Roger Federer happy to have had his turn to set records during career

Roger Federer is happy he has had his turn to set records in tennis, regardless of whether they get broken.

Federer is a 20-time Grand Slam champion and stood at No. 1 for a total of 310 weeks—both among the many records he has set during his career. Now rivals are catching up, as Rafael Nadal has just won his 19th Slam at the US Open, and Novak Djokovic is approaching a total of 270 weeks at the No. 1 ranking.

Either way, though, he'll keep the memories and experiences of those achievements.

"Of course you would like to keep your records forever, but the goal was to set or break records," Federer was quoted as saying by Tages Anzieger. "I did that when I equalled, then got by Sampras. Nobody can take away these moments."

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Federer also admires the accomplishments of his rivals.

"I'm happy for anyone who gets the best from themselves," he said. "That Rafa could win, like Djokovic, two Grand Slams again this year, is an incredible achievement. I'm glad that he's fine again having had a few tough years behind him. I'm happy for him when he wins and he's happy for me. The respect is enormous between us."

"I also have a lot of satisfaction that I've been able to keep playing for a long time, and I'll try to keep playing for Grand Slam titles. But it's unbelievable that we have been able to accomplish so much for three players at the same time also."

Federer and Nadal are playing alongside each other at Laver Cup.