'Not good': Roger Federer opens up on 'terrible' family drama

Roger Federer has opened up about life in the biosecurity bubble at Wimbledon, saying it's "terrible" being away from his family.

The Swiss legend become the oldest man in the Open Era to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals on Monday with a 7-5 6-4 6-2 win over Italian 23rd seed Lorenzo Sonego.

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The 39-year-old seems to have found his best form at exactly the right time and says he's enjoying his tennis once again.

But his victories at Wimbledon have come with a tinge of sadness that wife Mirka and their four children aren't there with him.

"Well, terrible," Federer said after his third-round victory when asked about life in the Wimbledon bubble and being away from his family.

"I have not seen them, I am not with them and that in itself is not good.

"I speak to them you know, three times a day, checking with Mirka if everything's okay at home."

Federer was also forced to separate from his family at the French Open last month and will probably do so again if he plays at the Tokyo Olympics.

"For me, it’s not a problem to come to Paris and do [the bubble] for two weeks, going from hotel to club," Federer said at Roland Garros.

"But having four kids in a bubble isn’t really going to work out for me, so we have this situation here and we’ll have it again at Wimbledon, and maybe also at the Olympics."

Federer said he and Mirka had decided to see how things pan out at Wimbledon before making a call on the Tokyo Games.

"My first thought with Mirka is to get through Wimbledon, see how that feels and how that goes, and we’ll go from there," he said.

"Our initial goal was to get in shape for the grass-court season, and for Wimbledon in particular, but so far, so good, everything is ok at home from everything I hear with Mirka.

"She’s got things under control and the kids are not completely misbehaved yet and I’m not worried here."

Federer cautious as Wimbledon welcomes back full crowds

After his victory on Monday, Federer have a cautious welcome to the return of capacity crowds at the All England Club.

From Tuesday's start of the women's quarter-finals until Sunday's men's final, organisers can drop the 50 percent capacity rule which has been enforced since the start of the tournament.

The cap was part of an agreement to allow fans to attend as the country comes slowly out of the Covid-19 pandemic which in 2020 caused Wimbledon to be cancelled for the first time since the Second World War.

"I'm still not a hundred percent convinced we are on the other side. I still think there is more to come," said Federer of his fears of another wave.

"Last year in the summer we also felt the same way, super positive, having a few cases here and there.

"It looked very promising, then everything changed again later on in the year."

"We'll see how it turns out to be now that we have a hundred percent capacity. I mean, it already almost felt like a hundred percent, to be quite honest, because the fans here at Wimbledon, they do such a nice job to make us feel so special.

"A hundred percent crowd is going to be incredible. Playing the night session in Paris it was five people. The difference is immense."

with agencies

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