Halle, here comes Roger Federer again: ovation for tennis legend

Roger Federer on a tennis court for the first time since retiring

Roger Federer kept his word to the organizers of the ATP tournament in Halle and appeared Wednesday afternoon around 4 p.m. on the grass of the OWL Arena after the match between Daniil Medvedev and Laslo Djere (won two sets to one by the Russian). Federer was greeted by an ovation from the audience in the stands.

The organizers, who had pre-announced the Swiss champion’s visit but did not indicate a time, named the entire day of competition after him to celebrate both the 30th edition of the German tournament and Federer’s own 10 titles in Halle.

These were the statements to the audience from the legendary former tennis player, who took the court for the first time (though, of course, not to play) after officially retiring last September: “I am really happy to be here, to celebrate the 30th edition of the Halle tournament. A beautiful tournament, which gave me so much satisfaction, which I was looking forward to even when, perhaps, I was in a difficult period. My family is thrilled to be here, we are friends with the Weber family (who organizes the tournament, ed.), it is also shown by the fact that this is my first visit to a tournament since retiring after the Laver Cup. Thank you to everyone.”