They say that behind a great man there is a great woman: Roger Federer has his wife Miroslava Mirka Vavrinec. 1st April is Mirka’s birthday, an extremely important figure in Roger’s life. And not just in his private life.
Mirka is a companion who also helps her husband in his professional life: we can see her almost always on the Federer’s box, in moments of joy and in difficult moments. Roger and Mirka were married on 11 April 2009. On 24 July 2009 were born, the pair’s eldest set of twins, Myla Rose and Charlene Riva.
Leo and Lenny were born on 6 May 2014. “Mirka especially helps me mentally. She understands when I’m nervous and gives me some important constructive criticism. She especially helps me with the family organization. About five times a year we play tennis together, especially on holidays,” said Roger.
Roger and Mirka met during the Sydeney 2000 Olympics. She retired in 2002 following a serious foot injury, after winning 3 ITF titles and break the WTA top-100, at the 76 position. “All the mechanisms must go in the right direction, otherwise my career would suffer.
My wife, whom I met for the first time at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, was truly a rock in my life, has always given me the right stability,” he said. Mirka has also improved Federer’s wardrobe a lot! “When we got together she understood that I had just a pair of jeans, some T-shirt, training shirts, a sweater and a belt.
She said immediately ‘You don’t think we should improve your wardrobe? ‘ he advised me what to wear at the award ceremonies and how to put on the same suit perhaps with a different tie. Little by little his way of doing intrigued me and I started to get involved too.
She pointed out that all the people I met were very attentive to these details and I began to consider this problem even during tennis matches.”
Novak Djokovic reveals retirement thoughts because of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal
Novak Djokovic is fighting Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal to go down as the greatest tennis player of all time.
Novak Djokovic has admitted he thought about giving up tennis in 2010 as he struggled to get the better of rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. The Serbian broke through onto the scene a few years after the duo who came to be his biggest challengers.
Federer and Nadal had won the hearts of supporters around the world as the exciting youngsters changed the tennis scene.
Djokovic’s arrival in competing with the big boys was not taken too fondly by fans as he rarely got the backing during the biggest matches.
There was a moment at the 2010 French Open which made Djokovic question his future.
The then 22-year-old had lost four of his five encounters with Federer and was beaten in four Grand Slam clashes against Nadal.
He then crashed out of Roland Garros after surrendering a two-set lead against Austrian 22nd seed Jurgen Melzer.
“In 2010 I lost to Melzer in the quarter-finals of Roland Garros. I cried after being knocked out,” Djokovic told Sky Sports Italia.
“It was a bad moment, I wanted to quit tennis because all I saw was black.
“It was a transformation, because after that defeat I freed myself.
“I had won in Australia in 2008, I was number three in the world, but I wasn’t happy.
“I knew I could do more, but I lost the most important matches against Federer and Nadal.
“From that moment I took the pressure off myself, I started playing more aggressively. That was the turning point.”
Djokovic has since gone on to claim 17 Grand Slam titles and he become the first man to win all nine Masters events.
Arguably the most stand-out match of his career was last summer’s Wimbledon final where he saved five match points against Federer to win an epic fifth-set tiebreak.
“It was one of the two most beautiful matches I’ve played, along with the final against Rafa in Australia in 2012. They are unique matches, everything happened,” reflected Djokovic.
“From a technical point of view, Roger’s game quality was excellent from the first to the last point – the numbers show that.
“I played the decisive points well, I didn’t miss a ball in the three tie-breaks and maybe that was the first time in my career.
“These matches happen once or twice in a career and I am grateful to have been able to fight against a great like Roger in a prestigious arena like Centre Court at Wimbledon.”