Roger Federer, the 20-time Grand Slam champion, said Saturday he was still writing his "love letter" to the sport that "meant the world" to him after his induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island.
Federer, who joined broadcaster and journalist Mary Carillo in the induction class, reflected on his storied career in a speech that brought him to tears a few times.
"This is one of the greatest honors of my life," Federer said. "They call this the Hall of Fame, but fame was never the goal. My goal was to spend my life doing something I love ... with people who love it as much as I do."
The Swiss captured a men's-record eight Wimbledon titles and spent 310 weeks as the world No. 1. He also won six Australian Open titles, five U.S. Open titles and one French Open title.
He played with elegance, a signature headband – he quipped he wore more than 5,000 of them during his career – and almost always two pairs of socks.
