Our tribute to the career of Roger Federer, presented by Federer biographer Chris Bowers and with contributions from New York Times Tennis Correspondent, Chris Clarey, Roger Federer's mother, Lynette, Tournament Director Richard Krajicek, and current players Stefanos Tsitsipas, Nicholas Godsick, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Coco Gauff.
CHRIS CLAREY ON ROGER FEDERER’S LEGACY - ‘Either through good will or strong will he managed over time to embrace so many elements of being a professional tennis player that others find frustrating of aggravating or just a plain old pain in the butt and Roger was somebody who really was over time by his own nature and by that maturity you saw early on, understood what was going to be inevitable and let’s do it right’.
LYNETTE FEDERER ON THE EARLY DAYS IN BASEL AS A BALLBOY - ‘I remember that he got a signature from Pete Sampras who was actually his idol at the time and he was very excited about that. He loved just being around the players and being around the same aged boys was great fun and I think he had a great time and it just shows you, he was a ball kid and now he’s on the centre court and I think it’s just a great story’,
RICHARD KRAJICEK ON FEDERER’S MOMENT OF HISTORY IN ROTTERDAM - ‘For me the biggest achievement from his career is when he became number one in Rotterdam and it’s not the way he played the tournament, because he felt I think pretty much tension because he could become the oldest number one, but just in that time he was already a bit older and you had Nadal, Djokovic, Andy Murray and to become number one then, for me that was the biggest achievement in his career’.
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS ON FEDERER AS THE ULTIMATE OPPONENT - ‘I enjoyed just watching him on TV, probably hitting with him on a tennis court would have been a never in a lifetime scenario, but sometimes with a little bit of determination, your dreams pay off and one thing led to another and suddenly I’m faced with Roger Federer for the first time at the Hopman Cup and I’m about to serve and I’m thinking ‘Roger is on the other side of the net, he’s my childhood hero’ and this is how I feel about Roger Federer, he’s someone that is difficult to believe he is real’.
NICO GODSICK SPEAKS ABOUT FEDERER MENTORING HIM - ‘Roger’s always been such a help to me, he’s such an amazing person and watching him make semis and finals consistently day-in-day-out every week, it’s a big inspiration and I always want to be like him. I try to model my energy like him, I try to model my game like him and Roger is someone I model my game and my tennis around’.
PLUS FELIX AUGER ALIASSIME AND COCO GAUFF GO HEAD-TO-HEAD TO FIND OUT WHO KNOWS MORE ABOUT FEDERER’S CAREER AND LIFE
-Podcast presented by Chris Bowers
-Interviews by Chris Bowers, Bren Hester and Ursin Caderas
-Felix Auger-Aliassime and Coco Gauff feature courtesy of ATP Uncovered
-Roger Federer statement from his personal Instagram page