Roger Federer is widely considered a great man not only because of his amazing achievements on court but also for his exceptional human side.
Roger had a very important person in his life that unfortunately passed away tragically: Peter Carter.
Who was Peter Carter?
Peter was Federer’s coach when the Swiss was at the very beginning of his career, and he died tragically in South Africa during a safari in occasion of his honeymoon for a car accident back in 2002. After knowing about the death of Peter, Federer was seen running in the street near his hotel in Toronto screaming uncontrollably. Roger was inconsolable for a considerable amount of time.
Before that episode, Federer was considered a bit like a brat with a huge talent. However, as per Federer’s words, tennis is full of people with a lot of talent, the question mark is if they can make something meaningful out of it.
Peter Carter’s death was a tragic moment for Federer, but it was also the wake-up call for him that started to train very hard almost like to honor the memory of his coach. That was the spark that made Federer winning his first slam in Wimbledon after few months.
When Roger is at the Australian Open, he always invites Peter’s parents to watch his matches. He paid for everything to show them the legacy left by their son.
Federer in tears during the interview with CNN
That episode happened 16 years ago and Roger is still extremely emotional when talking about Peter. During a recent interview with the CNN, he broke down in tears when asked about his coach.
When asked what Carter would have thought to see him winning 20 Grand Slam titles, Roger broke down in tears to say
“I hope he would be proud. I guess he didn’t want me to be a wasted talent. So, it was somewhat of a wake-up call for me when he passed away, and I really started to train hard.
I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have the people at the right time, the right coaches at the right time. Sure you could argue I made those decisions, but I had luck along the way.”
Impossible not to like Federer.
Here the interview.
Roger Federer’s inspirational former coach died in a car crash on his honeymoon in 2002.
Nearly two decades on, Federer still gets emotional when he talks about Peter Carter.
Our exclusive interview: https://t.co/AJM6UXgt6H pic.twitter.com/g9aiylaKy8
— CNN Sport (@cnnsport) January 7, 2019
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