‘Non-apologetic’ Roger Federer takes a cheeky jibe at himself as he enjoys retirement in Rome

At the same time, he also made a stunning appearance with his wife, Mirka, at the 2024 Oscars. His latest adventure has now brought him back to Europe, but not to his home in Switzerland. The 20-time singles Grand Slam title winner was seen on a holiday in Rome. 

He enjoyed the local delicacies of the historic city. Federer also teased his fans by donning his tennis whites as he visited the clay tennis courts in the city. In a carousel post that he uploaded, he shared multiple pictures of his time in Rome.

It also included his selfie from a tennis court wearing his Uniqlo t-shirt, reminiscing the good times on the court. He captioned the post in a cheeky jibe at himself as he never won the Rome Masters title.

Finally won Rome Wrote Federer.

Roger Federer was part of both the longest and shortest finals of the Rome Masters

The Instagram post by Federer showed the funny side of the eight-time Wimbledon champ yet again. While many players don’t like being mocked for their failure to win a title, the 42-year-old found the funny side nevertheless.

Had it not been for his career coinciding with that of the King of Clay, Rafael Nadal, the Swiss would have had many more titles on clay. But his paths always crossed with the Spaniard, who was almost unbeatable on the surface. 

Federer reached three finals in Rome, losing two of them to Nadal. Both of them are etched in history. Their first final happened in 2006, a thrilling five-set encounter. Nadal won the match 6-7(0) 7-6(5) 6-4 2-6 7-6(5) to successfully defend his title. It was the second of his ten titles won at the Masters event. 

The 2006 final was played over 57 games, still a record at the event. The duo then met in the finals of the 2013 edition as well. This time, they created the record for the finals with the fewest games at the event. Nadal won the match 6-1, 6-3, wrapping up the proceedings in just 16 games. 

Federer reached his third and last final at the event in 2015 but lost to Novak Djokovic. Nole won the match 6-4, 6-3. The Swiss maestro played in Rome for the final time in 2019, handing a walkover to Stefanos Tsitsipas before the quarterfinals in 2019. He finished with a 27-12 record at the competition. 

On clay, Federer retired with a career record of 215-53. Of the 103 career titles he won, 11 came on clay. He finished runner-up 15 times on clay, with 11 of those defeats coming against Nadal. In return, he could win only two finals on clay against the 14-time French Open winner.