Holding all the aces
Interview | Mark Hodgkinson He’s gone from enfant terrible to chilled-out champion. Ahead of the start of Wimbledon on 23 June, voyager finds out what keeps the top seeded male player at the zenith of his game ROGER FEDERER ISN’T just a tennis champion, he’s also a racket-swinging nice guy – and a 21st century metrosexual male of the tennis world. But [...]
Interview | Mark Hodgkinson
He’s gone from enfant terrible to chilled-out champion. Ahead
of the start of Wimbledon on 23 June, voyager finds out what
keeps the top seeded male player at the zenith of his game
alt="Roger Federer hopes to win the Wimbledon men’s singles title">
ROGER FEDERER ISN’T just a tennis champion,
he’s also a racket-swinging nice guy – and a 21st
century metrosexual male of the tennis world.
But don’t for a moment think that he’s always
had impeccable on-court manners, an off-court
wardrobe full of Prada, his own cologne, and Anna Wintour, the
formidable editor of American Vogue, on speed dial. The life of
the greatest tennis player in history has been quite a journey.
It is difficult to picture it now, but Federer used to rage and
curse in the style of John McEnroe. In his junior days, and also
in his early years on the professional circuit, it was a common
sight to hear an irritable Federer cursing in Swiss-German,
or to see him sending his racket spinning and bouncing
across the court. “I would carry on like an idiot,” Federer
has admitted, and his mother, Lynette, tells me: “When his
behaviour was bad, we told him that it was bad, and that
it upset us. We used to say, ‘Come on Roger, get control of
yourself, pull yourself together.’”
across the court. “I would carry on like an idiot,” Federer
has admitted, and his mother, Lynette, tells me: “When his
behaviour was bad, we told him that it was bad, and that
it upset us. We used to say, ‘Come on Roger, get control of
yourself, pull yourself together.’”
talents. Many tour observers feel that Carter’s death led to
Federer, after the initial shock and amid the enduring sadness,
acquiring a fuller perspective and a new professionalism.
Carter was no longer coaching Federer when he died, but
the pair had maintained a close friendship. When he needed
to, Federer would call Carter for advice on how to handle
the pro-circuit. Sadly, Carter died in 2002 aged 37 while on
a safari holiday in South Africa, after the driver of the car in
which he was travelling lost control and careered off the road
– the driver and Carter were killed instantly.
alt="The world No 1 got a big shock earlier this year when he was knocked out of the Australian Open">
A “shocked and saddened” Federer initially struggled to
cope with the death of his dear friend, but the emotional and
psychological brunt of Carter’s passing forced him to grow
up quickly. “It was a very influential moment in my career.
It certainly marked me, and there was a reaction in terms of
how I look at life now. It was a hard moment, and I think of
him very often still,” Federer says. “I guess it made me strong
mentally, and I started thinking. I suddenly had time to ask
myself, ‘What do I need to do to get to the next level?’
“I know that I mustn’t get injured, that I have to stay
healthy, that I have to live for tennis. I’m not going to be
the best player in the world just fooling around,” Federer,
who has been renting a flat in Zurich, tells me. “I have to be
professional and serious, and stay that way for a long time.
That is the difference between the legends and those who are
just good players – legends are capable of keeping it going
for a long time. That is what I want to achieve, to become a
legend.” In fact, Federer has probably achieved this already.
alt="With fellow ‘Gillette Ambassadors’ Thierry Henry (middle) and Tiger Woods">
Sadly, Carter would never see his friend win his first grand
slam title, at the 2003 Wimbledon Championships, where
Federer famously broke down in tears during the prizegiving
ceremony. The win was dedicated to Carter’s memory
– proof, if proof were needed, of Federer’s good character.
And former champions now queue up to praise the man
from Basel, who won his twelfth grand slam title at last
year’s US Open, putting him just two short of the all-time
record set by American Pete Sampras.
“What Roger has been doing the last three years has
been nothing short of phenomenal,” says Sampras. “But I
don’t think that he is at all comfortable with how great he
is. Roger isn’t playing tennis for the limelight, for the pat on
the back. He’s a humble guy. He’s down-to-earth. Tennis
couldn’t have a better ambassador.”
There is one other person who has had an enormous
impact on Federer: his longterm girlfriend, Mirka Vavrinec, a
fellow Swiss and a former top 100 player on the women’s
circuit. Some have called her his media manager, but she
is so much more than that. And, although Vavrinec wears a
yellow diamond ring on her engagement finger, at the time
of going to press, Federer had only gone so far as to admit
that they call it the ‘I love you very much ring’. “I don’t
often get a chance to reflect on what I have achieved, and
it usually happens when I’m on vacation, and I’m talking to
Mirka,” Federer explains. “She will say to me, ‘Roger, I can’t
believe what you’ve been doing, that you’ve been winning
all these matches.’ That is the nicest moment for me, when
she tells me that she is proud of me, that I can handle it all.
Those are the times when I feel really good about myself.”
alt="The tennis ace has become an unlikely fashion icon, attending catwalk shows">
One area in which Vavrinec has really transformed Federer
is the way he dresses; he’s a whole lot slicker and smarter
than when they first met. In the early days of their
relationship, Federer was happy to slob around off the court
in a tracksuit and trainers. Now he is spotted in the frontrow
at fashion designers’ shows, is friends with American
Vogue’s Wintour and has been the cover star of Men’s
Vogue. It was Vavrinec who helped him to develop his own
Roger Federer fragrance, marketed as “elegantly sporty” (one
place to buy it is from the website www.tennisexpress.com).
Federer has voiced concerns that at times tennis was
taking over every aspect of his existence. “I have previously
felt as though I’m not being true to myself, which isn’t right.
I have to watch that tennis doesn’t dominate my life,” he
admits. But Vavrinec has helped to ensure that he has a more
balanced lifestyle. He had previously been known to watch
old footage of his matches, sometimes ball by ball. “Playing
tennis and watching myself play tennis was all I did,” he
reflects. He has also cut down on the time he spends playing
tennis video games, occasionally as his own Federer avatar.
alt="With his longterm girlfriend Mirka Vavrinec, a former pro tennis player">
But however much he’s matured, Vavrinec can testify that
in some aspects, Federer’s still your average 20-something
guy. While eating out at a Japanese restaurant during a
tournament, he once smeared a thick glob of hot wasabi
paste beneath some sashimi and gave it to her. “She had fire
coming out of her nose,” he laughs, recalling the practical
joke he played on her. Federer may have grown up, but he
hasn’t lost his sense of fun.
