A Roger Federer not only is he recognized for his incredible talent as a tennis player, but also for his chivalry worthy of a gentleman. Respect for his rivals on and off the field, humility in his statements and acceptance of defeats with dignity are some of the most outstanding characteristics of his personality. However, the Swiss was not always like this. Quite the contrary: at the beginning of it, he was a dyed blond boy with a bad character who broke rackets.
“The Swiss is not as gentleman as those who sell his image make him seem”, warned the American journalist Christopher Clarey, author of The Master, one of the most popular Federer biographies that has unpublished details of the little-known childhood of the book’s protagonist. Far from being an unsupported opinion, the writer offers testimonies from former coaches and even family members of the tennis player to support his position.
The beginnings of Roger Federer: the rebellious boy who broke rackets
Roger Federer He was born with an innate talent for playing tennis. Since he was a child in his native Basel, he always stood out above the rest of the boys his age on a court. He was obviously superior and he was aware of that. That was exactly why he couldn’t accept defeat. Crying, broken rackets and long hours without saying a word were some of the ways he reacted after losing a game.
“I was a horrible loser. I knew what I was capable of and making mistakes drove me crazy. There were two voices inside me, the angel and the devil, I guess, and one couldn’t believe how stupid the other was. ‘How could you fail that?’ said one. And then I exploded”, recalled the tennis player himself in Clarey’s book.
According to his mother, Lynette, when Roger Federer lost a match “hid behind the referee’s chair and she wouldn’t stop crying for 10 minutes”. He also “screamed and kicked his racket all over the court.”
That is the same memory that all the coaches that Federer had during his childhood and adolescence have. Paul Dorochenko, who was one of his first physical trainers, noted: “Roger was emotionally fragile. He was not able to accept defeat and training was mediocre. Sometimes she had to go look for him to exercise, because she forgot to go. It was a torment and his apartment was a mess”.
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Former tennis player Magdalena Maleeva, who shared the court with Federer between the ages of 15 and 16 on several occasions, defined him as “a little boy who gave the impression that he was very angry.” “He threw the racket a lot. He seemed a bit spoiled, because he got angry easily and very often, ”she completed.
The Argentinian William Coria was more direct:was completely removed. She listened to full electronic music with headphones, dyed blonde hair, a personality… Nothing like what she is today! The work done by the people around him, especially the one who worked on Federer’s head, is to give him the Nobel Prize.”
The personality of the Swiss began to worry his environment, so in 1997 hired psychologist Christian Marcolli to help him manage emotions and to overcome the frustration that appeared after each defeat. A year later, he won the Orange Bowl, the most prestigious junior tournament in the world that is played in the state of Florida, and began his journey on the ATP professional circuit.
Although their attitudes began to improve, it was a gradual process. His rages didn’t go away overnight. Therefore, it was common to see Federer scream, argue with the umpire and even break rackets against the ground after losing a point or making an unforced error.
Roger Federer: the end of the rebellion
The therapy sessions made him begin to control his reactions and, little by little, he began to incorporate the chivalry that would later define him. However, Federer remembers the exact moment his head clicked. He was in the first round of the Hamburg Masters 1000 (now ATP 500), in 2001. After being defeated by the Argentine Franco Squillaribroke a racket.
“That was a turning point in my career.”, he recalled. And he completed: “After a while, it began to be uncomfortable to see me that way on television. It gave a very bad image. That’s why I told myself: ‘This is for idiots. Behave a bit.”
That match, which Federer himself marks as the turning point in his extraordinary career, was against one of the few tennis players who was able to retire with a favorable record against the Swiss. The porteño Squillari won the only two games in which they faced each other.
“I looked at where the volley had gone and wondered what the hell was going on at the time. He was glued to the back canvas trying to hit a passing shot and I couldn’t volley well. He got so mad at me that I crashed the racket,” Federer said of the match point that was going to give Squillari the 6-3, 6-4 win.
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Squillari closed his career with a remarkable record against the Swiss. He not only beat Federer in Hamburg but also did it two years later, in Sydney 2003. “I beat him in Hamburg in 2001, when we were 19 years old and he was 15 in the world. I was one place down, 16. The second win is less credible. In 2003 in Sydney he was 6 in the world and I couldn’t even beat my grandmother on hard court. But I ended up beating him 6-2 and 6-3″, Squillari later recalled. Who dares to joke about Federer: “I have it as a son and I never win a set”.
