Wednesday, June 21 was Roger Federer Day at the Terra Wortmann Open in Halle, Germany.
Celebrating the 30th anniversary of the ATP 500 tournament, Federer was the guest of honor on Wednesday. The 41-year-old Swiss was part of an on-court ceremony in between second-round matches.
“This is my first time back to a tournament (since I retired), so it feels a little bit strange in a very good way,” Federer said. “I always feel once you’ve retired you need a proper purpose to come back, and that’s why we are here to celebrate the 30-year anniversary of the tournament here in Halle.
“With Halle, we go way back. I don’t know the first time I ever came here, maybe 22 years ago, and I played 18 years in those years. More than just a partnership, it’s also become a friendship over the years with the Weber family, first Gerhard Weber and then Ralf (Weber), who is now the tournament director. So it’s been a wonderful time, obviously also (I had) a lot of success here.
“(There were) great times–good moments spent as well in the second part of my career with the family. My kids would be running around all across the venue, and also the fans. We got to know them all. There [have] been a lot of moments for interactions, as well. It’s been really good, to be honest, and I always love coming here, so it’s really nice to come back again once I’m retired.”
Federer’s Halle record included 10 titles
Federer was 69-8 lifetime in Halle with 10 titles (2003-06, 2008, 2013-15, 2017, and 2019).
“The rise of our tournament to world-class level is closely associated with Roger,” Weber assured. “He has acted as an outstanding ambassador for us over all this time and produced headlines around the globe.”
Fed sighting
Nice to see a little bit of history between a tournament and a player. I bet Fed would still go 2-3 rounds here at this age.