The announcement was preceded by near to 2 years where he played virtually no professional tennis - but one has to cry for the game of tennis - he was one of the greatest players ever playing the game of tennis. He set an example of sportmenship for generations of tennis players to emulate. He was one of the three tennis greats that ruled tennis this century.
One can only hope that he has a wonderful retirement ahead of him. He still owns a home in Knysna - where he also have a very expensive cabin cruiser used for fishing. He loves both fishing and playing golf - both available in the Knysna-George area and one can expect that he would be visiting more often than he did in the past - his mother being an "Afrikaans boeretannie|" ,