I have been following Roger Federer´s career since actually forever.

I am generation Björn Borg and John McEnroe watching them fight against each other when I was a little girl - Borg´s poster was hanging over the bed in my teenage bedroom.

I never liked Boris Becker whom I could watch playing for free when working as a service runner at Hamburg´s Rothenbaum tournament while I was a student at near by university - and, then again, I fell in love with Steffi Graf on the spot when watching her wonderful play at New York´s Flushing Meadows, now more than thirty years ago.

And then came Roger.

Not as beautiful as Borg and certqainly not as cool - yelling and throwing rackets, then again crying like a baby after winning.

But: Playing more elegant than any other player of his generation.

And: Bringing well educated back to the tennis court.

Talking in sufficiently good French even after a loss at the French Open.

Always being polite.

Marrying the the equivalent of a highschool sweetheart - Mirka used to be a tennis pro in her teens but stopped after getting together with Roger to fully support him and his career and later take care of the whole family.

While the sun has set on Roger Federer´s career, Christopher Clarey, an "New York Times" journalist who met him more than twenty times and under so many different circumstances has his book in stores - right in time for another big adventure: September 8th 2021 marks the day when Swiss sports shoe company "ON" goes public, with Roger Federer being its testimonial and biggest shareholder.

Clarey´s book “The Master: The Long Run and Beautiful Game of Roger Federer" tells the story about that humble boy from the countryside near Basel who became one of the wealthiest sportsmen of all times. Looking for reasonable answers to that eternal "Why Him?"

When I read the exeprt from "The New York Times " below I realized why:

Roger is like a symbol, a metaphor for everything outstanding made in Switzerland:

Never shiny on the outside - but with high maintenance techinique inside (Swiss watches), not really chic (Swiss fashion and style) but multi lingual and well travelled (like most of Swiss people).

And most importantly: Always nice with strangers - like every Swiss I ever met in my thirty years of living here - Swiss people ALWAYS work the room at any given party to shake hands with everyone else; and then remember that name forever. I am not surprised Roger Federer does that at any event he is invited as well.

I think those qualities should always win. Not only on the tennis court.