As a seven-time Wimbledon
champion, not to mention a universally admired athlete, Roger
Federer has seen many glorious moments. But nothing quite like this.
A week after his wife Mirka gave birth to twin boys, Federer still finds
himself floating on the most beatific high.
“This is the best time of my life,” he explained softly in Rome on Tuesday,
almost as if he could not believe the latest extraordinary chapter of his
personal script.
How poetic that it should have been twins. You can imagine the movie
strapline: “Double trouble, all over again”. After Myla and Charlene, born
on July 23, 2009, we can now welcome Leo and Lenny (May 6, 2014).
At times, it feels as though Federer carries a magical force field that repels
ordinariness. Even when it comes to the elemental business of carrying on
his family line, the man is one in a million.
“When we found out we were having twins, it was like one of those moments
where you’re like: 'Wow, I can’t believe it, it’s really happening again’,”
Federer told The Daily Telegraph in his first interview since the
boys’ birth.
“But I always felt that there was a chance. My sister Diana has twins: a boy
and a girl. And my grandmother on my mum’s side was a twin apparently. So I
guess that we jumped a generation.
“It is pretty extraordinary. But I don’t feel special because of it. In fact I
believe that it’s more to do with Mirka, but the doctors might tell you
otherwise.
“I can’t actually remember when we found out: for me, Mirka being pregnant,
that’s the big news. And then, if it’s one or two, that’s secondary. Same
with boys or girls, it didn’t matter this time. I would have been really
happy to have another two girls, because I love my girls so much. It’s boys
now, clearly, and I couldn’t be happier.”
One detail has yet to be resolved. Myla and Charlene are identical twins. It
is always heart-warming to see them tootling around the All England Club on
the eve of Wimbledon: fair-haired, dark eyed and clad in matching dresses.
So what about Leo and Lenny? “We don’t know actually this time,” Federer said.
“For some reason, they couldn’t tell if they were identical. So we are
making a DNA test to find out.”
Could he not perhaps supply a photo, just for the pleasure of a little
untrained speculation? Federer smiled his foxy smile. “Yes, I do have a
picture on my phone. And yes, I am showing my friends. But we don’t know
each other that well.”
When the infants’ first photograph is released, it will be the shot that is
seen around the world. Their arrival has been one of the feelgood stories of
the year, sending news websites into meltdown.
A few hardcore fans have gone so far as to place bets on them winning
Wimbledon, while one ingenious soul mocked up a scorecard from a
mixed-doubles final in 2035: Leo and Charlene on one side, Myla and Lenny on
the other.
“Yeah I saw that,” Federer said with a chuckle. “It was funny. I got so many
messages and congratulations. It’s nice to see that people are happy for me,
and especially for Mirka, because she did the hard work.
“At the same time, people who know us, they try to give new parents some space
because it is so intimate. We have had a lot of friends coming to visit the
boys and Myla and Charlene, and also Mirka in particular. It has been very
nice. I have loved it.”
Federer has certainly been feted since his arrival in Rome, where he plays in the Internazionali BNL D’Italia. As he strode through the
players’ lounge on Tuesday, every single person stopped what they were doing
to offer their congratulations. Rafael
Nadal, rushing the other way, paused for a hand-clasp and a hearty
clap on the shoulder.
As Mirka was only due to reach full term this week, her husband had never
expected to be here at the Foro Italico, amid the clay dust and the
passionate local fans. But then, even the mighty Federers cannot predict
nature’s every twist and turn.
“Everything happened all of a sudden on Tuesday evening [May 6],” Federer
explained. “That was a bit of a surprise, I thought it was going to be a few
days or maybe a week or so down the road, so when it came on Tuesday it gave
me a bigger chance to come and play here really.
“I spoke to the team and I spoke to Mirka, asked them all their advice about
what I should do and they said that I should quickly come and play here. I
said: 'OK, if you don’t want me around, I’ll go away’.”
That last comment, just to be clear, was made in jest.
“I mean, I’d rather be home, no doubt about that, and I’d rather spend time
with Mirka and the kids now. But it’s a quick trip this one, and after that
we hope that we can all make it together to Paris. I’m looking forward to
coming back in a few days already.
“Those who are parents know how important the birth is and that everything
went well. It’s an unbelievable time, so much more interesting than just
winning a tournament or anything. That is so, like, secondary. It’s really
exciting times now and you just want to be in touch and know everything
that’s going on. I’m calling her all the time and she’s calling me and it’s
really, really beautiful.”
Federer, unusually, was sporting a pair of faint dark patches under his eyes
on Tuesday. But then, judging by his own account, the sleep deprivation
could have been far worse. Typically, for this blessed family, Leo and Lenny
have turned out to be perfect babies.
“One thing I didn’t remember [from the first set of twins] is that they slept
that much after they’re born,” he said. “I thought that they were maybe
sleeping 18 or 19 hours a day. It’s actually literally 22 hours, 23 hours,
it’s non-stop.
“I mean, they might have the odd scream. But it’s really so much resting and
literally just having their milk. It’s that simple.”
The hardest thing, Federer said, was deciding on what to call his young lads.
Asked when he had come up with their names, he replied: “Maybe the day
before. I must say boys’ names was hard, girls’ names was like this
[snapping his fingers], even though we also didn’t know until the girls were
born what we were going to call them. We had to talk about it in the wake-up
room.
“I feel like there’s so many nice, beautiful girls’ names, they’re all cute
and all that stuff, but with boys it’s a totally different story.”
Such issues are rarely discussed in professional tennis’s locker-rooms. At 32,
Federer has just become the first man since Ivan Lendl, in the early 1990s,
to combine a full-time career with raising four children.
He has always said that he intends to keep playing for as long as he enjoys
the game. It would be a major surprise, given his love of the Olympics, if
he does not compete in Rio in two years’ time. But will the boys grow up
with any memories of their father playing at the highest level? That might
require him to go on to 36, or even further.
“My plan is that they can also come on tour, and this time around at least we
kind of know how to handle kids on the road,” Federer said. “That was quite
a challenge I must say [with Myla and Charlene], early on. Especially after
they were one year old, when they started to become much more mobile and
walking around a lot.
“Just because when you fly, when you’re in transit, or hotel rooms - where do
you go in the cities? Not that it’s super-difficult, but we kind of know our
way around know and how it’s done.
“My wife does a lot of work, as much as she can. And I try to help as much as
I can. We have the grandparents as well and all my team members, they
sometimes just tag along. Clearly we also need some help on the road, so
Mirka can have an opportunity sometimes to sleep in a little bit, or come to
watch one of my matches.”
“I’m aware it’s going to be a lot of work,” Federer said of his new life as
the world’s most famous father of four. “But this is not a time where
anybody needs to feel sorry for me or get worried. It’s super-exciting. With
Myla and Charlene just being there and being with them, observing, just
doing it all together, it’s so cool. I’m really looking forward to it all,
and the future is beautiful.”
Date: 14th May 2014, Source: The Telegraph
