From a ball boy to a 20 Grand Slam titles holder—a lot has changed for Roger Federer. For one, the self-berating 8-year-old, who used to tactfully throw his rackets into the nets in exasperation, became a respecter of rackets ever since winning his first major tournament. After an elegant 24-year career span, Federer recently reflected on his life after his first major triumph. 

Federer has been ranked world number one in men’s singles for almost 310 weeks with a record of 237 consecutive weeks. He has won the year-end championship 6 times in his career and ended the year as number 1, five times in his career. Despite all these achievements, the first taste of victory at majors will always hold a special place in his heart.

Roger Federer reflects on his life after winning a Grand Slam title

Roger Federer played his first junior match at the age of 14 in a Grade 2 tournament in his homeland. He became a Wimbledon junior champion in 1998. This was Federer’s fourth junior singles title. Then he got a taste of his first victory at the biggest stage in 2003, when he won the Wimbledon Championships at the age of 21. This marked the start of what would turn out to be an illustrious career. He featured in 21 out of 28 majors in 6 years after that.

When he was asked to explain what changed for him after winning the Grand Slam, here’s what he said. “Yeah, my life changed completely after winning a Grand Slam. All of a sudden, I was not just the tennis player from Switzerland I became a global icon, superstar. I was going to forever be a Wimbledon champion when I won in 2003 and that changes the perspective of others.

You don’t change, but the others change around you. Stay humble and normal at heart remember where I come from. But of course, it’s been an incredible journey to be on throughout my entire tennis career.”

In 2018, Federer recalled moments from his maiden slam win in a video posted on Wimbledon’s official Facebook page. He noted, “I have a massive memory about 2003 because it was my first one… What I remember the most is that I really hurt my back, I think, in my fourth-round match against Feliciano Lopez in warm-up. I wasn’t sure if I could continue the match.

“But I played and actually ended up playing okay. Recovered very quickly, and all of a sudden, I was in the Wimbledon finals and it was a favorite coming into it, I guess, against Mark Filipino. And I remember serving, you know, serving at 6-2 or 6-3 in the tiebreak of the third set.

“Having all those match points, having tear in my eyes already, and starting to believe and dream that I’m going to be Wimbledon Champion probably in the next couple of minutes and it’s exactly what happened and it was one of the most beautiful moments when I received the trophy.”

Roger Federer has undoubtedly been a global icon, but he also has been a very humble icon. The beginning of an incredible phase in Federer’s life started here, however, his attitude towards life helped him sustain his greatness. However, when it comes to consistency in tennis itself, is someone better than Federer? Former coach of Serena Willams says yes.

Roger Federer became the first singles player to reach the landmark of 20 Grand Slam titles. He was also the oldest number one in men’s singles at the age of 36. But now Novak Djokovic also shares the record with him. However, a key difference between these two tennis giants was brought to light by Patrick Mourtagoglou.

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Novak Djokovic vs Roger Federer GOAT debate: Patrick Mourtagoglou has a straight answer

The former coach of Serena Williams has found a major difference between the two legends of the game at the age of 36. Patrick Mourtagoglou believes ‘consistency’ is the key differentiator of Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer when they were at the same age. Lamenting the positives of Novak’s style, he said, 

“I think I said when he was on 12 or 13 Grand Slams that Novak would win the most of all. He was dominant already. I thought at that time, he was superior. I knew that his body was in perfect shape. Novak’s game is not painful for the body. Novak is for me the perfect athlete for tennis.” 

The Serbian is currently the world number one and has won three out of four Grand Slams this year at the age of 36. On the other hand, the Swiss had managed to clinch only two out of four Grand Slam titles at 36. Mouratoglou praised Novak Djokovic for maintaining such a high standard of fitness level even in the late thirties. Now, since Federer has already taken retirement last year, it’ll be interesting to see where the other one ends.

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