Will the women's final at the 2030 Wimbledon Championships be an all-Federer affair? As soon as Roger Federer had announced that he had become a father for the first time, with his wife Mirka, a former tennis player, giving birth to twin girls, the speculation began as to whether Myla Rose and Charlene Riva will end up playing each other on Wimbledon's Centre Court in years to come.
We've had the Williams girls; now meet the Federer sisters. Probably only Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf's children have better Wimbledon genes.
For Federer, the "best day" of his life didn't come on Centre Court this month, when he became the most successful man in grand slam history, and then put on a tracksuit top embroidered with a golden '15' to remind everyone just how many slam titles he had won, but on a maternity ward in Switzerland when Mirka gave birth to the possible Wimbledon champions of the future. Perhaps Myla and Charlene could play doubles together. "I have some exciting news to share with everyone," Federer said. "Late last night, in Switzerland, Mirka and I became proud parents of twin girls. We named them Myla Rose and Charlene Riva and they are both healthy, and, along with their mother, they are doing great. This is the best day of our lives."
The baby news has also prompted a debate on whether fatherhood will impact on the 27-year-old's ability to win more grand slams. All could become clear at this season's US Open, which starts in New York at the end of next month. Federer has won the last five titles on the concrete; can he win a sixth consecutive US Open now that he has become a dad?
Perhaps changing nappies, and everything else that fatherhood entails, will make the world No 1 a better tennis player. There could be many more slams to come from Daddy Roger. "I think fatherhood will have a really positive effect on Roger," Tim Henman, a friend of Federer, has told The Telegraph. "Roger is under huge scrutiny worldwide. The speculation about his game is hard and I think he will have a different outlook as a dad. I think that's inevitable. Fatherhood will give Roger something else to think about, and give him a new perspective on his tennis as well. It's hugely important what Roger does on the court. But, knowing Roger as well as I do, and how important his family are to him, the extension of that family will have a really positive effect on him."
Professional tennis players tend to lead selfish lives. Becoming a parent can change that. Henman recalled how the birth of his first child, Rosie, made him think that he was no longer just playing for himself. "I think I always felt as though I had a pretty good perspective. I knew that it was only a game. It was something I was passionate about, but it's still a game. The most important thing in most people's lives is the health of their family. So it just re-emphasised that point. It was nice becoming a dad. It's a selfish existence being a tennis player - you're always playing for yourself. There's definitely a sense of thinking, after becoming a father, this is great, as I've kind of got someone else to play for'. I think that's a great feeling."
The impending arrival of Boris Becker's first child, his son Noah, helped the former Wimbledon champion to come off sleeping pills when he was on the tour. "Bit by bit I swapped the chemicals for natural help. By the time my first son, Noah, was born, the nightmare was over," Becker recalled in his autobiography, 'The Player'. "Because of him I had a wonderful reason to stay awake. I didn't want to escape into sleep any more. I didn't have to fight the loneliness that was tearing me apart. Noah set me free." After becoming a father, Becker won the 1996 Australian Open.
Jimmy Connors won three of his eight slam titles after becoming a dad. Andre Agassi, Becker and Yevgeny Kafelnikov won a slam each as fathers. In modern times, Pat Cash, Andres Gomez, Petr Korda and Albert Costa also won one major each as fathers. Someone once said that a pram in the hallway is the enemy of good art. It would seem that the pram in the tramlines doesn't necessarily stop you from winning slams.
Still, life is going to have to change for Federer, who is supposed to be playing in the Masters-level tournament in Montreal that starts in just over a fortnight's time. "With fatherhood, maybe I'll get up earlier for practice, do things a bit differently and not be so crazy as a professional," Federer has said. "I'm sure that becoming a father is going to be a shock for Roger," said Ivan Ljubicic, a former world No 3, who is himself adjusting to parenthood. "Your life changes completely. Priorities are different. You're not the one in the family who is the most important. You kind of lose your wife for a while."
Parenthood will be one of the themes on this summer's North American hard-court swing, which culminates at the US Open. Kim Clijsters, a former world No 1 and a mother of one, is returning to the women's circuit this summer. It is hardly that surprising, given the physical changes that their bodies go through, that mothers haven't been as successful as fathers at the grand slams. The last time that a mother won a slam title was in 1980 when Australia's Evonne Goolagong was the Wimbledon champion. But, in 2030, we could see one of those Federer girls holding up the Rosewater Dish.
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