Former tennis star Pete Sampras said goodbye to his Swiss counterpart Roger Federer in a video clip after the latter announced his retirement from tennis.

Sampras said in his farewell message: “I don’t know where to start but I’ll start from the beginning of the story when I first met you and you were 19 then I was the young player everyone was talking about and together we had a great fight on the main court at Wimbledon and you lost to me in 5 hard sets.”

“I remember very well walking off the field after meeting a very special player, but I didn’t know that in 20 years you would win 20 major titles, you would be number one in the world for years to come and dominate our sport.”

And added: “I know that you have sacrificed yourself and dedicated yourself to getting the right body and I know that you are very professional when it comes to preparation, what you have done has been exceptional, 20 years of creativity, pain and victories during your career, you should be proud of everything you have achieved.”

He concluded by saying “I want to scream and say that we will miss you in our sport but you left the game in good hands, I wish you a great end to your career and hope to see you someday.”

Johnny Khoury