Roger Federer: A New Beginning

Baby Federer is on its way. Definitely not the news most Roger Federer fans were expecting, I know I wasn't. I was simply Googling Roger Federer (as I've done a million times before) to read the latest articles on him and to see what's up for Indian Wells.

What I saw instead were a number of hits related to Roger and Fatherhood. 'Is this true? Really?' I thought. I immediately logged on to rogerfederer.com and confirmed the wonderful news! Roger and Mirka are indeed expecting their first child.

Seeing the two of them together, you can see not only the love, but the respect, support and companionship that they share. Ever since they first got together at Sydney in 2000, Mirka has been a major feature of Roger's entourage.

Through his moments of triumph (and there have been many of those) to his moments of utter dejection and despair, Mirka has stood by him.

She has travelled with him to almost every tournament to sit and watch him play at practically every match. And now, they embark upon a new journey together—parenthood!

With Mirka in her 30s, I guess now is the perfect time for her to have their first child. For Roger though, I'm not so sure.

On the one hand he's clearly been struggling over the past year or so to come to terms with his illness and the rest of the field catching up to him. And while he may have gotten the better of those hindrances, he still has to figure out a way of overcoming "the biggest challenge" that he himself admits he has ever faced in the tennis world: Rafael Nadal.

Having a baby will undoubtedly take some, if not more, of his focus away from the game and right now that's one thing he needs more than anything—his focus.

On the other hand however, for Roger on a personal note, this is the most amazing thing to have happened to him in a long time. He had a pretty rough 2008, losing two of the things that he held very dear: the Wimbledon title and his No. 1 ranking.

The baby is something that is going to bring him countless joy and happiness.

Having a child is likely to change your perspective on a number of things. It changes your priorities in life and you begin to recalibrate what you might have earlier considered important. How all of this affects Roger Federer is yet to be seen.

We may see a more happy and peaceful Roger Federer on the courts. One who is still chasing the records and striving for perfection, but who knows that there are more important things in life. Letting go of some of that pressure which we all know he puts himself under would probably do him a world of good anyway!

And who knows, we might just see Roger Federer break the elusive record of 14 Grand Slams in the same year that he becomes a father! How's that for the Swiss Master of Perfection?

Whatever be the case and whatever Roger goes on to achieve, a hearty congratulations to Roger and Mirka from all his fans and his many well wishers around the globe!