“I was calling my parents every evening” – Roger Federer recalls emotional struggle after leaving home as a teenager to train in Biel without family
Roger Federer recently recalled the days of emotional struggle he endured after moving out of his home in Basel to train in a different city. He picked up the tennis racket as an eight-year-old and began to practice at the National Tennis Center in Biel as a teenager.
He turned professional in the year 1998 and went on to amass a staggering 20 Grand Slam titles, spent 310 weeks as the World No. 1, and earned an Olympic gold medal in doubles before calling it a day in September 2022.
The Swiss tennis legend recently published a visual biography that chronicles his life on and off the court since his childhood days. He recently promoted the book in an interview with Vogue and reflected on the phases of his life at the host's request.
Among many stories, Federer talked about the time he shifted to Biel, leaving his mother Lynette and father Robert behind for two long years.
"This time that you’re referring to, I’m probably almost 14, maybe 13, 13 and a half, and I’ve just made the decision to leave Basel and to go to the National Tennis Center, and I’m going to be gone for two years, and I’m going to be living with a family," he said.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion revealed that moving out was a decision he made for himself. He said:
"It’s going to be all French-speaking, the school, the family, and most of the coaches as well. I didn’t fully realize what I was getting myself into, but the good thing is that it was my decision. I had decided to do that, and my parents supported me in it, so in many ways, it was harder for me to back out of it, because it was my own doing."
However, he initially found the new setup tough to survive and used to telephone his parents for solace"
"Instead, I was calling my parents every evening for the first six months and feeling sad about being away from home, and missing them, and missing life at home. I mean, life at home was great, I had a great team in Basel, a perfect coach. So why leave?," the 42-year-old revealed.
Roger Federer: "I still refer to it as two of the most important years of my life"
In the same interview with Vogue, Roger Federer noted that he doubted his move to migrate to Biel and things eventually fell in place.
"I just felt that for my game, in the long run, it was probably going to be the right decision. And of course I second-guessed myself, but never to the extent where I said, ‘I’m packing up and coming home.’ I’m toughing this thing out, and we’ll see where it takes me, and then that second year, everything got much easier, my results got better, my game improved so much," he said.
Federer then termed those two years of hardship as the most important years of his life, saying:
"I was growing, I got stronger, and I started to feel comfortable and to make friends there as well. I still refer to it as two of the most important years of my life, for sure, hands down."
Federer holds the record for most Wimbledon singles titles in men's tennis, claiming eight championships. Also, he notably held the World No. 1 ranking for a staggering 237 consecutive weeks from February 2, 2004, to August 17, 2008.