Federer admits sharing locker room with Sampras and Agassi pushed him to breaking point: ‘This seriousness got to me’

Tennis legend Roger Federer has given a rare sneak peek into the “most difficult” phase of his career, which came early on while sharing the locker room with legends like Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi.

In an interview with Tages-Anzeiger after his induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame was announced, the 20-time Grand Slam winner Federer opened up on a tough period in his career that he had to endure at the start before ascending to the top of tennis.

Federeer: ‘It’s not all fun and games’

Federer said that while he was excited to share the locker rooms with the best players of that era, their ruthlessness and competitiveness soon became too much to handle for him at times.

“The most difficult thing for me was the transition from juniors to the pros. At first it was super cool. Suddenly I was in the locker room with Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Tim Henman, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Carlos Moya and others. And I thought: This is the best! But then everything got so serious. One guy wraps the grip tape around his racket with a grim expression, and you think: Oh God, he’s intense,” he said.

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“Another walks past you without giving you a glance. And you think: He wants to win at all costs! And yet: Is it really that important? That phase was tough for me. When you travel a lot, lose often, and are as emotionally charged as I was, you think: I didn’t read the fine print in the tennis contract. It’s not all fun and games. This seriousness got to me. The years from 18 to 20 or 21 were hard for me.”

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Federer, however, added that a strong support system around him, including Mirka, his wife and then girlfriend, allowed him to stay mentally resolute.

“Not anymore. I had good perspective then, and I had Mirka and my team around me. We always had fun. When things got a bit too serious, we fooled around even more than usual. And then it was okay again,” Federer added.

In sports, they often say adversity shapes champions, and it seems the same happened with Federer, who went on to win multiple major titles, besides being the world No 1 for 310 weeks in his career. He retired from the sport in 2022.