Love on the court! Roger Federer meet his wife, Mirka Federer (née Vavrinec), while playing her favorite sport: tennis.
The 20-time Grand Slam winner and Slovakia native first crossed paths at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, when they competed for Switzerland. (Mirka’s family moved to the country when she was a child.)
Neither player won a medal in the competition, but they hit it off with each other, sharing a kiss on the final night in the Olympic Village. “It was more than just a kiss,” Roger told CNN in 2019. “It was an amazing thing for us. We’re still very happy.
The duo secretly dated for two years before taking their romance public at the 2002 Hopman Cup, where they competed as a doubles pair. Mirka retired from professional tennis that year due to a stubborn leg injury, but she remained immersed in the world of sports alongside Roger as he rose through the ranks, becoming a public relations manager.
When the athlete won the Australian Open in 2017, he credited Mirka – his “No. 1 supporter” – with helping him achieve his goal. “He was there when I didn’t have a title and he’s still here 89 titles later, so he played a big role [the win],” he told reporters at the time. “He knows, I know, everyone knows. Mother number 1 and his wife, then became a supporter.”
The duo, who married in 2009, later welcomed two sets of twins: Charlene and Myla (born in 2009) and Lenny and Leo (born in 2014). After becoming a father for the first time, Roger says his children make tennis victories even more exciting.
“Having children and being a father now and being married adds to everything,” he told ESPN in 2010, shortly after winning his fourth Australian Open title. “I’m very happy now to see how everything has worked out for me. It just makes me very happy, very relaxed and allows me to play good tennis, and I couldn’t ask for anything else.
When Roger announced his retirement from tennis in September 2022, he again gave a shout out to his wife and children for helping him on the court. “I want to thank my wonderful wife, Mirka, who has lived every minute with me,” he wrote in a statement shared via Instagram. “He has warmed me up before finals, watched countless matches despite being more than 8 months pregnant and has endured the goofy side of the road with my team for over 20 years.”
Keep scrolling to see Roger and Mirka’s complete relationship timeline: