SEPT 25 - 27, 2026 | LONDON
From a 13-year-old ballkid dreaming of tennis in Basel to one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, Roger Federer reflected on an extraordinary journey as he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame on August 29 in Newport, R.I.
Surrounded by family, friends and generations of Grand Slam greats, Federer spoke about his love for tennis, the people who shaped his career and his hopes for the future of the game. Here are some of the highlights from his speech.
“They call this the Hall of Fame, but fame was never the goal. My goal was to spend my life doing something I love, with people who love it as much as I do.”
“As you can tell, I’m still writing my love letter to tennis. My time as a player is done, but tennis will always stand at the intersection of everything I care most about: my family, our friendships, the past 40 years, the future we’re building.”
“Tennis meant the world to me. Not just playing, not just winning, but creating something new.”
“I was a tennis fan before I was a player, and I’m still a fan and will always be.”
“It’s amazing to see yourself in a place like this to walk through the Hall of Fame, to immerse myself in the history of the sport. That means everything to me. To read the stories of my greatest heroes and to realize – I mean, to truly realize for the first time that I have a place here. This is one of the greatest honors of my life.”
“When I close my eyes and think and dream of the game I love, here’s what I see. I’m in Basel, Switzerland, I’m 13 years old, and it’s the Swiss Indoors. I’m not competing. I’m a ball boy.”
“I was a guy on court serving, slicing, smashing, winning, losing. I loved that, but I also learned that tennis is never about the players alone. It’s a whole ecosystem.”
“Between 1998 and when I first went on the ATP Tour and when I retired in 2022, I wore more than 5,000 headbands in my career. That’s more than Borg and McEnroe combined.”
“Mirka is the person who showed me how to get more focused about tennis and take joy in everything else. A wonderful mother to our four kids who make the impossible happen in all of our lives. She and I grab each other’s hands, and we run through walls.”
“At every stage of my career, I tried above all to stay true to myself, and I tried to show my love for the game, because it really mattered to me, and I also wanted it to matter to you to be worthy of your attention, worthy of your attendance.”
“We all leave the court eventually, but the sport keeps evolving. As the pace of professional tennis speeds up, as the sport becomes even more global, I so hope it will keep some of that amateur spirit, keep the camaraderie among the players.”
