An emotional Roger Federer said he was still writing his love letter to the sport that “meant the world” to him on Saturday (August 29, 2026) as the 20-time Grand Slam champion was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island.
“They call this the Hall of Fame, but fame was never the goal. “My goal was to spend my life doing something I love … with people who love it as much as I do. “Tennis meant the world to me. “It’s a mentality I have. I used to play serve and volley, I had a transition game, I played way beyond the baseline sometimes, or on top of the baseline.
Not just playing, not just winning, but creating something new,” said Federer, who retired in 2022 with 103 ATP Tour titles. As his name entered the Hall of Fame, Federer said he was proud that Switzerland was coming with him, recalling how he loved watching tennis as a 13-year-old ball boy in Basel.
“This is one of the greatest honours of my life,” said Federer. And I would even try to sneak up on my opponents on my return, and some call it the SABR (Sneak Attack by Roger) today.
“I’m still writing my love letter to tennis, and my time as a player is done, but tennis will always stand at the intersection of everything I care most about,” he said. The Swiss said he was “incredibly lucky” to have played with different generations of tennis players, from Andre Agassi and Lleyton Hewitt to Andy Roddick, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.