|
November 18, 2009
Doubles Game: Federer - My life with the twins
He has passed Sampras's Grand Slam record, married Mirka, and become a father – now Roger Federer hopes to close an incredible year in style at the ATP World Finals in London. He tells Paul Newman why, despite the nappies changing and sleepless nights, he's more driven than ever on court
By Paul Newman, Independent
Rich or poor, famous or humble, young or old, men are apparently the same the world over. Roger Federer, whose wife Mirka gave birth to twin daughters three months ago, knows, like most males, that when it comes to dealing with babies who cry in the middle of the night, the job is best left to an expert.
"Mirka gets up more," Federer admits. "She's quick on her feet.
I sleep very deeply, which actually helps me to sleep through some screaming."
Do Charlene Riva and Myla Rose wake up much during the night? "Sure. If
one sleeps the other one's awake. That would be too nice of them to be
asleep at the same time! They don't sleep through yet. There were times,
especially at the beginning, when I woke up and helped as well. Now I think
we've got into the right habits. During the day I try to help as much as I
can."
Federer does "a bit of everything", including feeding the babies and
changing nappies, but adds: "For Mirka, the most important thing is
just that I'm there. She doesn't care too much if I change nappies or feed
them. She just wants me to hold them as much as possible, because we both
believe it's very important that mum and dad are both there as much as
possible."
Few sportsmen and women have to travel as far and as frequently as tennis
players. Federer and family were on the road within a fortnight of the
twins' births, heading for Montreal, Cincinnati and New York.
"I knew that trip would give me some idea of how possible it would be to
travel," Federer says. "What I have realised is that travelling
with babies isn't the most difficult thing in the world. The twins are very
good travellers. Of course we'd never put their health at risk for anything,
because that's what's most important, but it's been fun, travelling in a big
group, as a family. I'm happy because it was the way I expected it to be. I
expected some more screaming along the way in planes and everything, but
it's been really easy.
"We were a bit surprised when we learned that Mirka was going to have
twins, and we were maybe a touch worried that it would be really difficult
and stressful, but so far it's been really easy. I think we've had the right
approach. Mirka is very laid-back and I'm also a calm person, so I think all
of that enabled us to handle the situation."
Federer is talking at Roland Garros, home of the French Open, where he
practised during last week's Masters tournament, staged on the other side of
Paris. The most remarkable year of even his remarkable life will finish, in
sporting terms, next week in London at the season-ending Barclays ATP World
Tour Finals, which start at the O2 Arena on Sunday.
It is a year that began in tears after his defeat to Rafael Nadal in the
Australian Open, and saw Federer marry his long-term girlfriend, become the
father of twins, complete his set of major triumphs by winning the French
Open, win an all-time record 15th Grand Slam tournament with his sixth
Wimbledon title and reclaim his world No 1 ranking.
It could not be finishing in more appropriate fashion. "This is an
amazing trip for me," Federer says. "It only really came to my
mind when I was playing in Basel. I thought to myself: 'I'm playing here at
home in Basel, where I grew up, then I'm going to Paris, where I won the
French Open for the first time, then I'm going to London, where I won
Wimbledon.' It's really inspirational to come back to places where you have
so many memories - and these three tournaments definitely have that. These
are good times."
No wonder he is in a relaxed mood as he sits back in his chair. Before the ATP
Masters, the Swiss took a six-week break from tennis, before returning to a
competition in his home city of Basel. Federer rarely gives the impression
that he is anything but calmness personified, but the time he has been able
to spend recently with his family back in Switzerland seems to have left him
particularly mellow.
What was a typical day for an extraordinary family during his break? "I
was just happy to be at home. We really had no plans. Friends would come
over to see the babies and we would hang out with them - it was those kind
of days. It's what you sometimes look forward to during the year - not
having something to do at two o'clock, four o'clock, six o'clock. If we were
in the mood to go out, we did.
"I tried to spend as much time as possible with the babies because I know
there will be a time when we're travelling, like we are right now, and we're
at the tennis, doing interviews and practising, and can't be with them."
The time at home was also beneficial from a sporting standpoint. "Babies
or not, I needed that break, mentally and physically, to recuperate from a
tough year," Federer says. "From Miami all the way through to the
US Open was a tough stretch with a lot of emotions - getting married,
expecting the births, was all energy-consuming. On top of that I had so much
success, so it was a lot of things at once. But I feel like I'm refreshed
again. That's great. Spending some time with the babies in a completely
private way was key. I'm lucky in that I haven't spent one day apart from
them yet."
Federer will go into the end-of-season finale in better shape than 12 months
ago, when he had a back problem and then fell ill. He estimates that he was
feeling "only at 50 per cent well" - for a while he could not even
bend down to tie up his laces - and went out at the round-robin stage,
ending a run of five successive appearances in the final. The knock-out blow
was delivered by Andy Murray, who gave everything in a three-hour thriller
that probably scuppered his own chances of beating Nikolay Davydenko in the
semi-finals the following day.
Had Murray's determination to send Federer packing come as a surprise, given
that the Scot had already qualified and did not need the win? "You've
seen me play many dead rubbers over the years and you don't just give them
away," Federer smiles. "There are too many points involved and
maybe too much money. There's too much at stake, too much pride as well. Why
just lose against a main rival if you don't have to? I was vulnerable and he
knew that."
That result was the second of four successive defeats to Murray. When Federer
ended the sequence at their most recent meeting, in Cincinnati in August,
the Swiss seemed particularly fired up, although he insists: "I always
have the same hunger to beat players. I'm not one for revenge, even if many
people like to build that up."
There have been times, nevertheless, when Murray, a classic counter-attacker,
has appeared to get under Federer's skin. After losing in Dubai last year
Federer said he was surprised Murray's game had not developed and that he
would "have to grind very hard for the next few years if he's going to
keep playing this way."
However, Federer believes he copes with opponents like Murray better than he
did in his early days against men like Lleyton Hewitt and David Nalbandian. "I
had a lot of trouble against those baseliners early on just because they
were too consistent. They could always get one more ball back. Maybe they
didn't have the best serve, but I wasn't the best return player, so I
couldn't take advantage. My serve wasn't solid enough yet, so I would always
get tangled up in those horrible baseline rallies.
"Murray can still do that to some degree, but when I play too well or too
offensively I can take time away from him now. And I'm too physical, whereas
in the beginning I couldn't do that. I couldn't get around backhands like I
can now. Now I can mix up my game too well for him to get under my skin.
"I know what I can do and I know what he can do. When we both play well
it's a close match, but I always feel it's the attacker who holds the key to
success, so it's up to me whether I win or lose, not up to him. That's why I
don't mind the match-up, to be honest.
"It's like when [Pete] Sampras and [Andre] Agassi played. Agassi was more
aggressive [than most counter-attackers], but still Sampras held the key
because he was serving, pushing the limits, taking the risks. Which Murray
doesn't do so much - though that doesn't take anything away from Murray.
That's just his game style.
"Everybody has his own game and you can't change the way you play. It's
just something you're born with. He comes to the net more, for instance,
than other players. I think if you look closely, every player needs to have
something aggressive in his game to play well. If you want to be a top
player you need to have offensive skills."
Is he surprised that, at 22, Murray has not yet won his first Grand Slam
title? "How old was I?" says Federer. He was 21. "I'm not
that surprised. How many serious chances has he had to win a Slam now? Maybe
six, when he's been a real contender? Before that it would have been a bit
of a surprise.
"It's not that easy. I was favourite to win the French Open in 2003 and I
lost in the first round in straight sets. He's done better than I did! Of
course I never expected to be as dominant or as good after that, but
sometimes you just have to wait and see. But at the same time he's come
close a couple of times. He made the final against me [at the 2008 US Open]
and the semi-finals at Wimbledon, and was able to handle the pressure there.
I think he's not far off."
Woods becomes the model parent for Federer
If Roger Federer needed inspiration to maintain his winning ways after
becoming a father, he need look no further than Tiger Woods, who has become
a good friend. The world's best golfer has two children, the first of them
born two years ago. Although the flow of victories may have slowed, the
American remains the man to beat.
"When you do something best in life, you don't really want to give that
up - and for me it's tennis and for him it's golf," Federer says. "Next
to that I think we love being fathers of kids. And being a husband is for me
as big a priority as being a father."
Although opportunities to see each other are rare, Federer and Woods support
each other whenever possible and stay in contact by telephone and by text.
In terms of major victories, Woods held the lead over Federer for a while,
but he has been stuck on 14 since last year's US Open, four behind Jack
Nicklaus's all-time record. Federer's victories this year at the French Open
and Wimbledon took him on to 15 Grand Slam titles, eclipsing the previous
record held by Pete Sampras.
Although Woods won in Melbourne last weekend, the American does not have to
travel as far afield or as regularly as Federer. Three of golf's four majors
are staged in the United States, which also hosts a year-round tour. Tennis,
in contrast, visits numerous countries around the world. The four Grand Slam
tournaments are staged in three different continents, while Masters Series
events are held in cities as far apart as Shanghai, Cincinnati and Madrid.
Does Federer envy Woods for being able to stay closer to home for longer
periods during the year? "That's his advantage, but not really,"
Federer says. "I don't mind travelling the world. Sure, at times it's
hard, but we're both a little a bit in control of our own schedules. We can
play as much as we want.
"Of course there are some rules and regulations and if you want to be the
best player in the world you have certain commitments and there are other
things you want to do on your own behalf because you love the sport too
much. And sitting at home on the couch isn't that fulfilling.
"I always said I love travelling the world and going to all those great
cities. I consider myself very fortunate. I'm not sure that I would want the
tour just to be in Europe. Sure that would make it easier for the family,
but that's not the way it is. You can't change it."
Federer has always had strong family bonds but agrees his focus had shifted
since the birth of his twins. "Before, I guess, mum and dad were
everything, but now, in my case, I had two new girls and all of a sudden
they're completely dependent on you and there's a third generation. It's a
funny shift all of a sudden. You have the babies, you have yourself and then
you have your parents. Unfortunately I don't have grandparents any more.
"All of a sudden it makes you realise even more what your own parents did
for you and how much you owe them, although at the same time I always knew
that. I think that's the nice part of becoming a parent."
|
