After Roger Federer’s second round win at the Australian Open, he revealed why he hopes his kids don’t end up playing professional tennis.
Sean Wagner-McGough
Roger Federer doesn’t want his kids to play tennis. (USATSI)
Roger Federer has captured 17 Grand Slams. He’s won 299 Grand Slam matches. Really, it’s not a stretch at all to say Federer’s enjoyed an incredibly successful career as a professional tennis player. So, it might come as quite the shock to hear that Federer doesn’t want his kids to choose the same career.
After Federer’s second round win at the 2016 Australian Open, the all-time great revealed that he hopes his children don’t become professional tennis players.
“They don’t get so excited watching me play,” Federer said about his six-year-old twin girls in attendance, per USA Today. “We’re trying to bring them into the game a little bit even though I don’t think we’ll see them here one day.”
“I would be happy if they don’t end up being on this court, actually.”
Federer also has two younger twin boys. And a little later, he made it clear why he hopes his kids don’t play tennis.
“Forty years on the tennis tour doesn’t excite me,” he said, via USA Today. “And they don’t necessarily love it the way I did. So that’s why, for me, it’s quite obvious that it’s not going to happen. Who knows? [For now], they are going to tennis lessons because daddy says so because I think it’s a good thing for them.”
Now, with that being said, Federer did add that he’ll support them regardless of what career path they take, according to ESPN. He also made it clear that tennis is “a great sport to learn how to lose, to win, to figure it out, for discipline, you name it,” per USA Today.
So then, what’s his idea of an ideal sport for his kids to take up? Skiing.
“I’d rather support them in another sport,” he said, via ESPN. “Go see them be a super skier. That would be exciting.”