Roger Federer owns a glorious championship past and asserts it's vital for players to respect the sport's future.
Asked his view on recent incidents of some ATP pros berating ball kids on occasion, Federer said while players can get emotional on court, ball kids must be respected.
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The father of two sets of twins, who grew up working as a ball boy for stars ranging from Jimmy Connors to Martina Hingis, said players must understand that ball kids are the future of the sport.
“Sure you always want to respect the ball kids for who they are and the great job that they’re doing,” Federer told the media in Shanghai ahead of launching his Rolex Shnghai Masters title defense against Tokyo champion Daniil Medvedev. “But it’s not easy for each and every player to control their emotions exactly. The ball kids are really important to us because they are also maybe the future of our game."
The 20-time Grand Slam champion said it's important ball kids leave the court with a positive feeling rather than feeling disrespected by some players.
“I was happy when I left a tennis tournament, I felt like: ‘Oh man, it was just all good.’ " Federer said. "There were no negatives, so you don’t want to have them leave feeling like, oh my God, like I was not appreciated or I was not liked or it was actually a horrible thing, you know?
“So yes, it needs to be taken care of.”