🎾 Roger Retires

Hello there, it's Friday, 16 September. It's happened. The day has come. We knew it was coming but didn't want to admit it. But here it is. Roger Federer has announced his retirement from competitive tennis. If there wasn't enough going in the world we've now got this to process. But on the upside, he's got a few more matches left and it's National Guacamole Day. We're sure Fed loved a bit of guac. Who doesn't? Alright, let's get into it.

⏱ 1,700 words = 8 minutes

👀 2 very talented teens

THE MAIN GAME

🎾 Farewell Federer

The one-handed backhand. The free-flowing forehand. The graceful volleying. The effortless serve. Roger Federer made tennis look easy for 24 years but now he's called time on his incredible career.

Golden points: Overnight, Federer released a statement saying next week's Laver Cup team tournament in London will be his last event before he retires from competitive tennis.

• He hasn't played since the Wimbledon quarter-finals last year due to knee injuries and he says at 41yo his body has sent him a clear message that it's time to step away from the game he loves.

• He says that his love of tennis started when he was a ball kid in his hometown of Basel, Switzerland, watching the players as if they were giants. More than 3 decades later perhaps no player in tennis history has stood taller than Federer (metaphorically, there are taller players).

• He thanks his wife Mirka for enduring his goofy side on the road with him for more than 20 years. He thanks his 4 children - 2 sets of twins! - for supporting him. He thanks his family, former and current coaches, sponsors and partners, and competitors - most of whom he eviscerated on all types of surfaces all over the world.

• But he saved his biggest thanks to his "unbelievable fans" for inspiring him since turning pro in 1998 and winning pretty much everything there is to win. He says: "Without you, those successes would have felt lonely, rather than filled with joy and energy."

• He finishes with 20 Grand Slam singles titles (8 Wimbledon, 6 Australian Open, 5 US Open, 1 French Open), countless records, more than $130 million in prize money and much more in endorsements, a legion of fans who consider him the GOAT (the author of this newsletter is one of them), and a lover of chocolate. He's pretty much the real-life tennis-playing Willie Wonka.

The stat: OK, there are literally hundreds to choose from, but he is the oldest player to reach #1 at 36 in 2018. He got back to the top 20 years into his career when Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic were in their prime. We chose that because Federer says that's his greatest achievement. Can't argue with Fed.

They said it: "I would liken it to having the Opera singer Pavarotti singing Bob Dylan songs. That would be perfection in music. To me that is Roger Federer," - tennis legend Mats Wilander sums it up perfectly. The times they are a-changin'. 

What's next: We're still getting over Serena Williams retiring (or maybe not) but we'll get to see Federer play at the Laver Cup for Team Europe next week. Hold your tears until then, if you can.

QUICK SINGLES:

🏉 Rugby: The All Blacks stole a Bledisloe Cup classic last night in Melbourne. New Zealand beat Australia 39-37 at Marvel Stadium in a see-sawing match that saw 9 tries, 4 yellow cards, injuries concussions and plenty of drama. But the match will be remembered for referee Mathieu Raynal awarding the All Blacks a free kick on Australia's goal-line with 90 seconds to go and the Aussies up 37-34. Raynal deemed Wallabies #10 Bernard Foley to be time-wasting and the All Blacks scored a couple of plays later after the siren. Former Wallaby Tim Horan called it a "disgraceful decision" by the ref.

🥊 Boxing: Paul Gallen beat 2 Queenslanders last night in the boxing ring. You read that right, former NRL player Paul Gallen defeated ex-league players Ben Hannant and Justin Hodges an hour apart in Brisbane. Gallen got banged up but beat Hannant by unanimous decision then survived an onslaught by Hodges to win by TKO in the 3rd round of their fight. There were illegal shots all over the place but Gallen said he's gonna give Hodges a rematch in what will be his last professional fight, likely to be in November.

🎾 Tennis: Australia is in the box seat to advance to the Davis Cup quarter-finals. The Aussies swept Belgium 3-0 on Tuesday but the French were much tougher overnight. Jason Kubler lost to French veteran Richard Gasquet in straight sets but then Alex de Minaur beat Benajmin Bonzi in 3 sets to keep Australia alive in the tie. Fortunately, Australia has one of the best men's doubles pairings in the world in Matt Ebden and Max Purcell and they won in straight sets to get the W. It means Australia is now 2 from 2, sits on top of Group C, and looks good to progress with one tie remaining.

🏏 Cricket: Rachael Haynes has pulled up stumps on her international career. Haynes did it all as a player - 167 matches, 3 T20 World Cups, 2 50-over World Cups, Ashes wins, 7 state titles, a WBBL championship, a Commonwealth Games gold medal and she captained her country in all 3 formats. Oh, and she scored heaps of runs. But with plenty of cricket coming up - including another World Cup - Haynes said she wasn't feeling it so decided to call it a day.

🏉 AFL: We'll know the AFL grand finalists after a couple of huge preliminary finals. Tonight at the MCG, the Cats play the Lions. The Cats are firm favourites to win this but the last time the Cats and Lions played in a preliminary final at the MCG was in 2004 and the Lions won. Tomorrow arvo at the SCG, the Swans play the Magpies. These teams played at the SCG in round 22 and the Swans won by 27 points on that day. But the Pies have changed the size of their practice ground to mimic the smaller SCG so we'll have to see if that pays off. Not only will we know the grand finalists by the end of the weekend, but we'll also know the winner of the Brownlow Medal. That gets awarded on Sunday night.

🏉 NRL: Hold on, AFL, the NRL has got some finals of its own this weekend. Tonight at CommBank Stadium in Parramatta, the Eels play the Raiders. Eels halfback Mitchell Moses will play after recovering from a concussion while Raiders coach Ricky Stuart will look to keep his perfect record alive of winning in the 2nd week of finals - he's 3-0. Tomorrow night, the Sharks play the Rabbitohs at Allianz. Souths won't have star forward Tom Burgess - he was suspended for 2 weeks for a high tackle last weekend but it's been 7 years since the Sharks beat Souths away from Shark Park. The winners of these games advance to the preliminary finals next weekend.

LEFT OF FIELD

⚽️ Football: Here's a story that'll put your life achievements into perspective. Over in Ireland, Christopher Atherton became the youngest player to play senior football in the UK at the age of 13y 329d. Atherton came off the bench for Northern Irish side Glenavon and started with a bang - his first touch was a goal assist in the 6-0 win over Dollingstown. He beat the old record held by Eamon Collins who was almost a year older when he debuted for Blackpool in 1980. Then here in Australia, 13yo Ymer Abili became the youngest player in Australia Cup history when he played as Oakleigh Cannon's goalkeeper for the last few minutes of their game against A-League club Macarthur. Oakleigh lost 5-2 but Abili didn't concede any goals.

📽 Highlight reel: We're going full Federer today so check out 40 of his best moments the ATP Tour put together for his 40th birthday last year.

THE POLLING BOOTH

Thursday's result: 85.53% have never ordered a Pay Per View event.

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

• 🏉 10:15am Friday - NFL - Chiefs v Chargers - Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City - Foxtel, Kayo

• 🏉 7:50pm Friday - NRL - Eels v Raiders, Semi-Final - CommBank Stadium, Parramatta - Channel 9, Foxtel, Kayo

• 🏉 7:50pm Friday - AFL - Cats v Lions, Preliminary Final - MCG, Melbourne - 7 Sport, Foxtel, Kayo

• 🏉 4:45pm Saturday - AFL - Swans v Magpies - SCG, Sydney - 7 Sport, Foxtel, Kayo

• 🏉 8:00pm Saturday - NRL - Sharks v Rabbitohs, Semi-Final - Allianz Stadium, Sydney - Channel 9, Foxtel, Kayo

• 🏉 3:25pm Sunday - NRLW - Knights v Roosters - Allianz Stadium, Sydney - Channel 9, Foxtel, Kayo

• 🏉 4:10pm Sunday - AFLW - Demons v Lions - Casey Field, Melbourne - Foxtel, Kayo

• 🎾 10:00pm Sunday - Tennis - Australia v Germany, Davis Cup - Hamburg, Germany - 9Gem, Stan Sport, Foxtel, Kayo

All times AEST

THE MANAGER'S OFFICE

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