Federer is going to be a father

News

Roger Federer, the current world number 2, announced on his website recently that he is going to be a father.

The Swiss star announced that his girlfriend, Mirka Vavrinec, who he met at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, is pregnant.

"Mirka and I are excited to let you know that we will be parents this summer! Mirka is pregnant and we are so happy to be starting a family together. This is a dream come true for us. We love children and we are looking forward to being parents for the first time. Mirka is feeling great and everything is going well."

After the announcement of this news, Federer expressed his excitement at his subsequent interview in Indian Wells, where he is currently playing a tournament:

"I mean, like I think in a way I always had the dream that once I became No. 1 in the world that if I have a child I hope I have it early enough so he can see me playing, you know. So this is very exciting, you know."

Federer also stated that this would not really affect his mindset to tennis "a whole lot".

Analysis

This new excitement in Federer's life may well bring him the stimulus he needs to regain this authority in the men's tennis game, as his child is now an added motivation for him to do well.

However, raising a child is a lot of hard work. Federer's mentality and focus will be divided between his family and his tennis.

Furthermore, history is also not on his side. In the Open Era, there are only six male tennis players who have won majors after becoming a father, being Boris Becker, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Pat Cash, Andres Gomez, Petr Korda (all of which won only one major after being a father) and Jimmy Connors (who won three majors after being a father).

With the intensity of Nadal's game, and his edge over Federer, and the fearless challengers in the form of Djokovic and Murray hot on the heels of Federer, it will be hard for Federer to regain his dominance at the slams, given the competing loyalties he now have between family and tennis.