I’ve read a lot of books about tennis, and I’d put this one near the bottom middle of the pack. Clarey is a fine writer and is in the tennis hall of fame for his work on the sport. I’m just not sure Roger is that interesting. He feels like an inspirational office poster come to life.
Clarey does the work speaking extensively to Roddick, who is legit interesting, Paul Annacone, ditto, and others in Roger’s close circle in addition to his many interviews with the man himself over 20 years. Roger’s parents and wife are only available in snippets harvested from other sources, most in Europe.
Some Roger fun facts: Like Trevor Noah, he is the product of South African and Swiss parents. His parents met when they both worked for Ciba in South Africa but would return to his father’s native country. They named him Roger because it paired well with his last name. He has no middle name. His first language is English as this is what his mother spoke to him as a child. He learned Swiss German in school and French while at a boarding school in Der Schweiz. A polyglot himself, Clarey hints that French is his best language. He stopped his formal education at 16, wasn’t a very good student, and still isn’t much of a reader. His parents, being Swiss in temperament, made him promise he’d get a real job if he didn’t reach the top 100 by the time he was 20. He did.
He bet on himself, which I love.
He was a hyperactive kid who got into everything and had to be constantly entertained. He sounds like a real PITA on court, but his early coaches mention extensively that he was a nice kid – just full of energy. Even late in his career, his physio and coaches devised novel workouts to keep him from getting bored. I wonder if he were ever tested for ADHD. He was a messy housekeeper and his early sponsor contracts were not favorable to him, a situation that existed when he met his wife Mirka at the 2000 Sydney Olympic games when he was 20. Three years old and more mature, she took his business interests, public relations, and domestic life under her wing. Clarey makes it sound like they are true partners in this life and that she is an integral part of his success. She never gives interviews and eventually relinquished the PR side of his business to focus on contracts and travel planning after some unfair criticism. They have four children, two sets of identical twins, and they traveled together as a family when he was playing.
Some of the more interesting chapters were late in the book as Roger put together the Laver Cup, dealt with injuries, and became more involved in his foundation while preparing for a life outside of tennis. Clarey puts together some interesting stats on how many matches Federer blew while having match points. As a fan, I think we only think of the wins rather than those hard loses. For his part, Roger always looks forward – that motivational poster part – he moves on quickly and at one point stresses to Clarey that “things” tend to even out. That net cord winner on game point sometimes goes your way later in the match. It’s probably not a bad way to look at life, all things considered.
If you’re looking for my favorite book on tennis, it is, hands down, The Circuit.
Cher Time 