I was barely a month into the job when I suggested that Roger Federer should never win another Grand Slam title. The then 17-time Grand Slam champion had just turned 32, losing to Sergiy Stakhovsky in the second round of Wimbledon (ending a streak of 36 consecutive major quarter-finals) and then to Tommy Robredo in the last 16 of the US Open . Leave it, perhaps, to the impetuosity of inexperience, but also to ignorance of a major back problem, which Federer later explained. Not that it was too controversial, nine years ago, to suggest that a tennis player’s best days in his thirties might be behind them. It’s just that since then Federer and Serena Williams, with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic now following their lead, have upended convention and expectation. “I’m heavily inspired by people like Usain Bolt or Michael Jordan or LeBron James or Valentino Rossi or Michael Schumacher: guys who have been doing things for a long time at the highest levels,” he told me after winning an eighth. Wimbledon title, a month before turning 36, in 2017. “I would marvel at what they did when I was younger. I couldn’t understand how they would be ready to fight day in and day out, train every day and give it 100%. I struggled with that a lot when I was younger. ” Federer also struggled with his physical condition and temper – throwing rackets, crying and swearing were not uncommon in his teenage years. But two new relationships forged in 2000 made a big difference. He began working with fitness coach Pierre Paganini, whom he had first met at a training center in Switzerland a few years earlier. The partnership lasted for Federer’s entire career. And he also met Mirka, who would become his wife nine years later. Both represented Switzerland at that year’s Sydney Olympics and played mixed doubles together at the Hopman Cup in 2002. Mirka’s career was ended by a leg injury later that year, but he quickly became the “rock” in his life . Mirka Federer (centre) regularly watched husband Roger in action at Wimbledon Federer’s most golden spell was between Wimbledon 2003 and the Australian Open 2010. He won 16 of the 27 Grand Slams he played in that period (and reached the final in six more). But even the autumn years of his career had a golden hue. Most notable of all was his run to the 2017 Australian Open title, which he achieved by defeating four top-10 players and winning three matches in five sets despite being 35 and missing the previous six months due to knee surgery . Federer was playing with a regenerated knee – and a backhand. A switch to a bigger racket two years ago has now paid off, giving him more power and spin, and more success against Nadal, whom he beat in the final. An eighth Wimbledon title in the summer followed, a 20th Grand Slam in Melbourne next January, and had Djokovic not saved two championship points on Center Court in the 2019 Wimbledon final, Federer would have become the oldest player to win a Grand Slam in the Open era. Wimbledon: Roger Federer record eight Wimbledon titles So many memories. None perhaps more special than winning the one and only French Open in 2009 to become only the sixth man in history (at that stage) to complete the career Grand Slam. French crowds were desperate for her to win the Roland Garros final against Robin Soderling, and many looked conflicted when Switzerland faced France in the 2014 Davis Cup final. A world record tennis crowd of 27,448 crammed under the retractable roof of the Stade Pierre Mauroy in Lille to see Federer win the prestigious team competition for the one and only time. Interviewing Federer was always a pleasure – albeit with perhaps one exception, just a few days before that Davis Cup final. The previous Saturday night at the ATP Finals in London, Federer had survived four match points to beat Swiss teammate Stan Wawrinka in the semi-finals. But Wawrinka was very unhappy with what Mirka was shouting from the stands during the match and the two exchanged more than a few words in the dressing room afterwards. Two days later, I was the only English-speaking journalist at the Swiss team’s first press conference of the week in Lille. They started with questions in English. There was only one subject he wanted an English-speaking audience to hear about. It certainly wasn’t the only topic Federer wanted to talk about. But, as always, he answered – even if his usual politeness was laced with a hint of irritation. The debate about the greatest of all time is in the eye of the beholder. Federer, statistically, has been outplayed by Williams, Nadal and Djokovic, but he played the game with a balletic grace beyond modern comparison. He had balance and coordination on the sticks. It had an iron forehand with a velvety touch. and Muhammad Ali’s feet. Federer says he used to cry after every match he lost until the age of 15, so it was a big surprise when he finally started crying after winning. And that was a big part of its enduring appeal. The tennis he played may not have been remarkable, but his warm and emotional character certainly was.
