Toast Of The Town

Features Editor Bernd Fischer met up with ROGER FEDERER in Paris to share a glass of bubbly with one of the most decorated sports stars of our time

ON A RECENT SPRING EVENING at the historic Plaza Athénée, Roger Federer stepped into the lavish hotel suite looking exactly how I’d expect him to - elegant and so effortlessly executed. He’s dressed in a navy tracksuit top, with the sleeves pushed up, and wearing a pair of slim-fit, slightly cropped trousers in the same shade of blue. His choice in shoes completed the look: black loafers with gold detailing (‘Gucci,’ I told myself, as if I was at all surprised). While Federer’s innate sense of style isn’t what brought us to Paris, it has undoubtedly become part of his appeal, along with his reputation as a generous and down-to-earth personality.

How does the greatest tennis player of all time, with an exceptional fashion sense to match, stay as humble as the world has clearly witnessed him to be? When asked, he seemed genuinely taken aback.

‘I don’t know,’ he told me, seated on a rose-pink Louis XIV chair. The entire setup is, aptly, fit for a king. ‘I think my upbringing definitely helped me. My parents are very normal people with normal backgrounds, so that has definitely shaped me. Same with my wife, who also comes from a very humble background,’ he explained.

Federer speaks using his hands, and his body language shows that he’s very much present in the conversation. It’s a relief from the often scripted responses to questions from disinterested and detached individuals of considerable fame that our line of work affords us the pleasure – or displeasure – of meeting.

‘In Switzerland, I think we tend not to want to rise above one another, I think we all like to be pretty much the same,’ he added. ‘So I think that has helped to keep me grounded.’