As he gears up for his first Australian Open as a dad after the birth of twin daughters, Roger Federar has expressed confidence that fatherhood won't affect his career.
As he gears up for his first Australian Open as a dad after the birth of twin daughters, Swiss tennis ace Roger Federar has expressed confidence that fatherhood won't affect his career.
The world No.1 has wife Mirka and six-month-old daughters Myla and Charlene in tow at Melbourne Park as he attempts to add to his record 15 grand slam triumphs, The Mirror reports.
The three times Australian Open champion will have to rewrite history if he wants to continue his grand slam winning ways.
Only eight players have won grand slam singles titles after becoming fathers, with just American Jimmy Connors managing the achievement more than once.
But Federer insists it will be business as usual when he kicks off his Open campaign against Russian Igor Andreev.
"There's always going to be speculation once you have a family, you look at history and see some players don't win when they have a family. The hunger's still there - I'm working as hard as I have been, I haven't just been babysitting,” he said.
"I've been putting in the big hours and I feel my game's where it's supposed to be," he added.
Former world No.1 John McEnroe is among those who believe Federer the father is facing one of his biggest challenges.
"There's no tougher opponent than kids. When you try to juggle that, try to spend the time necessary to be the best player in the world and be a great father and husband, it gets more complicated,” McEnroe, a father of six, said.
"I'm not going to say that (it will be the start of Federer's decline) because Roger loves the game so much - maybe he'll be different. I know from my own - when I had kids I thought I could handle both things,” he added.
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