Roger Federer seems to be enjoying his minus tennis life as the 20-time Grand Slam winner opens up on how his life changed over the last year.
Since calling the time on his illustrious career at the Laver Cup 2022, the Swiss maestro has only made occasional media appearances. However, the 8-time Wimbledon Champion has been busy in recent weeks that included him decorating the Royal Box at Wimbledon last month. The 42-year has most recently also collaborated with JW Anderson to launch Roger Federer by JW Anderson for Uniqlo.
In an Interview with the New York Times, Federer gave answers covering variety of topics while admitting that he didn’t know what he would by doing in the post-tennis life.
“Life without the game, and life without the fans, and life without the schedule that has dominated my life for 25 years has definitely been something I didn’t know how I would take,” he said.
“For the longest time I tried to come back and give it one more shot and leave the game healthy, but it was not doable.
“But the good/bad thing about Covid, and with my knee surgery, is that everything started to slow down in the past three years, so it wasn’t like I came from playing 100 matches and then boom, it’s over.
“At the end, I was relieved, I think, and happy to retire. It ended in the most perfect way at the Laver Cup.
“I was surrounded by my biggest rivals, and my family was there and my friends. For me, it felt like, “OK, I’m good now. I don’t need to chase that itch anymore.”
The grass court specialist also reflected on his transition from center court to the Wimbledon’s Royalty Box as he accompanied Catherine, Princes of Wales on a colorful and cheering first Tuesday of the 2023 Championships.
“Last year I walked out on Centre Court for the 100-year anniversary celebration,” he reflected.” It was beautiful but painful. I was injured. I didn’t know if I was going to be able to play again, so it was a very emotional moment.
“This year was totally different. My dad whispered to me, ‘Don’t you wish you were playing on court instead of sitting and watching?’ and I was like; ‘No. I feel content watching and enjoying the game’.
“It was so fun sitting next to Princess Catherine. I know her quite well. She is an avid tennis fan, and she plays herself.
“Sometimes we have to be careful we don’t speak too much. You can talk, and then it’s super-quiet, and then you have to applaud.”
The Men’s Tennis Fashionista also talked about playing shaker at a Coldplay concert in Zurich while confessing that it took some convincing to violate his comfort zone.
“I met the band when I saw them in Montreal,” he added. “I don’t know what year it was — maybe 2016? We’ve been in touch a bit.
“I’ve seen Chris Martin in the Hamptons several times. So when they came to Zurich, I reached out and said, ‘I’m so excited, I would love to come’.
“Chris wrote me back and asked if I wanted to come onstage.
“I asked my daughter at dinner, and she looked at me and said: ‘You have to do this. You only live once’. So I told Chris: ‘I’m in in!
“I didn’t even know what I had signed up for.”