Roger Federer: The Biography by René Stauffer
This in-depth biography about Roger Federer has been updated for 2021 and is now available in English
René Stauffer has been hot on Roger Federer's heels for almost 23 years and knows almost everything about the man from Basel (except how many matches Federer has lost despite holding match points 😊)
Thanks to several years of in-person contact with the player, Stauffer managed to win his friendship and go behind the scenes of Roger's life, the result is a comprehensive biography that covers Federer's career in great detail, and I was lucky enough to get my hands on a copy ahead of the official release.
Roger Federer: The Biography
From Federer’s early life in Basel, Switzerland, where he first picked up a tennis racquet, to the heights of his twentieth Grand Slam victory and all points in between. Stauffer explores the secrets of Federer’s success, the hardships and doubts that he has faced and examines Federer’s legacy in the modern game. Insightful, touching and revealing, this is the most definitive biography on Roger Federer ever written. Roger Federer: The Biography
Roger 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.
This latest 293-page book is in some ways an updated and remastered version of the original Das Tennisgenie: Die Roger-Federer-Story from 2007, which was translated into English as Quest for Perfection: The Roger Federer Story.
I hadn't read the original but picked up a copy to compare the two, and while the book reworks some of the passages, it is more than just a revised edition and has a lot of brand new content.
It is mainly because a lot has happened in the fourteen years since it was released, but even several parts around Federer's earlier years contain never seen before content and go much more in-depth.
Contents
To get a feel for the book, here are the chapters.
Part One: The Rise
- The world is a ball
- Best friends
- In exile
- A dream of perfection
- Finding his feet
- ‘Hello, Mr Federer'
- A boy amongst men
- Under the rings
- The violinist
- Broken racquets
- Crises and a tragedy
- The redemption
Part Two: Becoming King
- Battles in Texas
- At the top
- Ther kings of grass
- On broadway
- Marks on clay
- Pizza Basilea
- The Salad Bowl
- Rivalries
- Searching for peRFection
- Mona Lisa of tennis
- Sergeant Pepper
- The brand
- An almost normal family
- Citizen of the world
- The philanthropist
- Carousel of the coaches
- The peaceful warrior
- The legacy
- Media man
- Fed fans
Part Three: Chasing 18
- The end?
- Submerged
- The magic transformation
- Laver and the legends
- The long wait
- A new wand
- The calm before the storm
- Unforgettable thirty minutes
- Norman in the snow
Part Four: The Greatest
- In the sunbelt
- Champions' dinner
- Court of tears
- The GOAT
- The honoured
So who is the book for? Fed fans, tennis fans or just those who like biographies will enjoy the read. Even those who think they know absolutely everything about Federer will get something from it.
While most die-hard fans know all about Federer's early days in Basel and at the National Tennis Centre in Biel, parts three and four of the book are worth reading for Federer connoisseurs as Stauffer shows the meticulousness and attention to detail with which Federer planned his comeback in 2017.
Win a Copy of the Book
I have three hardback copies of the book to giveaway. To enter, play the quiz below, and we will pick three winners at random from those who get all five answers correct. Winners will be contacted by email on May 10th 2021.
Winners:
Update May 10th. Three winners have been drawn:
- Muru
- Carissa
- James
I have contacted you via email.
2020 comment leaderboard prize:
- Sue
- Anna
- Emerson
- Dr Evil
You can either have a copy of the biography, or a copy of Footsteps of Federer, let me know in the comments or via email…
Thanks to all who entered!
Sweet…
How about the podium commenters get the book? 😆
If anyone was wondering why I say Stauffer doesn’t know how many matches Federer lost from match point up. I and others think it’s 24. Stauffer and Graf think it’s 25 with a match point in Rotterdam 2002 against Escude but there is no info on it, and from the way the tiebreak was played out, it seems unlikely.
Update: if some of you entered and got one wrong, then play again. There were two flaws in the quiz:
One was the Geneva question which was technically correct but misleading so tripped up too many people so I changed the wording.
The other was a mistake in the question. I created the questions from the records page in the back of the book. And I’ve just noticed that they’re wrong so a few minus points to the editor there! 😁
Yay, I’m in the draw!
👍 Good work.
Drat, I didn’t realise they’d have updated the book since I bought the German version 🙁 And I expect Luke would appreciate a credit as the translator, without whom the English version wouldn’t exist at all.
Do the chapters correspond to your German version?
Who is Luke?
Is Geneva going to be a bubble? With full/some/no crowd?
No crowd, just some corporates / sponsors allowed in. Nonsense.
Agree. In Spain there was some notable crowd. It’s on fresh air, so (according to epidemiologists) almost no risk of virus transmission if distance of 1,5 m can be hold. Which means almost 50% of stadium capacity should be no problem, even without masks.
Moreover, there are more and more people vaccinated, having passed infection or having fresh test. All these “categories” are in Poland allowed to watch sports live.
I know your general approach, but even in terms of public policies for pandemic it makes no more sense.
As I wrote earlier, I think, every athlete should be given the opportunity of getting the vaccine and be free from every restrictions, bubbles a.s.o. Who prefers to get infected and have the same freedom, should be given an opportunity to get infected (under medical control). Others must so far go via bubbles. Maybe another nonsense, but still some different possibilities to choose from.
Another option for the sport’s elite is the possibility to have a “private bubble”, like some had in New York 2020.
Thiem got somehow “mentally ill” because of all the bubbles and needed 2 months break from tennis (knee and foot injuries were not the reason). Now he needs to restart the season And it’s again bubbles in every tournament. At least finally some crowds are there.
Federer playing before empty tribunes does not make sense at all. He could instead organize with Stan or somebody else a private tournament (like Djokovic did 1 year ago) with prize money (would be no problem to get sponsors) interesting for some good players to come.
It is even worse when they are letting sponsors in. Money talks!
“Money talks” is not new 😉 “Money makes the world go round…” TBH – Fed’s money can talk too 😉 Of course it#s not needed on tour, where his name talks everything 🙂
So three winners now drawn:
Muru
Carissa
James
Are the three winners drawn at random from those who got 5 correct. I will email you shortly.
Next – 2020 comment leaderboard prize:
Sue
Anna
Emerson
Dr Evil
Were the top 3, Emerson and DrEvil joint 3rd.
You can either have a copy of the biography, or a copy of Footsteps of Federer, let me know…
Great Jonathan, thanks !
I’ll send you an e-Mail…
Today nice pairing 😉 Karatsev vs Medvedev. Good news is – at least one doper out, bad news is – at least one doper advances 🙁