Federer likely to play exhibitions in Halle after retirement, says director
Halle is the only tournament Roger Federer is connected with by a lifetime deal. The Swiss player won nine titles here and he will seek his tenth later this year, after losing the 2018 final to Borna Coric. In an interview to Welt, the Tournament Director Ralf Weber explained how Federer can still be a part of the German event once he retires from the game. "We really want Roger to stay closely connected to the tournament. But there is still time, Roger is still a tennis professional. We basically think about exhibitions benefiting his Foundation. Roger would be open to it, I think."
For Weber, signing younger players has always been the key. In 2000 Federer got a main draw wild card after that Queen's rejected him one. This year Hyeon Chung and Alexander Zverev are to be there again. "We always tried to get new faces in the tournament. Roger Federer was once one of them and we always wanted to bring the next generation. It's important to make them feel close to our tournament. That creates friendship and connections."
Halle only hosts a men's event. "At some point we decided not to host any women's tournament in Germany anymore, but we still give players a platforms. I would like to once bring Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi for an exhibition here."
Federer recalled his co-operation with Stefan Edberg. They worked together in 2014 and 2015. "I initially contacted him because I wanted to understand what he had to tell me and not to teach me something in particular. Even if he did not have to say anything to me about tennis, it would have still been very inspiring. We mostly spoke about tennis. Sometimes I spoke to him too much because I wanted to make him understand certain things about myself but I am also able to listen well. He did the sane as well. Stefan really told me what he thought about me. When we were sitting next to each other, it seemed something unreal to me as I used to watch him just on TV. As a kid I was seeing him playing at Wimbledon.
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