brought him his 103rd ATP title. This is placing him a mere six behind tennis legend, Jimmy Connors. There are always more records to chase within the sport, but the sense that 2020 might be the last year before retirement for this Grand Slam champion with 20 victories behind his name, is growing.

During Federer’s interview following his winning performance in Basel, it became evident that it isn’t as much the physical toll on his body which is holding the star back, but much rather the mental toll on his mind which is getting heavy. While he was addressing the crowd, he was very emotional. He stated that it was indeed due to the hard work of the past week and the flood of thoughts that he had over his family, which led to his emotional breakdown. He also stated that managing four children is one of the significant challenges in his life.

Putting Family First

It is evident that family plays a vital role in the life of this father of four and that even though he is so close to catching up with Connors, he won’t be blinded by that possible achievement and in the process put his mind and body under unnecessary stress. He also stated during a previous interview that he is not planning on chasing records in his career. For this man, his family and his health are getting priority seats in his life, and everything else, including tennis, comes second to that.

For the moment it seems that it would only be injury or if something would happen to his parents which will mean an immediate retirement for Federer. Yet, he very much aware of the fact that his career is coming to an end and that his days on the court, playing for his beloved crowds is quickly running out.