Roger Federer is an all-rounder. But the tennis maestro once had a big weakness: when the camera was running and he was just supposed to sit quietly, nothing worked with the Swiss. This is what happened on November 24, 2009.
Eleven years ago today, Roger Federer is a guest on the US broadcaster CNN. The then Tour Dominator has had a great tennis season in which he finally won the long-awaited title at the French Open and thus won all four Grand Slam tournaments at least once.
He talks to the moderator about the birth of his first twins, who were born in the summer of 2009, and of course the sporting successes. “The interview was great,” recalls the moderator, “but then I wanted to ask Federer a few questions in Spanish. For the Spanish program on CNN. “
“It’s difficult, I’ll tell you”
Pedro Pinto explains to Federer that he has nothing to do. As a moderator, he would simply read the questions in Spanish and the Swiss would just have to sit quietly and not answer the questions. But Federer’s look quickly reveals that this could go wrong. And so it happens: When the moderator reads the first Spanish question, the tennis star starts to laugh. And can no longer work.
“It’s difficult, I’ll tell you,” says Federer and then tries to keep himself under control with various tricks. But even with closed eyes, the Swiss just can’t stop laughing. After all, the interview actually has to be interrupted and the moderator reads the questions to the empty chair while Federer treats himself to a drink in the background – and just keeps laughing.
“With a bit of Spanish you can get Federer upset”
In the end, the then 15-time Grand Slam winner can still pull himself together and listen to one or the other question without breaking out in laughter. The moderator’s conclusion: “He’s a great guy, I had a great conversation with him during the interview. But I’ve found that it’s easy to get him going. All it takes is a little bit of humor and a little bit of Spanish. Maybe that’s the key for (Rafael) Nadal and (Juan Martin) Del Porto, who both speak Spanish. “
Incidentally, it shouldn’t be Federer’s last laughing fit in front of the camera. Just a year later, the legendary double interview with Rafael Nadal took place in Cincinnati. This time, Nadal’s English was responsible for causing Federer to lose his temper.
