What Roger Federer said was ‘super odd’ about his first ever match at Wimbledon

What Roger Federer asked the umpire during his first match at Wimbledon

Federer’s first match at Wimbledon came against Austrian Philipp Langer, and 20 years later he spoke about how nervous he was when he first walked onto court.

When reflecting on this match in an interview with BBC Sport, Federer revealed that he even questioned the umpire about the height of the net.

“I was so nervous that after probably three or five games or so, I went to the umpire and asked him, ‘Can you please check the net? I have a feeling the net’s way too high!’, because I can’t serve and I don’t know it just felt super odd the whole thing,” said Federer.

“He’s like, ‘I’ve checked it before the match like we always do here at Wimbledon,’ and I’m like, ‘Well yes, but do you mind still going to check it downstairs to see if it’s really correct?’. And he went and was like, ‘Told you so, it’s right’. That was terrible, but ended up winning the match quite comfortably thankfully.”

Federer was able to overcome these nerves and beat Langer, 6-0 6-2, to make a winning start in his debut Wimbledon campaign.

What Roger Federer said he realised after winning junior Wimbledon

Federer did not let nerves get the better of him throughout Wimbledon that year, where he would win the junior title in both singles and doubles.

When looking back on his career in 2019, Federer revealed that his junior victories made him realise that he could find success as a professional tennis player.

“You have milestones, winning Wimbledon junior in 1998 and then finishing number one junior in the world at the end of 1998 first maybe started me dreaming that I could maybe do that in the seniors,” said Federer, as reported by Tennis World USA.

“Then I think cracking top 10 is a big deal and then beating [Pete] Sampras at 2001 Wimbledon, winning my first Wimbledon, my first world championships in 2003 in Houston when I beat [Andre] Agassi, that was a huge moment for me, I finished the year world number two, and from then on my career was different.

“I won the Australian Open two months later, became world number one and from then on I was at a crossroads and I had to decide: I want to do more of this or am I happy with everything I have achieved. And I decided to work extra hard, to be extra committed, and I am happy it was the right decision.”