The people who first brought Roger Federer to tennis were his parents. They are also passionate tennis enthusiasts…

Robert Federer grew up in the village of Berneck, in northeastern Switzerland, near the borders with Austria and Germany, the son of a textile worker father and a housewife mother. As an adult, Robert went to Basel to work as an employee in a pharmaceutical laboratory. Basel is a city located at the border junction of Switzerland, France, and Germany, where many pharmaceutical companies are headquartered. Robert works for Ciba.

After 4 years working in Basel, Robert began to get bored with this flat life and wanted to go abroad to see the world. Ciba also has a factory in Kempton Park, a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. And so Robert decided to go there. There he met Lynette Durand, the daughter of a foreman whose mother was a nurse. Lynette works as a secretary at Ciba.

Federer family

Robert is small, has a tomato nose and a mustache that looks like the cartoon character Super Mario. He is strong, quick-witted, easy-going, nothing can describe him better than a clear smile with his eyes closed. Robert met Lynette in 1970 and they quickly became a couple, taking her to the Swiss Club in Johannesburg to introduce her to his new pastime, tennis. Before that, Lynette often played field hockey. They moved back to Basel in 1973, married there and had their first daughter, Diana, in 1979. Two years later, their son was born and they decided to name him Roger, for ease of pronunciation in English.

Robert is a regionally ranked player but Lynette is even more talented at tennis. She loved tennis so much that she quickly became a tennis coach for children at the tennis club in Basel. She often took Roger to the tennis courts and he quickly fell in love with the tennis ball. “At one and a half years old, he can play with the ball for hours. At three and a half years old, he hit the ball over the net for the first time,” Mrs. Lynette said.

Robert Federer congratulates his son on winning the Grand Slam

Mr. Robert said his son was impulsive from a young age: “Failure was almost a disaster for him, even in the seahorse dice game. Many times, he threw the seahorse table through the living room window.” Mrs. Lynette said: “When Roger doesn’t like something, he reacts very strongly. When frustrated with something, Roger always questions why he has to do it, or just ignores it. When his father gave him his first tennis lessons, he didn’t even look at his father.”

Until he was 18 years old, Roger dyed his hair blonde, had a stubborn personality, often hit his racket and reacted strongly every time he missed a shot. His now stunning backhand was a disaster as a teenager, so much so that players his age often gave each other a tip: if you want to beat Federer, hit him to the left. But gradually, under the guidance of coaches Peter Carter and Peter Lundgren, Federer changed his personality and became the perfect man he is today.

Federer’s parents are always by his side in every tournament

In 1997, the Federer family faced a turning point decision when Mr. Robert was offered a senior management position in Australia by Ciba. He took his family to Melbourne and Sydney for 3 months each. But then, he decided that the whole family would not go to Australia but stay in Basel because he was not sure that the conditions to develop Roger’s career in Australia were as good as the ones he had in Switzerland.

In the early years of Roger Federer’s career, Mr. Robert and Mrs. Lynette managed their son’s money and activities until he signed a contract with IMG company. Now, they still play an important role in the Roger Federer Foundation charity fund, in the official fans association Fans4Roger…