No Roger Federer Street in Basel, at least for now

Officials and politicians in Basel have begun discussions on how to honour the 20-time grand slam singles champion, who retired from the ATP tour last month.

FILE PHOTO: Twenty-time Grand Slam singles winner Roger Federer of Switzerland retired from the sport in September. | Photo Credit: AP

Swiss tennis great Roger Federer’s hometown won’t be naming a street after him - at least for now.

Officials and politicians in Basel have begun discussions on how to honour the 20-time grand slam singles champion, who retired from the ATP tour last month. His last professional event was the Laver Cup held at The O2 Arena in London between September 23-25 where he, alongwith long-time rival Rafael Nadal, lost in a doubles match to all-American duo of Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe.

But city surveyor Paul Haffner ruled out prospects of Federer getting his own street, an accolade already bestowed on him by some Swiss and German cities.

“The policy in Basel is that only deceased individuals have a square or a street named after them,” Haffner told Swiss broadcaster SRF.

Arguably Basel’s most famous ever resident and one of the world’s best recognised sportsmen, Federer already has a tram in the city that bears his name and discussions are under way on dedicating a building to him.