Before becoming the tennis legend he is today, Roger Federer almost saw his career compromised by a ski fall in Crans-Montana with Marc Rosset. “I was scared,” said the Genevan in a podcast.
Roger Federer almost saw his career compromised by a ski fall in Crans-Montana with Marc Rosset.
KEYSTONE
When Roger Federer ended his exceptional career in 2022, he admitted that he was particularly looking forward to getting back on his skis. Due to the high risk of injuries, the Basel tennis superstar gave up his hobby for years. Probably also because he was scared in Crans-Montana in his youth.
Returning from Australia, Federer went skiing for a few days in Valais with Marc Rosset. The 1992 Olympic champion remembered the accident in the podcast the «Tennis Legend»broadcast in July. “Roger must have been 18 or 19,” Rosset said. “At one point he passes me and takes a bump. He flies away and I’m like, ‘Damn! It’s a disaster!’” According to the Genevan, Federer flew backwards in the air for several meters before crashing violently on the snow.
“His body was twisted in every direction. I was sure something had broken. I was scared. Imagine his career ended because of that. We wouldn’t have looked good, I would have been a dead man in Switzerland,” Rosset continued.
“I skied like a crazy person”
In 2019, Federer himself remembered his heavy fall. “I skied like a crazy person (…), I took a bump, I flew ten meters and found myself 100 meters lower in the snow. Marc was laughing, but he was still very scared for me,” he said in an interview with “Matin“. The relief was even greater when Federer was able to get up. “I am well aware that I was lucky.”
After this fall, Federer went to Zurich to participate in the Davis Cup. Switzerland lost 3-2 to Australia, but at that time Federer was probably just happy to still be able to stand on court. A few years later, the Basel native won the first of his 20 Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon.
Since his retirement, Federer is once again present in the mountains. In January 2023, he got back on skis for the first time in 15 years, as he immortalized in an Instagram video. Now aged 43, he nevertheless engages in more moderate activity than when he was a teenager…
