Titled The Roger Federer Effect, Rivals, Friends, Fans and How the Maestro Changed their Lives and published by Pitch, the book includes more than 40 exclusive interviews with players, coaches, rivals, fans, friends and people from outside tennis, including the world of music, film and even politics.

There, athletes have a safe haven,” said Mike Nakajima, tennis director at Nike for 29 years. “They can come and hang around and nobody asks for pictures.” In the 2017 Australian Open final, Federer, who had been off Tour for six months as he recovered from knee surgery, came from a break down in the final set to win his first Grand Slam title since 2012. “Everything changed in 2017 when Federer started to hit the ball faster on the first ball [the return],’ Toni says. ‘Federer said he didn’t want to be the one to play more rallies. On hard courts, it was very difficult for Rafael to beat him because he played so fast. The worst memory was Australia 2017 because Rafael was winning 3-1 in the fifth set.”Roger Federer felt very comfortable in the Nike house when he was young, happy to pop over, make himself a sandwich with ham and cheese and watch Wimbledon on TV. In 2016, as chance would have it, the Nike people on Arthur Road, on the other side of Wimbledon Park from The All England Club, were practically neighbors of the Federers. Clearly inspired by the long-impending end of the Swiss tennis star’s career, “Inspiration Federer”—or, in its English translation, “The Roger Federer Effect”— doesn’t simply add yet another memoir to the already compelling body of literature on the “Maestro”. This book’s selling point is its deeply personal perspective, deriving mainly from a myriad of interviews with coaches, fellow players, analysts, as well as early friends.

It is no slight on the others to say that Federer’s career has been defined, in many ways, by his clashes with Nadal and Djokovic. Between them, the trio have dominated men’s tennis, mopping up the Grand Slam titles and leaving very little room for anyone else to get a look-in. Together, they have inspired each other to unrivalled heights. In speaking to so many different people, it was striking how much they all enjoyed talking about Federer. From his friends, and his super-fans, that’s not surprising, but from the coaches of his rivals, like Toni Nadal, Marian Vajda and Mark Petchey, to players who beat him and in many cases, like James Blake, lost to him frequently, there was nothing but respect, warmth and admiration. Many equate his popularity with how genuine a person he is. He didn’t have to try to be loved, it just came naturally, through his tennis and the person he is. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal at the 2022 Laver Cup in London Roger Federer fires off a return to Rafael Nadal during the 2017 Australian Open men’s singles final. Photograph: Kyodo/Newscom/Alamy Many times when I spoke with Rafael, I said Federer plays not too smart with you. In my opinion, he normally played the return very easy to us. He was not aggressive enough.” Federer sports Nike tennis shoes on Wimbledon's Centre Court in July 2019. Tim Clayton/Corbis Sport/Getty ImagesUkraine’s Sergiy Stakhovsky, interviewed before he headed home to defend his country against Russia’s invasion, famously beat Federer at Wimbledon, but also explains how the Swiss was so integral to getting huge prize-money rises for players at Grand Slams. Wrestler Urs Bürgler explains the role he played in bringing Federer together with Mirka Vavrinec, the woman who played such a massive role in his career, and we meet the man who beat Federer the first eight times they played. From goofy teenager to “James Bond”

How does Nakajima explain Federer outperforming his biggest rivals regarding marketability? “I’m not sure Rafa wants to be the highest-paid endorser in the world. I don’t think he cares. Rafa is Rafa, he has done extremely well and I don’t think he needs anything else. Roger wanted to be marketed, so he appealed to different brands, audiences and consumer groups. And his management company’s done an amazing job.” A connoisseur of the humdrum details of failure, Dyer also has a joyous appreciation of the transcendent and the triumphant In the process of more than 40 exclusive interviews, we spoke to his rivals, fans, friends, peers, coaches and even politicians, skiers, musicians, film directors, commentators and photographers, trying to explore how and why Federer became such a revered figure inside and outside of the sporting world. The process of writing the book was really enjoyable, not least the relationship with Simon Graf, who was a pleasure to work with. We both conducted the interviews and put the book together in addition to our daily jobs, having regular Zoom chats with each other to discuss chapters. As a freelance for more than 20 years, I have almost always written for more than one publication at each event, so being able to really focus on one thing, as I did, particularly in the three weeks immediately after Wimbledon, was a genuine pleasure.

Special offers and product promotions

Nakajima fondly remembers the Roger Federer day on the Nike campus near Beaverton, Oregon, which must have been in 2007. “We have Nike world-class athletes visiting the Nike campus all the time. But hardly anybody at Nike gets to work with and see athletes. So we like to create an event when they visit. But why does it always happen to Novak? Or the whole controversy about the Covid-19 vaccination. Now, as a brand: do I want to be behind somebody who always has controversy around him? Or do I want to go with an athlete with a squeaky clean image?”

ch bin ehrlich positiv erstaunt – ich hätte nicht gedacht, wie sehr mir dieses Buch gefallen würde und bin froh, dass ich es, ein Geschenk einer Freundin, angefangen zu lesen habe. Und nicht mehr aufhören konnte. In a glorious career spanning more than two decades, Federer won 20 Grand Slam titles - including eight at Wimbledon - and more than 100 tournaments worldwide, taking the game to a new level and becoming the most popular player the sport has ever seen. As he enters retirement, more than 40 personalities from inside and outside tennis reveal the special place Federer holds in their lives. Roger would have been famous on his own for sure. Even if he was playing for any other brand. But he became a lot bigger because of Nike’s marketing machine. The exposure that Nike can provide to an athlete is amazing. Obviously, you have to have success on the court, which Roger had. He won a few US Opens; that opened many people’s eyes.” Through exclusive interviews, they explain the Roger Federer phenomenon. As much as his deeds are important, it is also the intimate details that really make a person who they are. The Roger Federer Effect reveals them in fascinating and often previously untold anecdotes. He was up-and-coming, one of the top juniors. We brought him on and I realized right off the bat that he’s naturally charismatic and speaks well. And I noticed that he knew he was going to be great.”Da ich selten Biografien lese, war dies für mich tatsächlich ein Genre-Ausflug über meinen üblichen Tellerrand hinaus. Und es hat sich durchaus gelohnt… :-)