Roger Federer is arguably the greatest tennis star of all time. With 20 grand slam titles in his name, he has cemented his name as one of the largest sports icons.
Only a rare set of players, especially in tennis, manage to be at the top of their game for so long. Thus, becoming the inspiration for every professional athlete.
But even he took inspiration from another great. The Swiss tennis ace reveals that he has been an avid F1 fan since childhood and found seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher to be an inspiration.
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Roger Federer finds inspiration in Michael Schumacher
Schumacher was a special race driver and achieved the unthinkable with Ferrari at the turn of this millennial. At that time, Federer was still very young, and he admits the German race driver was inspiring, as he remained a dominant force in F1 for so long.
“When I was growing up, I had Michael Schumacher that I would look up to who was at the top for so long,” said Schumacher on the Daily Show with Trevor Noah. “And I always thought, ‘It’s impossible to do that’, you know, to stay at the top for so long and have that drive.”
Fortunately, Federer marched on a similar path to Schumacher in tennis. There was a time when the 41-year-old was unbeatable during his peak and has registered several records in his name.
Michael Schumacher drew inspiration from Ayrton Senna
While Federer saw a benchmark in Schumacher, the latter also had an idol in the same sport. In 2000, after winning his third F1 championship, Schumacher said that he idolized Ayrton Senna.
At that time, he equalled the championship tally of the Brazilian race driver. Schumacher claimed he was 10 when he saw Senna race in karts and was inspired by his racecraft.
The two a few years later went on to compete in F1 when Schumacher made his debut in the sport. On the other hand, Senna was already a three-time world champion. So, it was a fight between two generations.
Often their contests took a heated turn. However, Schumacher always adored Senna. Things got tough for him once Senna died in a fatal race accident. He broke down crying when a journalist asked the German about his question on equalling race win tally.
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