[Onlyboyintheworld]

I am a big fan of roger federer but he seems to be struggling in recent years. Should he retire at the end of the year ? Or carry on playing and possibly damage
reputation ?

[MittenRef]

There is no way Federer's reputation could be damaged by continuing to play. No players quit just as soon as they're not World Number 1 anymore. I genuinely think Roger has a couple more Grand Slam wins under his belt before he retires.

Yes, Djokovic and Nadal are better players at the moment, but Federer has the quality and definitely the experience to win more Grand Slams. Watch out for him at Wimbeldon, he's a major contender.

[Ashnard]

It was only about a month ago that people were talking about his incredible post-US Open winning streak, and the fact that he has already picked up two Masters titles for this season. Yet the same people are already writing his obituary simply because he lost a French Open semi-final to the world no. 1 (no shame in that on Federer's weakest surface).

I just think there's too much BS surrounding Federer in the media. The truth is that the Federer of 2004-2007 is gone and will never be back, and that the current Federer is not quite at the level of the current no.1 and no.2. To believe otherwise will lead to inevitable disappointment. However, he still has the game to beat just about anybody else consistently on the ATP tour, and he still is a major Grand Slam contender. I still think that he has at least one more Grand Slam left in him, and that will most likely come at the US Open.

[C-Dawg]

That's just daft lol
It's the natural order of things. You start off the best, but then eventually better players come along to replace you. He's still a brilliant player, and as someone above said, his rep isnt going to be harmed by continuing to play

[internet tough guy]

Just the fact that he is still world number 3 and holding his own against the world's best, is an amazing acheivement at age 30 (31 this year I think?), considering as well that the game has developed to such levels of physicality - (slower courts, improved rackets pushing the game further towards defensive styles which is obviously more physically demanding). I often find it sad that former elite athletes feel the need to retire out of shame or to protect their reputation, I think Federer actually enjoys playing the game as much as the prestige of owning every tournament, so I don't think he should retire at all.

[kka25]

(Original post by Ashnard)
The truth is that the Federer of 2004-2007 is gone and will never be back

Why do you say so?

[.eXe]

Nah he's got a few slams in him, maybe not Roland Garros but he can definitely win Wimbledon and US/Aussie.

Federer enjoys (and is very good on) fast courts, which is why he isn't that dominant on clay

[Ashnard]

(Original post by kka25)
Why do you say so?

Well, back then he was knocking out about three Grand Slams a year and had a phenomenal win-lose ratio. Such feats would be really difficult for him to achieve now, partly due to the tougher competition and the greater physicality of the sport these days. I don't think that his actual level of play has decreased too much from those years (although it definitely has to some extent), but he is less consistent nowadays and is more prone to fatigue. Of course, this is all to be expected -- you cannot reverse the biological ageing process. There is very little reason to expect a world-class tennis player to be playing better in his early 30s than he was in his mid-20s.

[Chief Wiggum]

No, he's still the number 3 and I think he genuinely loves playing tennis.

I don't see why playing on would damage his reputation - obviously he's not going to win as much at age 30 as he did during his prime; that doesn't erase his previous achievements.

[Malevolent]

Why should he hes still playing at an extremely high level, just so happens his aging a little but why retire when your still the 3rd best player in the world. Hes not damaging his reputation if anything hes getting more because at his age hes still so good. Maybe Murray should retire been trying for so long but hasn't got a grandslam yet. If he can keep playing like this i see no reason why he cant win one or two more especially at US/Aus or Wimbledon.

[kiki64]

There's little doubt that Federer will never be as great a tennis player as he was two years ago. He will, however, remain the classiest, coolest tennis player. Ever. Don't get me wrong, I'm a die hard Nole fan, but I still enjoy watching great tennis players like Federer. Sadly, I think its time Roger stepped down and let Nadal and Nole continue on fighting over and over again for the Slam titles. Eh, I give Federer two years, then he's out of here. Maybe.

[Zerforax]

How far away from number 1 is he actually? He picked up a lot of points towards the end of last season and surely Nadal and Djokovic stand to lose a lot of points in the first half of the season?

I only ask this because I think I heard that he has the record for longest consecutive period as number 1 but not overall time as number 1 by a few weeks?