Roger Federer has revealed his biggest career regret and answered whether he would consider coaching on the ATP Tour, ahead of his induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
The Swiss will join the likes of Serena Williams, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Martina Navratilova in the esteemed group on August 29 – nearly four years after he ended his stellar career.
Far from his best, Federer returned to the US Open during Fan Week for an exhibition singles match against former rival Andy Roddick, as well as a doubles appearance alongside John McEnroe.
The appearance was his first in New York since 2019, when he fell to Grigor Dimitrov in a five-set quarter-final thriller.
Federer was greeted with rapturous applause by both the audience and journalists during his US Open press conference.
Despite ruling out any return to professional tennis well into his 40s, as Serena Williams has recently done, the 20-time Grand Slam champion remained open to becoming a captain at the annual Laver Cup exhibition event for Team Europe
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“I guess with Laver Cup down the road maybe the captain role is definitely something I could consider, for sure,” answered the Swiss during a media event prior to his International Hall of Fame induction.
“Coaching at the minute, no, just because I’m too busy, and kids need my undivided attention. Plus, I have too many projects. I love my time and my life with my wife, so I don’t want to change that at the minute, but never say never.
“Stefan Edberg (who coached Federer from 2013-2015) never thought he was going to coach, and then all of a sudden he got sucked into my world for two years. We had the best of times.
“But after a year he did say, ‘Roger, I got one more year in me’. Yeah, I think getting back on the road and if you want to have an impact with a player, I feel like you probably need to put in at least 20 to 25 weeks.
“So all of a sudden – and then you have to be on stand-by in case, you know, the slams or some tournaments don’t go the way, so you want to help the player in the right possible way. So I feel like that’s a little bit – that’s a big maybe, let’s be honest.
“Then commentary, don’t know. I kind of was into it, thought maybe one day when I was talking in London in my retirement. I feel very comfortable now not commentating, but who knows down the road or maybe I’ll pop in and out of a booth maybe. It’s maybe simpler and just test the waters, but I have no plans there really.”
Despite speaking on the eve of his well-deserved induction, Federer was equally candid about the biggest regrets of his career.
“Yeah, I mean, I definitely have some not regrets, but it’s a pity I couldn’t play anymore Olympics after London. London was my last one,” he admitted.
“That was incredible. I was only 31 at the time. As lucky as I got to be able to play at the Sydney Olympics at just around 18 years old, I got unlucky in the last two, you know, in Rio and Tokyo, I believe.
“There were plans, and I was ready to go and all that stuff. That’s a bit of a shame. I’ve heard sometimes, you know, I didn’t win the Olympics in singles. I never thought I was missing. When you win Olympic gold, I don’t think it matters if it’s, I don’t know, in our sport, singles, doubles, or mixed.
“But for me, it felt super complete to have won the Olympic gold, and I feel like I have not missed out.
“I feel more that I’ve missed out maybe at the Olympics in Sydney when I finished fourth. I missed out on the bronze, because I don’t want to say I let my country down, but it would have been nice to win a medal for Switzerland there. It would have been a surprise medal completely.
“So I think at the end of the day, I see the Olympics more representing my country than actually for my own – how do you call it?
“…My own trophy case.
“I feel like I achieved the gold medal with Stan. It’s actually cool to have done it in doubles. It was such a surprise for me.”
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