Roger Federer has never been shy about showing emotion on the tennis court, but this week it was gratitude, not victory, that brought him to tears. The Swiss legend was formally inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, and the moment he turned to talk about his wife, Mirka, he could barely get the words out.
Federer, 45, entered the Hall as the sole player in this year’s class, sharing the stage with broadcaster and journalist Mary Carillo, who was inducted in the contributor category. It capped a run that redefined men’s tennis: the first man to reach 20 Grand Slam singles titles, 103 tour-level trophies, and 237 consecutive weeks at world No. 1 between 2004 and 2008. But on this particular evening in Newport, none of that seemed to be what was on his mind.
It was Mirka who opened the night, taking the stage first to introduce her husband. She reached back to where it all began — the 2000 Sydney Olympics — recalling how Andy Roddick, in the audience, once joked after losing a Cincinnati final that he couldn’t believe he’d lost to a guy whose girlfriend warmed him up before matches. She closed her remarks by calling herself proud not just of the champion, but of the man behind him.
© Getty ImagesFederer wasn’t ready for how good she’d be at it. “She’s a good public speaker. I didn’t know that. A tough act to follow,” he said as he took the microphone, according to Tennis Majors.
From there, the speech unraveled into one emotional pause after another — for his childhood hero Stefan Edberg, for his longtime coach Severin Luthi, and finally, for Mirka. Federer joked that he needed “tissues and sunglasses, everything to protect me right now,” as reported by ESPN, before composing himself to share what’s meant to him: a coach in the early days, a hitting partner before matches, a stylist when he needed one, and the person who taught him “to get more focused about tennis, and take joy in everything else.”
The line that landed hardest, though, came when he talked about the life they’ve built together — Mirka as mother to their four children, and partner in everything since. “She and I grab each other’s hands, and we run through walls,” Federer said.
A shoutout to Cupid
© Boston Globe via Getty ImagesThere was a lighter moment tucked into the tears, too. Federer gave a shoutout to Martina Navratilova, who had joined him for an exhibition doubles match the night before the ceremony. As he told the crowd, in comments reported by Yahoo Sports/Pro Football Network, “Now we’re going into the Mirka bit. This is such a mess” — right before crediting Navratilova with an unlikely assist in his own love story: she was the one who first inspired Mirka to pick up a racket, which is how the two of them ended up on the same Olympic team, and eventually, as partners.
Federer closed the night the way he’s closed matches for two decades — thanking the people who rarely get thanked, this time the ball kids who stood through his matches for hours on end. He made it clear that he saw them and that he used to be one of them.
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