“I remember playing against the wall" - Federer opens up about beginnings

Federer achieved almost everything that a tennis player could wish for. He managed to win 20 Grand Slam titles, more than 100 ATP Titles and spent hundreds of weeks as world number 1. He also set a world record for attendance on a tennis match and many more achievements. Now, he spoke to ATP Uncovered presented by Peugeot about his beginnings with tennis.

“My first memories go back to playing with a wooden racquet. Instead of the neon yellow tennis balls I started off with the white tennis balls. In Switzerland, we used a lot of pressure-less tennis balls as well. I don’t know how many players of this generation today could say that,” Federer said, cracking a laugh. “I remember playing against the wall and at the cupboards and the garage doors for hours.”

“[I collected] a lot of the stickers as well. There was a year, I guess it was the beginning of the 90s, when all the old tennis players were in [a book],” Federer said. “It was about the tournaments, about the trophies, about the players, so I got to know them all. And then eventually also became a ball boy in my hometown event in Basel.

“Thinking back on how it used to be, you have a dream and a hope that one day you’ll become a Top 100 player and maybe play on some of the [big] courts. Next thing you know, it’s normal to play on centre court, it’s normal to play in front of 15,000 people,” Federer said. “Sometimes you tend to forget what a privilege that is. I feel like I never did forget. I enjoyed every single time it does happen and I try to enjoy it as much as I can.”

[embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/B8T-IPPl53J/[/embed]