Epitomy of longevity!

Roger Federer of Switzerland poses with the 2018 Australian Open winner’s trophy (his 20th and last Grand Slam title) in Melbourne. Pic/Getty Images

Retirement is a word that every sportsperson dreads. When the sportsperson enters the early 30s, the word retirement starts to come in the mind a lot more than ever before. It is just an awareness that though the body is still good to play a few years, there are also younger, eager players ready to pounce and take your spot. By this stage of a sportsperson's career, the performances have been such that the pressure of expectation also grows. And with that pressure sometimes the sheer enjoyment of playing one's favourite sport diminishes considerably. And when that happens, that is perhaps the first sign that the sport is getting on top of the person. As the years go on, the sportsperson can carry on but the pressure of performance increases in correlation with the diminishing of the fun element of playing sport.

First-rate fitness regime

Roger Federer had an unbelievable career lasting almost a quarter of a century. That is a very long, long time to be on the top of the game. It was not just the supreme talent, but his superb fitness that allowed him to carry on for so long. Once that fitness slipped with surgeries to the different parts of the body, the fun level also decreased. He was now being beaten by players he would have toyed with maybe just half a dozen years earlier and that is never a pleasurable feeling. Sportspersons are very proud of their performances once they reach the peak and any dip in those performances means it is time to look at the ‘R' word. Every sportsperson wants to quit the game when people will say ‘why' rather than ‘why not'. Sadly, not too many recognise what that time is and linger for just that wee bit longer. That wee bit longer generally leaves memories with the followers of a top sportsperson struggling to ply his trade. That said, Federer will be remembered for posterity for not only his elegant game, but also for the way he conducted himself on and off the court. The rich tributes that he has received from all across the sporting globe is testament of the impact and imprint that he has left on the sporting world.

Also Read: Novak Djokovic hails ‘incredible moments and battles' with Roger Federer

Naresh Kumar

Heart-rending speech

His retirement announcement has to be one of the most poignant and moving speeches that one has heard. To remember every single person, every single aspect, every single factor that was with him throughout his career once again shows what a magnificent human being he is. His retirement speech is just a wee bit below that of Sachin Tendulkar whose speech moved just above everybody to tears. To see grown men crying in the commentary box when Sachin was speaking at the presentation ceremony was to show how much he meant to the cricketing world which was now not going to see him at the international stage again. Yes, he is thankfully giving glimpses of his God-given talent and ability in the Masters tournament which is currently going on and is bringing back memories of those golden days. Thank you very much, Sachin.

Also Read: Roger Federer retires: Former rival Rafael Nadal says 'it's a sad day for me'!

Naresh Kumar was a gem

Meanwhile, the Indian sporting fraternity lost a gem of a person in Naresh Kumar. There are very few sportspersons in the world who do not have a single enemy. Naresh Kumar was one of them. The one and only Ramanathan Krishnan is another one. Naresh Kumar was a thorough gentleman. He and his lovely wife Sunita were terrific hosts at sporting get-togethers at their elegant Kolkata home. Indian sport is going to miss Nareshji very much. May his soul rest in eternal peace.

Even as the second half of this week got some sad news for tennis buffs, there was much to celebrate earlier when two youngsters won the singles titles in New York and gave enough hints that they would be there for a long time to come. Carlos Alcaraz winning the men's singles and Iga Swiatek among the women's winning, their first US Open titles is probably the sign that as the old makes way for the new, there is so much to look forward to.

Professional Management Group