Roger Federer is one of the strongest tennis players in history and you would expect that it was easy for him to inspire his 4 children to play the sport. Well, you might be wrong with that.
The Swiss Maestro has been doing a lot of promotions during this pandemic. In a recent stream cast, Roger was asked by a fan about the trick of introducing tennis to his son.
Surprisingly, Roger admitted that it wasn’t easy for him to convince his kids.
“I’ve struggled with my children, you know. I tried to promote tennis in my household, playing a lot of matches against Rafa, Novak, but they don’t care,” he admitted.
“Of course, we tried to put rackets in their hand, you know, a ball in the other, to see what happens you know. You get to know quickly which kid likes to play with the ball, or like to rather go running outside.
I think you see very quickly the differences. Now, all 4 kids play tennis, because I don’t like to be the only guy whose kids don’t play tennis, especially with my background and my wife’s background. But what can you do? Honestly, going out there and trying again and again”
About bribing children into playing tennis…
Federer talked about the little tricks that they had to use to lure his children to get the rackets.
“In the beginning, you may need to bribe them a little. ‘You do well, you get a sweety’, there’s nothing wrong with that. We did that. You just keep on trying. If it’s really important to you, don’t be a crazy dad.
You know how it is, trust the coaches. Make sure you have fun when they’re young. And when they get older, like eight years, that’s when I started playing tournaments. Maybe that’s when you start to get a little more serious. Maybe when 12 years old. But in the beginning, it’s all about having fun,” he added.
Roger is currently recovering from his second procedure to the right knee. He should have a lot more time to “bribe” his children. Why Not?
Roger Federer in 2020
Currently ranked no.4, Roger played his last match on the 30th of January when he was overcome by Novak Djokovic 7-61 6-4 6-3 in the semifinal of the Australian Open.
Roger Federer’s best result of the current year was reaching the semi-finals at the Australian Open.
