Life lesson straight from the tennis court ft. Roger Federer

Brut India

From being a professional tennis player to life as a father and housekeeper, Roger Federer’s speech at Dartmouth was not just about the sport.

Transcript

00:00Roger Federer retired from tennis. Retired. The word is awful.

00:04They asked me, now that you are not a professional tennis player, what do you do?

00:09I don't know. And it's okay not to know.

00:12So what do I do with my time?

00:15I'm a dad first, so I guess I drive my kids to school.

00:18I play chess online against strangers.

00:22I vacuum the house.

00:24People would say my play was effortless.

00:26Most of the time, they meant it as a compliment.

00:29People used to frustrate me.

00:33Hello, class of 2024. This is so exciting.

00:41Really, you have no idea how excited I am.

00:45Keep in mind, this is literally only the second time I've ever set foot on a college campus.

00:51Second time ever.

00:53But for some reason, you are giving me a doctorate degree.

00:58I just came here to give a speech, but I get to go home as Dr. Roger.

01:03That's a pretty nice bonus.

01:06Dr. Roger, this has to be my most unexpected victory ever. Thank you.

01:12I'm a little bit outside of my comfort zone today.

01:15This is not my usual scene, and these are not my usual clothes.

01:20Do you dress like this every day at Dartmouth?

01:24The robe is hard to move in.

01:27Keep in mind, I've worn shorts almost every day for the last 35 years.

01:32I'm not a person who gives a lot of speeches like this.

01:35Maybe the worst, but an important speech was when I started on the Swiss national team.

01:41I was only 17 years old, and I was so nervous, I couldn't even say more than four words.

01:47Happy to be here.

01:50Well, here we are 25 years later, and I still feel a little nervous.

01:54But I've got a lot more than four words to say to you.

01:58I left school at the age of 16 to play tennis full-time, so I never went to college.

02:04But I did graduate recently.

02:06I graduated tennis.

02:08I know the word is retire.

02:10Roger Federer retired from tennis.

02:13Retired. The word is awful.

02:15You wouldn't say you retired from college, right?

02:19It sounds terrible.

02:21I know what it's like when people keep asking what your plan is for the rest of your life.

02:27They ask me, now that you are not a professional tennis player, what do you do?

02:32I don't know, and it's okay not to know.

02:35So what do I do with my time?

02:38I'm a dad first, so I guess I drive my kids to school.

02:41I play chess online against strangers.

02:45I vacuum the house.

02:47In truth, I'm loving the life of a tennis graduate.

02:50I graduated tennis in 2022, and you are graduating college in 2024.

02:55So I have a head start in answering the questions of what's next.

02:59Today, I want to share a few lessons I've relied on through this transition.

03:04Effortless is a myth.

03:07I mean it.

03:08I say it as someone who has heard that word a lot.

03:11Effortless.

03:12People would say my play was effortless.

03:14Most of the time, they meant it as a compliment,

03:17but it used to frustrate me when they would say,

03:20he barely broke a sweat, or he's even trying.

03:23The truth is, I had to work very hard to make it look easy.

03:27I spent years whining, swearing, sorry,

03:31throwing my racket before I learned to keep my cool.

03:34The wake-up call came early in my career

03:37when an opponent at the Italian Open publicly questioned my mental discipline.

03:41He said, Roger will be the favorite for the first two hours,

03:44then I'll be the favorite after that.

03:47I was puzzled at first, but eventually I realized what he was trying to say.

03:51Everybody can play well the first two hours.

03:54You're fit, you're fast, you're clear.

03:56And after two hours, your legs get wobbly,

03:59your mind starts wondering, and your discipline starts to fade.

04:03It made me understand I have so much work ahead of me,

04:06and I'm ready to go on this journey.

04:08I get it.

04:09My parents, my coaches, my fitness coach, everyone had been calling me out.

04:13And now even my rivals were doing it.

04:16Players, thank you.

04:18I'm eternally grateful for what you did, because you made me work harder.

04:22So I started to train harder, a lot harder, actually.

04:25But then I realized winning effortlessly is the ultimate achievement.

04:30I got that reputation because my warm-ups at the tournaments were so casual

04:34that people didn't think I'd been training hard.

04:37But I had been working hard before the tournament when nobody was watching.

04:42Maybe you've seen a version of this at Dartmouth.

04:46How many times did you feel like your classmates were racking up A after A

04:50without even trying while you were pulling all-nighters?

04:54Loading up on caffeine, maybe, or crying softly in a corner of Sanborn Library?

04:59Hopefully, like me, you learned that effortless is a myth.

05:03I didn't get where I got them pure talent alone.

05:06I got there by trying to outwork my opponents.

05:09I believe in myself, but belief in yourself has to be earned.

05:14Yes, talent matters.

05:17I'm not going to stand here and tell you it doesn't.

05:20But talent has a broad definition.

05:23Most of the time, it's not about having a gift.

05:26It's about having grit.

05:28In tennis, a great forehand with sick racket head speed can be called a talent.

05:34But in tennis, like in life, discipline is also a talent, and so is patience.

05:40Trusting yourself is a talent.

05:43Embracing the process, loving the process is a talent.

05:47Managing your life, managing yourself, these can be talents too.

05:52Some people are born with them.

05:54Everybody has to work at them.

05:57From this day forward, some people are going to assume that

06:00because you graduated from Dartmouth, it all is going to come easy for you.

06:04And you know what?

06:06Let them believe that, as long as you don't.

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