Doesn’t matter if you’ve won Wimbledon or not, you’re still the dad – Roger Federer on coaching his kids

Roger Federer was in attendance on Day 2 of Wimbledon 2023 as he made his presence felt at the Centre Court, on Tuesday (July 04), during Elena Rybakina’s first-round match against Shelby Rogers, where the former emerged on top by 4-6, 6-1, 6-2. Federer’s presence made heads turn as he received a rousing reception. The Swiss maestro retired from tennis in September 2022 but still commands huge respect and admiration from fans worldwide, and it was evident from the welcome he got at the Centre Court.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion was mainly back on Wimbledon’s Centre Court on Tuesday for a special ceremony in his honour. After that, CNN caught up with him for an exclusive interaction where he opened up on attempting to give tennis coaching to his kids and recalled his send-off at the Laver Cup 2022. Talking about him trying to coach his kids, Federer revealed that he is not the coach but the dad and his kids often do not listen to him. 

‘It doesn’t matter if you’ve won Wimbledon or not, you’re still the dad’

In this regard, Federer stated, “I’m not the coach, I am the dad and the dad’s advice, as we know, only goes so far. It doesn’t matter if you’ve won Wimbledon or not, you’re still the dad and sometimes they don’t want to hear what you have to say. I try to be funny, but at the same time, I also try to be straight sometimes and just teach them. I come in more as a technical coach so I try to teach them about all the tennis rackets.”

Federer also opened up on his emotional farewell at the Laver Cup, his last competitive tournament before retirement in September 2022. “I didn’t talk to anybody about it, really. It was just more about getting away from it, but eventually [I had to] decide: where am I going to retire? How painful is it going to be? Or how much of a celebration will it be? But it ended up being everything and more for me. I thought it was beautiful and being surrounded by Rafa (Nadal), Novak (Djokovic), (Andy) Murray, (Bjorn) Borg, (John) McEnroe, (Rod) Laver, you name it, (Stefan) Edberg, they were all there, my team, my family. So it was a very, very nice end because I was really, truly dreading that moment of how to go out of the game,” the all-time great opined.

Post-retirement, the 41-year-old is enjoying watching the proceedings as a fan and stated that he does not miss playing the game as he knew his body couldn’t cope anymore. Known for his flawless playing style, Federer ruled the court for several years. He ended his illustrious career with 20 Grand Slam titles — third-most — including six Australian Open, eight Wimbledon, five US Open titles and a solitary win at the French Open. 

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