Netjets US Summer 2023

OWNER’S PROFILE
been fun. But I don’t miss having to put my body through the
ringer on a daily basis —you know, the constant beat down,
which can be quite grueling.
HOW TOUGH A DECISION WAS IT?
I don’t know what was harder—making the decision to retire
or figuring out how and when to exit the game. It wasn’t going
to be simple. Maybe because of what I mean to the game and
what the game has given to me. You have to make it somehow
prominent, for the fans but also for yourself. It’s supposed to
be a celebration, right? And I think we were able to achieve
that at the Laver Cup, for my family, for my fans, and for
me personally—I was very content and felt like I could move
on after that, because I finally had closure. But you know,
obviously, everything leading up to that was quite stressful
because you worry about that moment when you grab the mic
and you have to address the crowd. I knew it was always going
too hard for me.
TELL US ABOUT THAT OCCASION.
I mean, if you would have asked me “Where are you going to
retire one day?” I would have never thought the Laver Cup,
because it didn’t exist back then. So, the fact that it ended
up being the place where I retired and played my last game
with Rafa [Nadal], with all my rivals and teammates and
friends and legends all around me, it was like the perfect
emotional storm. I can’t believe it.
THE PERFECT SEND-OFF …
Actually, yes—the perfect send-off and it’s really beyond me
how that just happened in terms of the timing, because, as
an example, had the Queen passed away a little later, the
tournament would’ve been called off. And my send-off would
have been totally different. Now, I wouldn’t know where I’m
retiring or how I would do it, if it weren’t going to be at the
Laver Cup. I was even considering having it at the U.S. Open,
but then I was not playing there so I didn’t know how that was
going to play out, so it ended up all being perfect.
THE SEND-OFF ITSELF WAS ALSO, IN SOME WAYS, A
KIND OF FULL CIRCLE: YOU STARTED OUT BEING AN
EMOTIONALLY INTENSE PLAYER AND WRAPPED UP
YOUR CAREER JUST BEING PLAIN EMOTIONAL.
Yeah, it ended the way it started—you’re right. I mean,
42 NetJets