Roger Federer remains active even after the end of his career. Image: www.imago-images.de
The US university Dartmouth has awarded former tennis champion Roger Federer an honorary doctorate. In his “inspiring” speech, Dr. Roger gave the graduates some important tips – which could also be useful for us.
12.06.2024, 11:1212.06.2024, 14:54
Some people don’t have to study to be able to call themselves a doctor. This is also the case with former tennis pro Roger Federer. After the University of Basel awarded the 20-time Grand Slam winner an honorary doctorate in 2017, he was now also given this honor at the elite US university Dartmouth. Federer himself focused entirely on tennis from the age of 16 and thus never attended university himself. Thanks to the honorary doctorate, the 42-year-old was nevertheless able to send the college graduates in Dartmouth off into their new phase of life with a speech last Sunday.
Humorous and peppered with lots of tennis wisdom
Federer admitted right at the beginning of his speech that it was only his second time setting foot in a college and that he was therefore moving a little outside of his comfort zone. The black robe he wore to the ceremony also took some getting used to for someone who had worn shorts almost every day for the past 35 years. Federer had the students’ attention when he drew a daring parallel between his former job and college, because Dartmouth, according to the tennis player, is the Wimbledon of beer pong.
Federer found another parallel between his career and college. Just like the graduates, his retirement marked the end of a phase of his life, but a new one had just begun. And just like the students, he still had to figure out “what this next phase should look like.” Federer said that his current activities as a tennis retiree mainly included his fatherly duties, vacuuming and “playing online chess against strangers.”
The Basel native remembered his first speech as a 17-year-old in the Swiss Davis Cup team. At the time, he could only say “I’m glad to be here.” Federer has also clearly learned a lot about rhetoric in recent years, because this time his speech lasted around 25 minutes. After an introduction peppered with many humorous anecdotes, Dr. Roger struck a more serious tone and gave the students lessons he had learned from his tennis career.
You can see one of his words of wisdom here:
Video: watson
Roger Federer received a lot of praise for his speech on social media. His words were “inspiring,” “poetic,” and “powerful.” So that you don’t have to watch the entire 25 minutes, we have summarized the most important life lessons of the “Maestro” for you.
Nothing is perfect
Federer explained to the graduates that perfection was an illusion, even for one of the best tennis players in history. He illustrated his statement with a statistic:
“I have won almost 80 percent of the 1,526 singles matches I have played in my career. But I have only won 54 percent of the points.”
“In other words, even the best tennis players rarely win more than half of the points they play. If you lose every other point on average, you learn to give less weight to each shot.”
“Even a great shot, a backhand smash that lands on ESPN’s top 10 list – that’s still just a point.”
“When you’re playing for a point, that has to be the most important thing in the world at that moment. But when it’s over, it’s over. This attitude is crucial because it gives you the freedom to devote yourself fully to the next point.”
Defeats are part of it
Roger Federer may know more about winning than losing, but even a great player experiences great defeats. Federer spoke to the graduates about the defeat that hurt him the most in his career.
«One of my biggest defeats was the Wimbledon final against Rafael Nadal in 2008. Some call it the best match of all time. […] Looking back, I have to say that I lost the match on the first point. I saw a guy on the other side of the net who had previously outclassed me at the French Open and thought: ‘He’s hungrier than me.’ It was only after I lost the first two sets that I remembered that I was a five-time Wimbledon champion. But by then it was already too late.”
“Some defeats hurt more than others. I knew I would never get the chance to win Wimbledon six times in a row again. […] People suddenly said: He was on a good run. Is his replacement coming now? But I knew what I had to do: I had to keep working and keep fighting.”
What looks effortless often requires a lot of training
During his career, Roger Federer was often said to have an effortless game. This is a myth, explained the exceptional talent:
“When people said my game looked effortless, it was meant as a compliment, but it frustrated me to hear things like, ‘He didn’t even break a sweat.’ The truth is, I had to work hard to make it look so easy.”
“I probably had the reputation of finding everything easy because I warmed up relatively casually before matches. So people didn’t get the feeling that I was training hard. But I had trained hard before the match, when no one was watching.”
“Maybe you’ve seen it in college too. There are people who get one A grade after another even though it seems like they haven’t really tried. And while you’ve been working through the night, pumping yourself full of caffeine and crying in the corner of the library. But I hope you’ve realized – like I have – that effortlessness is a myth.”
And if you have more time: here is the speech in full. Video: YouTube/Dartmouth
(kat)
All of Roger Federer’s triumphs at Wimbledon
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All of Roger Federer’s triumphs at Wimbledon
2003: Federer s. Philippoussis 7:6 (7:5), 6:2, 7:6 (7:3)
On the way to the final, Roger Federer only lost one set. In the semi-final, he clearly beat favorite Andy Roddick. The Swiss experienced difficult moments before the round of 16 against Feliciano Lopez when he had to be treated for lumbago: “For me, it’s a miracle that I was able to win with all this pain.” Federer won clearly against the unseeded Philippoussis. He sank to his knees, tears flowing. “Magical, hard to believe,” says Federer. … Read more
source: ap / anja niedringhaus
Single use: Ten times a ball boy intercepted Federer’s ball and one time he hit him on the head
Video: youtube
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2024-06-12 09:12:21
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