"Roger Federer must have learned from me" - John McEnroe's brother Patrick jokes about Swiss icon having served as his ball boy in the past

A recent confirmation has shed further light on Roger Federer's early connection to John McEnroe's brother Patrick McEnroe: Federer once served as Patrick's ball boy. The American legend confirmed Federer's own statements recently.

Federer announced his retirement in 2022, with the Laver Cup being his last tournament. He got sidelined because of a knee injury that he faced during his quarterfinal loss to Hubert Hurkacz at Wimbledon 2021. Unfortunately, the Swiss couldn't have a fairytale ending as he lost to Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe while teamed up with Rafael Nadal.

Federer recently sat in an interview with Chris Russo for Mad Dog Sports Radio. The 42-year-old shared some interesting facts about his career in the interview. He also revealed during the conversation that he used to be the ball kid earlier in his career and once aided former French Open champion Patrick McEnroe as a ball boy. He was quoted as saying:

"Home town tournament Basel holds a special meaning for me because I was a ball kid there. (For) Two years, you know I was a ball kid of Patrick McEnroe in his final when he played there. He knows that, I have told him many times, then he feels embarrassed that I was his ball kid." (0:34)

His remarks subsequently caught the attention of the 57-year-old, who concurred with and endorsed Federer's statements via his X handle:

"Such a great interview by @MadDogSirius …. And yes it’s true… @rogerfederer actually did ball boy my match!!! He must have learned from me!!!!" said McEnroe.

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'I wouldn't want to be in Wimbledon every single day of the year' - Roger Federer's choice of playing in different locations

2023 Shanghai Rolex Masters - Day 12

Roger Federer further revealed his preference to not only compete at Wimbledon throughout his career. Despite winning the grass-court slam eight times he disclosed his preference for playing in diverse locations at various stages of his career.

"I wouldn't want to be in Wimbledon every single day of the year. So I think the mix-ups of playing, I don't know, in Tokyo, then going to play in Bangkok, then playing in Melbourne and you know, and Dubai, whatever, you name it, and go all the way around." (1:13)

The 42-year-old then expressed his love for the exhibition matches. Moreover, Federer also revealed how his encounter with Alexander Zverev in Mexico broke the all-time attendance record in a tennis arena.

"And that's why I loved playing exhibition matches you know, go to South America, go to Asia. Took Zverev on the tour. And... then we played in a bull ring of 40,000 people which was the record at the time for people in a tennis arena."

The 42-year-old has garnered attention for his upcoming documentary, 'Federer: Twelve Final Days', which is set to release on June 20. The Asif Kapadia-feature will give a first-hand experience of the last twelve days in the colossal career of the 20-time Grand Slam Champion.