Roger Federer: 'Realizing that tennis had much more to it than just hitting a ball'

Fans eagerly await the 2021 Australian Open when Roger Federer returns to the pitch after nearly a year. The 39-year-old from Basel is training very hard to be competitive in Melbourne along the lines of what happened in 2017, when he won his first Grand Slam season after being away from the fields for over six months. The former world number 1 has already targeted Wimbledon and the Tokyo Olympics, which have been postponed by twelve months due to the Coronavirus emergency. This long hiatus also allowed Roger to give numerous interviews and shoot advertisements for his sponsors. In a recent interview, the 20-time Grand Slam champion revealed how he picked up the tennis racket for the first time and also recounted his very first match. Interestingly, the career of one of the greatest athletes ever started in a friend's backyard.

Federer: 'Thankfully, I chose tennis'

“I think in my world that I grew up in Switzerland, education always comes first and sports wasn’t really a way of life. But then, I remember playing badminton or ping pong or tennis, in the backyard of my friend’s house. We were like, ‘and the winner of Wimbledon is Roger Federer!’… So I think I was dreaming of winning the Wimbledon,” began Roger Federer. The 39-year-old also disclosed one of the tough choices he made at the beginning of his career. He had an enormous love for both tennis and football but had to pick only one. “Playing against the wall, playing doubles with my parents… Realizing that tennis had so much more to it than just hitting a ball. I also played football, never looked back. I always enjoyed it, but eventually, I had to take a decision if it was gonna be football or tennis. Thankfully, I chose tennis,” said Federer with a big smile. “My first ever match, I lost 6-0, 6-0. I heard some rumors that maybe, ‘he was not that good like we thought he was’. I kept on practicing hard. I started playing more tournaments. I started to become more successful, even as a junior. Nationally, I became a junior Swiss champion when I was 12 years old,” added Federer. The Swiss Maestro even shared an intriguing anecdote after he became a junior champion. “I was joking, put up a sign on the wall that said, ‘Junior World Champion lives here’. We were leaving the next day. The Swiss junior team, like when they knocked on the door, on my, sort of, dorm, everybody was laughing,” concluded Federer with a laugh.

 

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/36nrojI