“It feels good,” Roger Federer said about his life beyond tennis in an interview with GQ. “I said, ‘It’s fitting for me to be the first to go,’ when I retired in London at the press conference among Andy, Novak (Djokovic), Rafa, and (Bjorn) Borg and everyone else present.

“When I went on tour, I got time to myself without them, and now it’s their turn to have some alone time. Thus, it didn’t feel right to me that Murray, who nearly retired due to a hip injury, or Rafa, who had knee problems, didn’t know how long they would be playing. That’s why I’m glad she left first. To be honest, I wish they could continue for as long as I did.”

In response to a question about whether he still felt competitive, he said that it had “gone.” Federer was happy with his career’s ending because of his prior success in the game.

“Yes, absolutely. Totally,” Federer went on. “Because I’m happy and proud of what I accomplished, and I’ll never forget how cool it was when I broke Pete Sampras’ record.” or however cool you might be. And I will always remember that.”

Tennis has become more popular, thanks in large part to Federer. His charm and skill made it simple for ardent followers to continue following and for new fans to become interested in the sport. Federer’s popularity in tennis is so great that, in a Statista poll conducted shortly after his retirement, 34% of 2,210 respondents stated they would be “less interested” in watching men’s tennis once he retired.

Despite the eight-time Wimbledon winner’s more than a year-long absence from the game, fans are nonetheless curious about his whereabouts. According to Prime Video, a new documentary will chronicle the final 12 days of his career before his final game at the Laver Cup in 2022.

Federer said he doesn’t watch tennis as often as he once did but is still enjoying his retirement. But he watches what’s going on when one of his former foes and allies does something noteworthy.

“I mean, obviously, you’re aware when they’re in the finals, or you’re aware when Rafa comes, or you’re aware when Novak breaks another record,” said Federer. You know, everything is OK. However, I refuse to rearrange my schedule because, well, I have to see this match. However, I’ve definitely kept up with it, and I’m thrilled to see that, particularly with Novak’s continued success. It doesn’t stop.”

Federer also sent his best wishes to Rafael Nadal, who is set to retire this year after winning 22 major slams. He went on: “And Rafa, I obviously felt bad for him because he hasn’t been able to play as much as he would have liked to.” I’m hoping he can spend the summer doing what he wants to do.”