Roger Federer: Title is on his honey-do list
LONDON – Not only is he among the greatest players in the history of tennis, but Roger Federer is an unwavering family man.
He and his wife, Mirka, have four young kids – two sets of twins – who frequently travel with them to tournaments. In the spring of 2016, Federer sustained a knee injury that required surgery, but not from something that happened on the court. He slipped while drawing a bath for his daughters.
After losing in the Wimbledon semifinals last summer, he took the rest of the year off and spent it at home in Switzerland.
“If (Mirka) said, ‘I don’t want to travel no more,’ I’ll say, ‘OK, my career is over.’ It’s as simple as that,” said Federer, 35, who promptly returned from his hiatus and won this year’s Australian Open. “So she’s the key to a lot of this.”
The All England Club must feel like his living room, because Federer clearly feels perfectly at home here. He has won seven Wimbledon singles titles – tied for the most with Pete Sampras and William Renshaw – and he’s on the verge of an eighth.
Federer, who has yet to lose a set in this year’s tournament, will play Marin Cilic on Sunday in the men’s singles final. The two have played seven times, and Federer has won six of those matches.
“I believe this is his home court, (the) place where he feels the best and knows that he can play the best game,” said Cilic, looking to become the second Croatian player, man or woman, to win Wimbledon after Goran Ivanisevic in 2001.
“I still know that it’s a big mountain to climb. Roger is playing maybe one of his best tennis of his career at the moment, having a great season. So I know it’s going to be a huge challenge. But I believe I’m ready.”
Cilic, 29, hopes to do what Novak Djokovic did in 2011 and win Wimbledon in his first appearance in the final. He’s going up against a player in Federer who has an 18-10 record in Grand Slam finals and has a chance to be the oldest man in the Open Era to win a singles title at Wimbledon.
Federer, who hasn’t won Wimbledon since 2012, understands these chances don’t come around too often.
Asked how much longer he intends to play, he said: “Health has definitely a role to play in my decision-making, no doubt about it. As I move forward, I’ll be very cautious of how much I will play, how much I think is healthy.
”Then, of course, it’s just discussions I always have, continuous discussion, with my wife about the family, about my kids, is everybody happy on tour, are we happy to pack up and go on tour for five, six, seven weeks? Are we willing to do that? For the time being, it seems like absolutely no problem, which is wonderful.“
He is, after all, at home.