Swiss tennis great Roger Federer has announced he’s retiring from competition, saying that at age 41, his body is telling him the time has come. Federer has contended with injuries, surgeries, and a rising crop of new stars in recent years.

“I have played more than 1,500 matches over 24 years,” Federer said in a video message released last Thursday, after stating that his body’s “message to me lately has been clear.” His final American Tennis Professionals event will come next week at the Laver Cup in London. Federer has won 20 Grand Slam singles titles, including eight at Wimbledon.

Over his career, Federer has won more than 100 titles total and amassed a 1,251-275 record, according to the ATP, which adds that he never retired from a match, in singles or doubles.

Federer’s prodigious skills kept him at the top of the sport with remarkable consistency. At one point, he spent 237 consecutive weeks as the world No. 1 — an ATP record. In 2018, he became the oldest man to hold that ranking.

Earlier in his career, he notched 41 match wins in a row — a sequence that started the year after he won 24 tournament finals straight, from 2003-2005. Federer, who began playing tennis at age 8, recalled his early exposure to pro tennis as a ball kid in his hometown of Basel, watching players “with a sense of wonder.” He said that it made his dream of his own future in the game — and it drove him to work hard to achieve those dreams.

His decision follows a similar move by Serena Williams, giving the tennis world the most definitive confirmation of its generational shift toward younger stars such as Carlos Alcaraz, who recently won the U.S. Open. Williams, who turns 41 later this month, said she was “evolving” away from competition but left the door slightly ajar to a comeback after her farewell run in this year’s U.S. Open.

Federer, who has fought through years of injuries, was more definitive about his exit, meaning the Big Three of men’s tennis, which includes Federer’s longtime rivals Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, will soon be down to two.

Federer struggled to tame his temper and perfectionist streak in his youth, frustrating a series of coaches (and his parents, Robert and Lynette) as he shouted in anger and lost some matches he should have won. Over time, he learned to control his frustration and became, with rare exceptions, a model of calm and composure under pressure.

He has earned over $130 million in prize money, but his off-court income dwarfs that figure. With a vast portfolio of sponsors, he became the first active tennis player to earn more than $1 billion. Even in the past three seasons, when he played little or not at all, he remained the highest earning tennis player and was the highest earning athlete in 2020, according to Forbes.

And though he made it clear that his days of tour-level tennis would end, he hinted that he intended to continue playing a role in the sport. “Finally, to the game of tennis,” he said, “I love you and will never leave you.”