Throughout his career, Roger Federer has been asked some tricky questions by the media. While most of the time, the Swiss has maintained his calm, there has been an odd occasion when Federer has lost his cool. One such occasion was after Roger Federer’s semi-final defeat to Novak Djokovic.
The Australian Open 2016 produced another classic match between Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer. The Serbian defeated the Swiss 6-1, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 to clinch a place in the final. The World No.1 and defending champion, Novak Djokovic was clinical throughout the match and even went on to win the final against Andy Murray. However, a controversial question for a journalist towards Roger Federer after the match stole the spotlight.
After his semi-final defeat, a specific question from a journalist irritated Federer. The question asked to Federer, was whether Djokovic will “face no great opponents” worthy of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. The Swiss took objection to that question and asked the journalist to be careful with his words.
Federer did not want to hear disrespect about other players, especially given Stan Wawrinka and Marin Cilic had won Grand Slams in the recent years. The Swiss further added that he does not ask stupid questions like that before adding that there are a lot of good players on tour.
“You have to be careful how you phrase a question. You don’t want to be rude to the other players because you have to face them [in news conferences]. I don’t have to face them. I don’t ask them stupid questions like that. I think there are a lot of good players on the tour. I’ll tell you that.”
Roger Federer had anger issues as a teenager
Roger Federer is known for his calmness and grace spread over his illustrious career but things were different when the Swiss was a teenager. The 20-time Grand Slam champion revealed that he would throw his racquet away every time he was losing a match. And that nearly costed him a career in tennis as he was forbidden from doing the same.
“There was a time when I used to throw my racket a lot and when I was 16, I was even chased off court because of it. At 17, my family decided that I had to go to a psychologist, because I was so angry on the court. From that moment on, my growth has been constant.”
Federer admitted in an interview with Express, that his family had taken him to a psychotherapist due to his anger management problems. Thanks of his extraordinary talent and work ethic, the young Swiss was always going to be a big star. However, his parents and coaches, though, were concerned about his anger issues while playing the game. Roger Federer remarkably turned it around from being an angry teenager to becoming one of the calmest players in tennis.
