FITTING END AS LONDON PLAYS HOST TO LEGEND FEDERER'S LAST HURRAH

IT IS apt that London should act as the backdrop for Roger Federer's farewell.

- Matt Majendie

The ambition had always been for Wimbledon, rather than the O2, to play host for the final act of an illustrious career.

But at 41, and with more than 1,500 matches in his legs, his ailing knee, which was last operated on after Wimbledon last year with a view to returning to SW19, he decided it was a dream too far.

For a career so awash with special moments - 20 Grand Slams and 103 career titles - London has played a special part in defining him.

It was here where he properly announced himself on the international stage when, aged 19, he defeated his predecessor as king of Wimbledon, Pete Sampras.

It was on Wimbledon's hallowed turf where the first of the Grand Slam titles came two years later. He would win eight times there in total, and it was the tournament unquestionably dearest to his heart.

While the scene of some of his greatest victories, it was also the theatre of the most agonising of defeats: the five-set loss to Rafael Nadal in the 2008, and being on the wrong end of five-set marathons to Novak Djokovic in 2014 and 2019.

He would return to Wimbledon once more and, such was his ability on the grass, he made it all the way to the quarter-finals on virtually one leg before losing to Hurbert Hurkacz.

When surgery followed, many questioned if it was the last that had seen of him - and Wimbledon so it has proved.