Roger Federer has elaborated on his wife’s “incredible” sacrifices, heaping praise on Mirka’s decision to quit her own tennis career to support him instead.
In July, Federer made the startling admission that he and Mirka may have broken up had it not been for her selfless decision to walk away from her career.
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Mirka was a top-100 player in the early 2000s but was forced to retire after a string of persistent injuries.
She instead turned her attention to making sure her husband had everything he needed in his quest to become a tennis champion in his own right, something Federer is forever grateful for.
“She invested everything,” Federer told SRF Sport recently. “She started playing tennis when she was 11.
“She had bad surgeries and didn‘t return well from rehabilitation. She always had problems with her heels and never truly recovered from it.
“Until today she feels little there. I think realistically she would have had to undergo another surgery and tried to come back, even if it would have taken two years.
“It was easy for her this way though to decide. I said to her: ‘Don‘t you maybe want to stop? We could be together the whole time and have a great time.’
“Then I won Wimbledon and when I look back, I once talked with her about it, it‘s incredible what you did and she said: ‘No problem’. She just put her career aside and said: ‘This is more important for me’.
“We wouldn‘t have been happy when we would have been apart.”
The Swiss Maestro admitted he might have retired long ago had Mirka asked him to.
“She has supported me incredibly so I‘m looking forward to when everything is over. I would have stopped long ago if she hadn‘t have said: ‘Come on, continue’,” he said.
“Or when she would have said: ‘Please stop, I don‘t want this any longer.’ I would have stopped then.
“We also have to find a balance with the four kids, it isn’t the same anymore as four, eight or 10 years ago, that’s for sure.”
