‘Searching for Roger Federer’: An enthralling journey of a journalist who witnessed the Swiss maestro play in his home tournament in Basel
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Dave Seminara is a journalist and and former diplomat based in Bend, Oregon. In his story titled as ‘Searching for Roger Federer,‘ he narrates his experience of travelling to Switzerland to watch Roger Federer in action and he discloses some intriguing facts about the renowned pilgrimage in the country, Einsiedeln Abbey.
When Seminara reached the Abbey in 2019, he learned that Roger Federer had a history with the place. He came to know that the abbot was also named Federer and that he had baptized Roger’s children. It was a shocking revelation for him as he had no idea regarding this topic when he made his visit to Abbey.
“I had no idea that Mr. Federer had a connection to the place, but when I contacted the abbey to arrange my visit, the monks had a surprise for me. “Did you know our abbot is also named Federer?” asked Marc Dosch, the abbey’s lay representative. I had not. “Yes and he baptized Roger’s children,” wrote Seminara.
Abbot Federer also revealed to him that Roger Federer’s family tree intersected with that of his, and Federer is the equivalent of the Royal Family in the UK. “Roger would be equivalent to something like the royal family in the U.K., but here in Switzerland, we’ve never had a super-famous star, so we don’t know how to treat him because we don’t revere people here,” Abbot Federer said.
He revealed that he had been a huge fan of Federer since the past 15 years and that his love for Federer increased immensely in 2017, when he won two Grandslam titles at the age of 35. “I’ve been a fan for more than 15 years, but my admiration reached new levels in 2017 when Mr. Federer won two majors at 35 after nearly every tennis writer had already written his tennis obituary,” added Seminara.
Dave also wrote about Roger Federer’s return to the courts at the Qatar Open 2021 after two knee operations. Despite a quarterfinal loss, he remains hopeful of a good year for the Swiss. However, he revealed that the Swiss’ retirement in the near future was his biggest fear.
“Like all fans, I’m hopeful he will have more trophies to hoist — perhaps this summer at Wimbledon or at the Olympic Games. But I also live with the fear that he might retire soon, and so I felt a sense of urgency to make this journey before it was too late to see him play in person,” he wrote.
Dave Seminara reveals his experience of watching Federer in action
Dave Seminara was fortunate enough to witness Roger Federer lift his 10th Swiss Indoors title, while being present in the stands. The Swiss defeated Alex de Minaur in the finals, and during his victory speech, he broke down in tears.
Later, Seminara showed Roger Federer a photo of him lifting a trophy at the age of just 10 and asked him if the feeling of listing trophies had changed over the years.
“I showed Mr. Federer a photo of him hoisting a trophy at age 10, that was given to me by Madeline Bärlocher, one of his first coaches at the Old Boys club, and asked him if the feeling of lifting trophies had changed over the years,” Seminara wrote.
“It’s similar,” he said, smiling. “It’s been an incredible journey, it definitely hit me hard being here in Basel. I don’t take these tournament victories as a normal thing, I take it as something quite unique and special even though it’s been a lot by now,” he added.
Dave Seminara considers himself fortunate enough to watch his idol in action, in a full-packed stadium and more importantly in Roger’s home tournament. “The fact that I was able to walk in Mr. Federer’s footsteps, and sit in a packed arena with 10,000 unmasked fans and watch him play feels like a dream to me now,” he wrote.
Also Read: Find Out: What Paul Annacone, former coach of Roger Federer had to say on the Swiss maestro
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Nirmit Mehta
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