Roger Federer revealed he still mourns the loss of his former Australian tennis coach

Roger Federer is moved to tears talking on CNN about his former Australian coach as he prepares to defend his Australian Open title.

Roger Federer breaks down in tears on CNN. Picture; CNN.

Tennis star Roger Federer was moved to tears when he revealed in an emotional interview that he still mourned the loss of his former Australian tennis coach Peter Carter after he was killed in 2002.

Breaking down in an interview with CNN, Federer said he hoped his former coach was proud of him as he prepared to defend his title in the Australian Open which began this week.

Federer, 37, has spoken throughout his 21-year professional career about his influential former coach from Adelaide, who died in a car accident at age 37 while honeymooning in South Africa in 2002.

Roger Federer's inspirational former coach died in a car crash on his honeymoon in 2002.

Nearly two decades on, Federer still gets emotional when he talks about Peter Carter.

Our exclusive interview: https://t.co/AJM6UXgt6H pic.twitter.com/g9aiylaKy8

— CNN Sport (@cnnsport) January 7, 2019

The accident happened a year before Federer won his first Grand Slam victory at Wimbledon and had been a big “wake up call” for the rising tennis star who said he trained harder as a result.

He has since gone on to win 20 Grand Slam single titles, the most in history for a male player.

“Sorry. Oh, man, I still miss him so much. I hope he would be proud,” Federer told CNN.

“Geez, never broke down like this,” he said later.

Roger Federer with his former coach, Peter Carter

Federer said he had Mr Carter to thank for his technique after he discovered the Swiss legend as a teen in Basel.

“He came to play club tennis for my club in Basel, Old Boys Tennis Club. When I was little he was one of the star players on the team. I was able to have coaching lessons with him,” he said.

According to the book The Roger Federer Story: Quest for Perfection, by Swiss tennis journalist Rene Stauffer, Federer “was never so upset in his life” when he was told of Carter’s death while playing in the Canadian Masters in Toronto.

The Australian reported he left his hotel and “ran through the streets, bawling and hysterical”.

“I hope he would be proud. He didn’t want me to be a waste of talent,” he told CNN.
Federer regularly pays for Carter’s parents to travel from Adelaide to Melbourne to sit in his players’ box at the Australian Open each year.

“Am I confident? I don’t know. I feel good. I’ve been training really well. I’ve had another great year. Still happy playing and I’ve won the last two Australian Open editions so I should be going in there with confidence,” he said.

Federer has won six Australian Open titles in his career to date.