Roger Federer reveals unknown struggle story of journey towards tennis mastery: Watch

Roger Federer's absence from the tennis circuit this year has been felt strongly by his fans. The Swiss maestro has only played one tournament this year - the Australian Open - where he lost to the eventual champion, Novak Djokovic, in straight sets in the semifinals. After his exhibition match with Nadal in February, Federer skipped the rest of the season to undergo two knee surgeries. Now, almost a year later, Federer has announced that he will be back in Melbourne Park next year. 

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Roger Federer Grand Slams journey

In a recent interview with BecomingX, Bear Grylls' foundation, Roger Federer talked about his journey to becoming the GOAT of tennis. Federer, who was born in Basel, Switzerland, talked about the trials and tribulations of his early life. “My first ever match, I lost 6-0, 6-0, I heard some rumours that the local federation were like, 'Well maybe he's not that good like we thought he was,'" he said. 

Federer went on to become the Swiss Junior Champion at the age of 12, after which he made the decision to move to the National Tennis Center in Biel. “It was quite a rough journey,” revealed Federer, “I think those were the two most influential years of my life, from 14 to 16. Being away from home, persevering and having that responsibility to figure out the things, sort of on my own sometimes.” Federer also talked about the impact his coach Peter Carter had on his life. 

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Federer credits everything he is today to his junior-level coach, Peter Carter. “When I was 16, Peter Carter joined the NTC and he became my mentor... If I play the way I play today, it's probably because of Peter.” In the interview, Federer also talked about how Carter's sudden demise in a car accident in 2002 "shocked" him and "rocked [his] world”. This, he says, became his “wake up call". 

"This is when I guess I shifted gears and I was just like let's get serious about tennis, very serious."

Now, more than a decade later, Federer has made his coach proud by becoming one of the most successful players in the sport. He has a record 20 Grand Slam titles and the hope is that he may squeeze in a few more before he brings the curtains down on his decorated career. 

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Federer ranking as of November 2020

In the revised rankings released this Monday, Federer slipped for the first time this year, from No. 4 to No. 5. The ATP's revised ranking system for the COVID era has helped Federer stay within the Top 10 despite playing just one tournament this year. Skipping out on the ATP Finals may well put Federer down a few ranks as well.

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Image Credits: Roger Federer Twitter