It’s safe to say that Roger Federer didn’t find it too difficult to win a Grand Slam during his time on the ATP Tour.
In total Federer won 20 Grand Slam titles with eight of those coming at Wimbledon – his most successful hunting ground.
Federer is often called the greatest of all time – but that’s a debate for another day.
That being said, there were four players in particular who inspired a young Federer whilst he was finding his way on the junior tour, an icon who has now inspired a whole generation himself.
For example, Mirra Andreeva said she was copying Federer recently during her success at Indian Wells – trying to replicate the Swiss’ unflappable mindset in matches.
Roger Federer named his four tennis idols growing up
Speaking at a fan Q&A in Toronto back in 2014 during the Rogers Cup, Federer named four ATP players as his big inspirations growing up, including the surprise name of Marcelo Rios.
Federer admitted that Boris Becker was his first idol along with Stefan Edberg soon after, who was actually coaching him at the time of these words.
Thereafter, Federer admired Pete Sampras and Rios the most – two players he was actually able to play on the tour.
Federer said: “Growing up Boris Becker was my first idol and then I switched very quickly to Edberg for some reason.
“That was the guy who I always admired the most and then once they both retired it was Pete Sampras who was my favourite player and Marcelo Rios who I also enjoyed watching a lot.
“I got the chance to play Pete and Rios and now clearly having Edberg by my side while I’m playing is really cool and special. I really appreciate him taking the time out.
“To me idols were really important to be quite honest as a kid growing up so I could idolise, not necessarily copy, but really have someone to look up to and to hopefully be like them one day in some shape or form.”
Marcelo Rios was world number one without winning a Grand Slam
Before getting on to Rios’ career, it’s worth looking at Federer’s record under Edberg as coach, a partnership that ended in 2015.
Federer won 11 tournaments under the Swede’s guidance, including three ATP masters events, but ultimately failed to add to his 17 Grand Slam titles – the amount he had when Edberg left his coaching team.
In terms of Rios, one of Federer’s other four idols, the Chilean did reach world number one status for a total of six weeks in 1998 – the first Latin American to achieve that milestone.
Rios won a total of 18 ATP singles titles but famously failed to win a Grand Slam.
The Chilean came closest to success in 1998 when he reached the Australian Open final, however, he lost to Petr Korda 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.
In terms of what Federer might have taken from Rios’ game – the former number one was known for his stunning one-handed backhand, as well as his fluid movement across the court, a tennis icon in his own right.
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