"Every wife is important, mine is no different" - When Roger Federer revealed the one request wife Mirka had for him during his hectic career

Roger Federer and his wife Mirka met for the first time at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, and started dating soon after. The pair began dating soon after, when Mirka retired from tennis in 2002 due to an unfortunate injury.

Federer, on the other hand, continued to go strong for several years, getting married to Mirka in 2009 and seeing his wife give birth to twins not once but twice. The Swiss maestro finally retired in 2022, two decades after his wife.

During all those years, Mirka remained close by her husband's side almost always, at the same time remaining out of the public spotlight for the most part. In an interview with Inside Tennis in 2014, the 20-time Grand Slam champion opened up more about her role in his life, stating that she was 'important' to him like every tennis player's wife was important to their growth.

The former World No. 1 emphasized that her role in his career increased midway through their relationship, to the point that she came to every practice and match he played and spent all their time together.

"I think every wife is important. Mine is no different. She’s [always] been involved to some degree, but [she was more] involved, midway through our relationship … She came to every practice, every match, spent breakfast, lunch, and dinner together for years. It’s still very intense today, but we have kids and she’s seen 900 matches, I guess," Federer said.

Federer also revealed that through their hectic years together, Mirka had only one request for him -- that they spend as much time together as possible regardless of what happened.

"It would have been easy for her to say, “Look, can we not change it up or do it different?” I hear stories. Some guys don’t get allowed to travel maybe three, four weeks in a row somewhere.The only request she had is that we spend as much as time as possible together, which is what I wanted anyway," he said.

Roger Federer further added about Mirka:

"She’s okay missing one once in a while and not coming to practices anymore. But she’s been very important in my life, not just as a tennis player, but overall. I’m happy that she always thought in my best interest for me and my career and never pulled me away [from tennis]."

At the Swiss legend's retirement ceremony at the Laver Cup, Mirka was present as well, and the duo's emotional hug afterwards became one of the most talked about images from the event.

"You can't always run everything by Mirka" - Roger Federer

Wimbledon Tennis Championships - Day 8 - Source: Getty

In the aforementioned interview, Roger Federer also maintained that there some decisions in his career that he had to take himself, joking that he could not run everything by his wife all the time.

"She’s been amazing. But at the same time, I also have to be able to make decisions all by myself and do what’s best for me as a tennis player. Of course, in the back of my mind I always have family, friends, and everything … [and] you can’t always run everything by Mirka … I take decisions in the team, but as a leader, I also have to make decisions myself," Federer said.

Most recently, Federer and Mirka made an appearance at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships, where they were given the honor of sitting in the Royal Box.