I feel like such a grump for not liking this more, because I can see that if it's something that's objectively just more up your street than it was mine then it would be a four or five starrer. The remarkable thing is that both Robbie and Lynette are very short. Neither is more than 1.7m (5ft 7in), and for a while it was feared that any offspring of theirs couldn’t possibly grow tall enough to become a force on the tennis circuit. Yet, out of some genetic inheritance, Roger Federer has grown to 1.85m (6ft 1in)."

Rafa/Fed rivalry - different from Fed/Sampras because Rafa was only a few years younger and hadn’t idolized Fed, nor was Fed the unquestioned future #1 during Rafa’s childhood. Lots of commonalities leading to mutual respect and a form of friendship - strong families, education by coaches with shortcomings as players, egalitarian streaks in coaching/upbringing, innovative fitness regimens, choosing tennis over soccer in similar fashion, respect for history of game. Clarey emphasizes Nadal’s love of process - not about kill but love of hunt; putting Fed on pedestal even while moving toward surpassing him (09 Aus). This will unlikely tell you anything new about Federer if you're even a casual fan. His career is not documented in much real detail and it spends a lot of time talking about the people who he interacted with more than Federer himself. It does not seem there were any additional interviews done with Federer to write this book, so most quotes are taken from old interviews and pressers. My biggest takeaway from this biography is that it's not the story of how great Roger Federer is, but of the people who made Roger Federer great. It was interesting to look behind the veil of the team pulling the strings to get Roger where he landed - at the top of the tennis mountain.But , I do get obsessed with sports personalities sometimes. Then I would venture to learn more about the player and the sport he/she/they play. Nicolas Mahut tells how he was so nervous to play the man he calls “James Bond”; Pat Rafter discusses his 3-0 record against Federer; Stefanos Tsitsipas and Matteo Berrettini reveal how they were inspired to play by Federer; Coco Gauff and Ons Jabeur share their feelings about a man who transcended tennis and there’s also a chapter from Craig O’Shannessy, who shares a secret behind Federer’s stunning 2017 Australian Open triumph. The author's reflection on books he's quit early, and those he's come to terms with never having read. How Shakespeare's Prospero would contemplate a lost opportunity for love during an intimate evening in Johannesburg years prior

Federer’s impact on the court is well-documented. The 41-year-old, who retired last month after the Laver Cup, has won 20 Grand Slam titles, 103 titles worldwide, the Davis Cup and Olympic gold medal in doubles. The Last Days of Roger Federer: And Other Endings may drive many readers crazy with the author's meanderings, but they're meant for me: it is the same way I read or wander the shelves or google hop from topic to topic. I skimmed much of the tennis stuff, but there's plenty more on Nietzsche, Beethoven, Larkin, Amis, Hitchens, Burning Man, indulgences, D. H. Lawrence, films, and myriad jazz performers, some of which I've never heard of. The Wonderboom Bluetooth speaker and Spotify are worth their weight. I play every song he mentions. As a New York Times journo, Clarey has had incredible access to Federer over the years. But he's forever asking Federer insipid questions about his business interests and off-court matters. He never manages to elicit any fascinating insights about, you know, tennis. Which, when you consider how readily Federer goes full analytical tennis wonk, is quite an instinct for the dull that Clarey possesses. What I enjoyed the most perhaps is seeing the other side of Federer, the side the media doesn't usually focus on as they are busy painting him as the elegant gentleman who plays and wins tennis matches so effortlessly. It was harder for fans to grow weary of Federer winning titles, big or small, when Nadal had reminded them that winning was not a givenRoger Federer: Die Biografie was first published in 2019 in German, but now the publisher, Polaris, has translated the book into English, and some minor updates have brought it up to date for 2021. Federer seems like someone who is good at appreciating what’s around him, and retaining his sense of wonder about it all. On a few occasions, when he’s been asked about a past match, I’ve heard him mention that he enjoyed the weather that day—the sight of the sun setting over the court, or a storm he could see coming in the distance. As you say in the book, “jaded” has never been in his vocabulary. I am mostly a passive observer of things that happen in the sports world and would get excited over certain games occasionally.