“An interesting time that is coming up now” – Federer on the challenges of parenting

Roger Federer may be a 20-time Grand Slam champion and one of the greatest players to pick up a tennis racquet. But away from the court, the 40-year-old Swiss is a father and seems to grapple with the same issues that many other parents of young kids would be dealing with

Switzerland’s Roger Federer in action at Wimbledon Image Credit: AI / Reuters / Panoramic

Haresh Ramchandani

June 9, 2022

In a n interview to Swiss media, Federer says he will be dealing with some interesting parenting challenges in the coming months – one related to his daughters Charlene and Myla hiting puberty and the second related to the ise of mobile phones by his kids.

Federer and wife Mirka have two sets of twins – the girls are 12 while his boys Lenny and Leo are seven years old.

“Let’s put it this way: it’s certainly an interesting time that is coming up now. You have so many things on your mind at this age. It’s not that easy,” Federer said about his girls hitting puberty as translated by Google.

“Finding the right balance is challenging for both the girls and us parents”: Federer on his kids using mobile phones

On the issue of mobile phones and screen time, Federer says he is trying to find the right balance, saying that neither he nor Mirka had to deal with mobile phones when they were kids. “Finding the right balance is challenging for both the girls and us parents. They’re (the boys) still too young. What have we warned the girls not to put their fingers in the fire! I’m now much more relaxed with the boys: I assume that they don’t do it on their own.”

Federer is scheduled to make his comeback at the Laver Cup in September this year, having not played since Wimbledon in 2021. When asked if his kids would travel with him to tournaments, the Swiss says that’s a problem he would happily deal with since it means he would be back competing on the tour.

“A problem I would really like to face. Because that would mean that everything goes well with the knee and the comeback. I know that my children would be happy to see certain places again. Be it London or Miami.”

Federer also has some idea about what he wants to do after hanging up his racquet for good. Not surprisingly, it relates to skiing which he has not been able to do much during his playing career due to the risk of injuries.

“Skiing, of course. Maybe I’ll go golfing again. But I will not do this alone, but together with Mirka.”