What Can We Learn from Roger Federer — the Swiss Maestro

The Skill, the Class, the Elegance

Roger Federer is one of the most famous athletes in history and one of my favorite sports personalities. A 20-year-long brilliant career, a never-ending list of accolades and records, the living legend of tennis. Federer has been playing at the elite level until being almost 40 years old — an incredible achievement in and of itself.

Federer just retired from professional tennis in September 2022 and although his two contemporaries, tennis giants in their own right — Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic — have already surpassed Federer’s Grand Slam title wins, many still consider Federer to be the greatest tennis player of all time. He won 20 Grand Slam titles, held the world №1 position in the rankings for 310 weeks (of which 237 were consecutive!), and is the oldest ever player to ever have been the №1 (at 36 years old). Federer has won 103 singles tournament titles. He has been so dominant that his scores against some of the best players of his generation don’t make much sense:

• Stan Wawrinka — 23–3
• Andy Roddick — 21–3
• David Ferrer — 17–0
• Marat Safin — 10–2
• Juan Martin del Potro — 18–7
• Nikolay Davydenko — 19–2

Federer has been one of the most technical players known for his brilliant shot-making. His serve is one of the most effective weapons in tennis. Consider this — he has 3rd highest-ever number of aces (which is when the opponent cannot even touch the ball after your service). The two players with better numbers than that are ace experts and are much taller than Federer — Ivo Karlovic is 211 cm tall and John Isner is 208 cm tall. Federer is only 185 — quite the average height for a tennis pro.

Roger Feder is also the only tennis player in history to have become a billionaire. That’s right. Not only he is a genius on the court, but he is also a savvy businessman. Federer is also a philanthropist. His Roger Federer Foundation gives grants for education, sports, and other projects. And he does it all the while being a family man with four children.

Let’s see what we can learn from the great Swiss Maestro to apply in our everyday lives.

Hard work. It is no surprise that all incredible achievers are known for their work ethic. Hard work does pay off. Federer has, throughout his career, reinvented himself, adjusted, improved his weapons, and has consistently succeeded at the highest level, against one generation of tennis players after another. He perfected every technical aspect of his game. Federer’s service, forehead, backhand, and slices are all perfect. His famous SABR — sneak attack by Roger — was something he introduced in 2015, almost 15 years after his career started. Federer’s grace and elegance of his movement and footwork, how he makes everything seem so effortless are all testament to the work he put in.

Up to 2015, the great Rafael Nadal was perhaps the most difficult opponent for Federer. At that point, Federer was 10–23 down in their face-to-face matches. But Federer adjusted, and after he upgraded his backhand into a more powerful weapon, he was able to neutralize Nadal’s left-handed forehand. Since 2015, the score went 6–1 for Federer, despite that he was already 34 then, and Nadal was 5 years his younger.

Federer always credits hard work for his successes. This is the foundation. Everything else builds on this. There is no shortcut.

Focus on the long-term. Much has been made of basketball great Giannis Antetokounmpo’s recent comments after his team’s loss. He described how he thought a loss was not necessarily a failure, but just a stop on the path. Federer epitomizes this approach.

Sometimes you have to accept that a guy played better on the day than you — Roger Federer

Federer is always graceful in defeat. Watch his interviews. Even when he loses in the finals of a big tournament, he always expresses his appreciation of the opponent’s skill and focuses on how he is going to keep working on his game and get better (something that is always strange coming from a player like Federer). He always stays positive, which must be so difficult at this level. The stakes are so high, the egos are massive, and every win or loss can make a difference of millions in earnings.

After Federer won his 17th grand slam at Wimbledon in 2012, he did not win any grand slam tournaments until 2017. As 2017 started, he was 36 years old. Imagine that. You are not getting younger. You have had more than four years of a drought in terms of grand slam titles. Anyone else would have abandoned all hope of winning even one more. Not Federer. He made adjustments to his game and came back strong, winning 3 grand slam events in 2017 and 2018 and re-captured the №1 spot in the tennis rankings.

Federer knew he was never guaranteed wins. But he had supreme confidence in his abilities, courtesy of all the hard work he put in. You can never be sure you will win. But you can be sure you can get better. As Federer put it himself, “A man who wins is a man who thinks he can”.

This attitude helped Federer stay composed even in the most stressful and high-pressure situations. Think about it — in over 20 years of a professional career, Federer has never withdrawn from a tennis match. No injury and no psychological distress were enough. He did not set insane career goals and did not try to conquer every challenge. He went at it one day at a time but gave it all at each step of the way. After all, it is small steps that add up to an incredible journey.

Respect to everyone. Federer has always been a true gentleman, respected by everyone in the tennis world. The main reason for this is how he treats everyone around him. “I fear no one, I respect everyone” — Federer says.

This attitude has helped him stay humble and maintain his focus throughout his long career. No opponent, match, or tournament was not worth his full commitment. Early success is difficult to deal with. It is easy to become overconfident, arrogant, or lose motivation and focus. Federer was able to avoid all that.

Have fun. Watching matches with Born, McEnroe, Agassi, or Sampras, one can immediately tell how stressful these were for these tennis legends. Federer also maintained a singular focus, like the other great champions, but he also enjoyed it. He was able to avoid burnout or loss of motivation because he continued to love tennis, matches, and competing. As one generation replaced another, Federer kept playing younger and younger opponents and continued to enjoy his time on the court.

Watch Federer’s exhibition matches. His sense of humor and positive and light-hearted approach to even his toughest opponents are impressive and inspiring. The joy he seems to experience is infectious. That is why his opponents, everyone on the tennis circuit, and fans adore Federer.

Working hard, focusing on the long term, having respect for others, and having fun. None of these are shocking. These are typically some of the essential components of any success. I bet a big part of Federer’s success is also the time, energy, and love he and his wife Mirka put into their family.

Here is the short clip with Giannis that I referred to in the article:

If you enjoyed this article, these are some of my other articles that can be of interest:

• Mamba Mentality. What We Can Learn from the Great Kobe Bryant
• Weekends — My Secret Weapon. Rest, Connect, Review, Strategize, Learn, and More
• My 7 Takeaways from Atomic Habits by James Clear
• Advice from Your Future Self. Applying a Japanese Social Experiment to Personal Growth
• Track and Measure. Key to Skill Acquisition
• My 7 Takeaways from Deep Work by Cal Newport
• My 7 Takeaways from Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl
• Carpe Diem — Seize the Day