Roger Federer’s retirement from tennis comes on the heels of Serena Williams’, bringing to an end two of the greatest careers in the sport in the span of a few weeks. His combined tally of 43 Grand Slam singles titles speaks volumes about his legacy, but his contributions to the sport go beyond the tennis aspect, according to Rennae Stubbs.
Six-time Grand Slam doubles champion Stubbs opined that both Federer and Williams were also quite fashionable, setting fashion trends with their respective outfits on the court over the years. By introducing aspects beyond the tennis they played, the duo took tennis into “a different stratosphere,” Stubbs believes.
Stubbs recently appeared on an episode of the Off The Ball podcast, where he reflected on the legacies of Serena Williams and Roger Federer.
“I mean, Serena and Roger really embraced the fashion side of tennis as well, you know, with the clothes that would hit the court. They took tennis into a different stratosphere in my opinion,” Stubbs said.
Stubbs further stated that his retirement will leave a huge void in the sport. He even revealed a past conversation he had with Williams, who told Stubbs that he feels she and Federer could retire at the same time. While it was an educated guess back then, it became a reality.
“But it’s a big void that they leave behind. Roger and Serena are synonymous. It was interesting because I had talked about this with Serena years ago and I assumed they both retired at the same time. And look at that, they’ve done that,” Stubbs said of the same.
The former doubles World No. 1 further opined that were it not for his injury problems and other personal circumstances, both players would have won more Grand Slam titles. Williams has 23 Grand Slam singles titles, one short of the all-time women’s singles record, while Federer has 20, two short of the current all-time men’s singles record.
“With the injuries that Roger had suffered over the last year and of course with Serena missing a year (while) having her son and then trying to bounce back from that. Certainly they probably could have achieved even more Grand Slam titles, both,” Stubbs added.
“It’s good that, like Serena, she gets a beautiful and very warm farewell” – Rennae Stubbs on Roger Federer
Source: www.sportskeeda.com