“Roger Federer Wimbledon Celebration: What to Expect on His Special Day”

It will be big, overflowing, moving, popular. Indeed not: it will be intimate, discreet, elegant – but always moving. In short, one way or another there will be, but we still don’t know how. Let’s talk about the party that the All England Club, the private club that has organized the Wimbledon tournament since 1877, announced its intention to dedicate to Roger Federer in July.

“Roger is a great champion. We have a very close relationship – admitted club president Ian Hewitt -. I am pleased to announce that Roger will visit us as a partner. It’s always welcome. And yes, in due course we will appropriately celebrate his achievements at Wimbledon.” And then, in a sibylline way: “More information will follow”.

So let’s try to please ourselves, by imagining a video to be projected on all the screens of the club with the highlights of his career, the great victories of Federer, his 8 triumphs at Wimbledon; or a ceremony with his great adversaries and invited friends. There will surely be the presentation of a trophy, a plaque, a cup, more difficult but not impossible his presence on the field in the final alongside Princess Kate for the awarding of the winners. And a lot of tears anyway.

After all, last September’s farewell to the Laver Cup was certainly exciting, brimming with emotion; but in the idea of ​​saying goodbye to tennis at the end of an exhibition, however rich and well run, there was a bitter aftertaste. Federer had already returned to Wimbledon last year, during the parade of champions for the centenary of the Center Court, in a dark suit and white sneakers, while his last outings in competition had not been entirely cheerful: the defeat in the 2019 final against Djokovic after the two lost match points; and the terrible 6-0 conceded by Hubert Hurkacz in the 2021 quarters. In short, it takes a Fed Day to let some bitter memories evaporate and bring SuperRog’s extraordinary herbivore career to a fitting conclusion.

Among other things, the voices that still want him to be present in Church Road as a commentator for the BBC are becoming more and more insistent, perhaps not for the whole tournament but for the final stages. So let’s wait for new updates, and remember that great champions never disappear: at most they change roles.