Former World No. 1 Roger Federer, considered by many as the greatest tennis player of all time, has been part of the International Premier Tennis League for a number of years, most recently with the UAE Royals. The Swiss Maestro answered some questions about his gameplay, family and colleagues on the tour.
Federer is a fan of French player Gael Monfils, and in what would be a portentous revelation, he described former World No. 1 Martina Hingis as his ideal mixed doubles partner. With the interview taking place prior to the announcement that the two would play together at the Rio Olympics in 2016.
Hingis, who has found immense success on the doubles tour since her return to tennis, is the youngest ever champion at Wimbledon, winning the title just shy of her 16th birthday; the two players are regarded as among the best in the sport, with Federer revealing the news in late 2015 via a series of tweets.
The two last played together in what Federer describes as ‘15 years ago.’ Federer has since won Olympic gold, taking the men’s doubles title with Stan Wawrinka at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
The veritable GOAT has plied his trade in a number of places – and it has not necessarily been on a tennis court; the Swiss and Australian former No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt played a singles match on speedboats being driven across the Sydney Harbour ahead of the 2015 Australian Open; but in perhaps one of his most iconic off-court matches, the 17-time Grand Slam winner played a singles match against former No. 1 Andre Agassi on the helipad of the Burj al-Arab in 2005 to promote the Dubai Duty-Free tennis championships.
“It’s one of the craziest places I’ve played,” he said.
The longtime music fan’s biggest indulgence, he admits, is CDs and vinyls. He is known to be a fan of music across genres; rap, hip-hop and rock are all part of the Swiss’ eclectic collection.
Federer is the celebrity crush of many over the world, but one celebrity Federer finds beautiful? “Apart from my wife, of course, I always liked Cindy Crawford!” He’s also a fan of fine dining – “Mirka (his wife, former tennis pro Miroslava Vavrinec) and I go out in different cities, try the restaurants there. Who wants to eat room service and Caesar salad everyday?“
The famously humble Federer is a grounded parent as well. The Swiss has two sets of twins – girls Myla and Charlene and boys Leo and Lennart, and his four children are not entirely aware of his fame. “They know I’m a tennis player. I told them my ranking once, they said ‘Oh Good,’ and that was it. I don’t want to talk to them about it too much.”
And he has two doubles teams on hand should he want them. “They have an interest in tennis now, and they play a little but, but come back in 15 years – I’m not so sure they will still have it then!”
Federer is seeded third at Wimbledon in 2016. It is a venue at which Federer holds the joint all-time record, and the surface – grass – on which he is strongest. Could the legend come back ahead of his momentous appearance at the Olympic Games?
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