Tennis
Federer: Fatherhood no hassle
2009-03-15 09:35
Indian Wells - Expectant father Roger Federer believes impending parenthood will not affect his chances of breaking Pete Sampras's record of 14 grand slam titles.
The Swiss world number two revealed earlier this week that his girlfriend Mirka Vavrinec was in the early stages of pregnancy with their first child.
"I think it's not going to really disturb my mindset on tennis a whole lot," said Federer, who has won 13 grand slams to stand one behind American Sampras on the all-time list.
"I've always made sure that my schedule is (to) get away from tennis a little bit and then come back when I'm ready to play again. That's why I didn't play for the last five to six weeks.
"I think it's going to be pretty much the same. I don't really have to adjust a whole lot. If it does something to me, I think it's going to motivate me to play for a long time."
Federer would not be drawn on when exactly the baby was due, other than to say it would be sometime in the (northern hemisphere) summer.
"I'm completely excited. I've been thinking about something like this happening for the last two or three years," he added.
"So for me, this is not a massive shock. But when it does happen (that) your girlfriend (or) wife is pregnant, it definitely changes your mindset.
"All of a sudden you're hoping everything goes well, whereas before you're just joking about it. From this respect, I'm excited that the baby comes out healthy and everything goes OK.
"Other than that, it's just happiness. And everybody around me, all the people I talk to, everybody is like, 'Wow, it's such great news.' It's a nice time."