We never saw Roger as a future star, we believed only when he became World No.1 in the juniors, says Robert Federer
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Roger Federer
Roger Federer turned 40 on August 8 and deservedly received plenty of birthday greetings from fans, experts, colleagues and former player. The world of social media was flooded with sweet messages for the Swiss maestro.
From rivals Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal to the next generation Jannik Sinner and Felix Auger, the 20-time Grand Slam winner was showered by love and respect on his 40th birthday.
Speaking to blinc.ch ahead of their son’s birthday, parents Lynette and Robert too shared their views on a couple of interesting topics. Upon asked to comment on how Roger keeps playing at the highest level despite the odds, Lynette Federer explained. “No, not really, but he certainly follows his instinct and love of the sport. In addition, his body has coped with this relatively well at a high level over the past 25 years.”
“It’s just great how he still lives for tennis. And you can see what he’s taking on, all the efforts of rebuilding after his injury – that’s admirable. The way Roger is trying to come back from his knee injury is lovely. It’s amazing how he is still committed. Roger lives his dream. We accept that and don’t talk him into it,” father Robert added.
Although Federer reached the very top of the game and achieved special things, his parents only started to believe in his potential after he became a World No.1 in the juniors.
“We never saw Roger as a future star. For a long time, we just waited to see how things were going to turn out. When he became World No. 1 in junior at 17 years old, we started to believe in him,” Robert opined.
Federer’s parents were also asked to share their take on the ‘Roger Federer’ foundation, which has been a pioneer in helping the underprivileged children over many years.
“What Roger is doing for his Foundation is just great. For example, we were delighted that such a large amount of donation was raised for good causes at the auction of his memorabilia, the signed personal items such as clubs, match outfits and shoes. We are now helping over two million children. Last month we raised almost $5 million by selling Roger’s memorabilia,” Lynette Roger Federer opined.
“He will certainly do that more and more. But let’s wait and see when he resigns and what he then wants to do. We don’t know for sure either,” senior Federer added.
Federer skips Toronto & Cincinnati
Meanwhile, Federer continues to recover from his knee injury, which has kept him out of the North American hard court swing in Toronto and Cincinnati. While there is no official word on the maestro’s participation in New York yet, tennis fans would hope that he shows up for the US Open.
It is also important to note that Federer has not won the US Open since 2008 and a Grand Slam since the 2018 Australian Open.
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Vivek Krishnan
(767 Articles Published)