Roger Federer Honoured For 30th Anniversary In Halle | Presentation Highlights & Interview

Ladies and gentlemen, the gentleman Roger Federer! A respectful person, a special, no, a great tennis player. It's okay. I'm still that strong. Hello everyone, I'm very happy to be here. Of course, thank you very much, Ralf, for all the nice words. It's very nice to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the tournament with you this year. Of course, I'm also overjoyed that I was able to shape this tournament myself, with my participation and so many victories. I never thought I would be such a successful tennis player, but even more so that I was able to win this tournament ten times. It was also a total surprise for me, because we don't play lawn tennis that much anymore on the tour. There used to be three Grand Slams on the lawn on the tour, today there is only one and the tour has become narrower. In lawn tennis and so on, these ten wins here in Halle mean a lot to me. Of course, I am very grateful for the invitation and that we were able to experience this together. And of course, thank you very, very much for all these years. I could tell a lot of anecdotes here, of course, because I have already experienced everything here. In the first half of my time here in Halle, I was always on the road professionally, but of course still without children and without a big family. Of course, the time was different. I was still squashing in the hall, in the days after the game or on the same day as the matches. I also watched games for hours on the second place here. Of course, I also had a lot of friends here. It was really a great time. And then, of course, came the time with the children, when I told my children that I would come back to Halle. This year they said, ah, Halle, we would like to come there too. But they also have to go to school now, they can't be here. But we always had a great time, even if we went to the zoo or to the park here in the area, or just came around in nature. Of course, we also got to know Halle Westfalen differently than at the very beginning. It's a beautiful area, that's why it's so nice to be here again. We are always so happy to be together, so thank you very much for everything you have done, not just for me, but logistically, of course, also the second half with my family. We have a lot of rooms in Beanspruch and sometimes you get nervous. Maybe, but we always tried to be good, nice people, as you said. And I'm glad I can be here today, just after my career. Also nice, this is my first tournament. My first tournament. This is my first tournament after the Labour Cup. And that's why it's kind of weird for me, but it's nice, funny to be somewhere again and to speak into a microphone in front of many people. It means a lot to me. See you again. We go way back, you know. I don't know when was the first time I ever came here. 22 years maybe ago. And I played for 18 years in those 21, 22 years. And it's been wonderful. More than just a partnership, it's also become a friendship over the years with the Weber family. First was Gerhard Weber and then Ralph now, who is a term director. So it's been a wonderful time. Obviously also a lot of success here. Great times, good moments spent as well in the second part of my career with the family. Kids running around all across the venue. And also the fans, we got to know them all. And there's a lot of moments. There's been a lot of moments for interactions as well. So it's been really good, to be honest. And I always loved coming here, so it's also nice to come back again once I'm retired. Can you give us an idea how much you're still watching tennis? You're still following the results, the rankings, the new players? I'm very surprised at how often and how frequently I check scores. Three times a day maybe. Then of course all of a sudden there's days where I check out for like a week and then I'm with the kids and I'm travelling and I'm gone and you forget about everything around yourself. But for the most part actually I'm really into it. I think there's some great matches going on. I try to check some highlights. Reels more than watching games per se because my life's also a little bit busy but I'm really entirely happy and I think the level of play, I feel like it's going up more and more again and again. So it's nice to see that and also the new generation challenging still the likes of Novak and also Rafa. I hope he comes back, but also him. So it's good times in tennis and I always said that tennis is so great and always keep on evolving. So big fan of tennis and what all the players are doing is absolutely fantastic. And just finally, you say you're a big fan of tennis. How much do you still play the game and also how much does that make you want to visit more tournaments? Yeah, I mean this is my first time back to a tournament so it feels a little bit strange in a very good way. I always feel once you've retired you need a proper purpose to come back and that's why we are here to celebrate the 30-year anniversary of the tournament here in Halle. I don't play so much anymore unfortunately or fortunately. I haven't booked a court yet, called up a friend and said let's go play tennis. That hasn't happened yet, but I play a lot with my children so I try to help them a little bit, try to be a coach, but not easy. But it's some good moments and it's going to create some good memories for us. Hopefully down the road I can play some exhibitions again when the body is healed up and all ready to go. But for the time being I'm just really happy away from the game. But like I said, I follow it still pretty closely. Thank you so much.