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Federer was born in Basel, to Swiss-German Robert Federer and South African Lynette Federer (Durand). He grew up in suburban Münchenstein, ten minutes from Basel and close to the borders of France and Germany.Federer considers Swiss German his first language. He also speaks German, French and English fluently, and conducts press conferences in all four. He is Roman Catholic and met Pope Benedict XVI while playing the 2006 Internazionali BNL d'Italia tournament in Rome.
In addition to tennis, he also played football as a boy and considered becoming a professional footballer before deciding to pursue a career in tennis. He is a fervent supporter of his hometown club FC Basel. As a youngster, he enjoyed watching former world #1 Chilean player Marcelo Ríos in action. In addition to Rios, he especially liked Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg, and has cited the three as his idols.
Federer is also highly involved in various charities. He established the Roger Federer Foundation in 2003 to help disadvantaged people and to promote sports to youth. He was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador of UNICEF in 2006. Since then, he has visited South Africa and Tamil Nadu, one of the worst tsunami-affected areas in India. He has also appeared in UNICEF public messages to raise public awareness of AIDS.
Federer is married to former-Women's Tennis Association player Miroslava "Mirka" Vavrinec. They met while competing for Switzerland in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Vavrinec retired from the tour in 2002 because of a persistent foot injury and has since been working as Federer's public relations manager. They were married in Basel on 11 April 2009, surrounded by a small group of close friends and family, and are expecting their first child.
In 2007, Federer was photographed by Annie Leibowitz as King Arthur. This was part of a series of photographs of celebrities for Disney's Year of a Million Dreams project.
He maintains a close relationship with musician Gavin Rossdale, pro golfer Tiger Woods and pro footballer Thierry Henry. He was recently in an ad for men's razors with Woods and Henry.. and he is looking very handsome in that ad..
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Now some lines about his playing style. Federer has a versatile, all-court playing style and can hit all of the fundamental shots with a high degree of proficiency. His versatility was epitomised when Jimmy Connors said "In an era of specialists - you're either a clay court specialist, a grass court specialist or a hard court specialist... or you're Roger Federer".
He is an adept volleyer and an excellent baseliner who can dictate play with precise groundstrokes from both wings. While there seems to be no definite answer regarding which forehand grip he uses, most agree the grip is between eastern and slightly semi-western. He can generate extreme top-spin with the forehand, allowing him to open up cross-court angles while still hitting the ball with pace.
He keeps his eyes locked on the contact point longer than most players and keeps his head fairly still despite his speed of swing. David Foster Wallace described the exceptional speed, fluidity and brute force of this forehand motion as "a great liquid whip", while John McEnroe has referred to it as "the greatest shot in our sport". Federer plays with a one-handed backhand, and has an excellent slice, and can also fire top-spin winning shots.Federer tends to hit his groundstrokes early, while the ball is still on the rise, much like Andre Agassi did. While this requires excellent reactions and footwork, it means that Federer hits his groundstrokes closer to the net than most of his opponents. This reduces the reaction time of his opponents and allows him to hit the angled winners that are a trademark of his game.
His serve is difficult to read because he tosses the ball in the same spot no matter where he intends to serve it and he turns his back to his opponents during his motion. His first serve is typically around 190 km/h (However, he is capable of serving at 220 km/h).
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