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A 40-year-old hero on tired legs writes a sentimental farewell at the Australian Open
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A fan holds a poster of Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka during the second round of the Australian Open.
PHOTO: AFP
MELBOURNE – Out there, in the quiet shadows of sporting retirement, it’s lonely. There’s no cheering, no competitive ache that rises in the arena, no daily testing of your mettle. Out there can be scary and it took an Italian to frame it perfectly.
“I’m afraid,” footballer Francesco Totti said in 2017 after his 786th and last game for Roma to a crowd of 70,000.
