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Legend
Without him, we wouldn't have been able to witness the Magic of Roger Federer.
Roger Federer reveals his close, ongoing relationship with SA family of his former coach Peter Carter
Leo Schlink, Scott Walsh, Sunday Mail (SA)
July 1, 2017 10:00pm
AS Roger Federer lays siege to a 19th major and record eighth Wimbledon, the sounds and visions of Peter Carter shadow the world’s most famous athlete.
When the immensely popular Carter, a quiet and unassuming soul from the Barossa Valley, died in a car accident in 2002, Federer was bereft.
He sprinted through the streets of Toronto, inconsolable, in floods of tears.
Federer was just as grief-stricken at Carter’s funeral in Basel, where Carter’s closest Australian mates mingled with mourners.
Few took Carter’s death as badly as Federer, who was introduced to the Australian coach as a nine-year-old.
More than a quarter of a century later, and almost 15 years since “Carts” lost his life in South Africa, the link between Federer and the Carters is stronger than ever.
Roger Federer and his former coach Peter Carter, who died in a car accident in 2002.
Each year, Federer provides airfares, accommodation and courtesy cars for Carter’s parents, Bob and Diana, to travel from their Nuriootpa home to the Australian Open.
The couple not only sits in the Swiss conjurer’s courtside box but they are part of Team Federer and revelled with the Swiss until dawn after his momentous victory in January.
And, without fail, they reminisce about Peter Carter.
“It’s always nice to invite them down (to Melbourne),” Federer said on Saturday at Wimbledon.
“We tell them ‘Are you guys ready to come?’ and they say ‘Yes, the bags are packed anyway. You tell me when we should come’.
“We spend time together. We go for dinner, we even partied together at the end.
“At 4am, they were like ‘Is it OK if we got to sleep?’ Yes, absolutely.
“It’s been so good to see those guys and it’s been so good to have an ongoing relationship.
“It means a lot to me because Peter taught me so much.
“He was a great coach, great friend. He taught me technique — he taught me so many things for which I can be forever thankful.”
Roger Federer says Peter Carter was a great coach and friend, for which he’ll be forever grateful.
And for Bob and Diana, the yearly reunion with Federer is a reminder that what their son saw in the talented young Swiss was more than pure tennis talent.
“Hasn’t changed,” Bob said. “All the success he’s had, he’s still the same Roger we knew way back then.
“What the public see, that’s just him. It’s not put-on, that’s for sure.
“He’s got a wonderful nature. Mirka, his wife, is the same. In fact the whole team is wonderful. They all say ‘you are part of the team’.
“We feel we are, too. It’s like he’s our own son, almost. That’s how much interest we take in him.”
Now 35, married and with four children of his own, Federer has evolved into the person — and not merely the player — Carter might have envisaged.
Carter was a stylist. Technically brilliant, he was gently mocked for his signature caution and bent for over-analysis.
He was a decent player with — obviously — a sharp eye for technique. He understood fundamentals and he embraced the orthodox.
Carter was only 37 when he died but he knew exactly how he wanted Federer to play. And how he would play.
Peter Carter’s parents Bob and Diana at their home in Nuriootpa. Picture: Dylan Coker
When he first introduced a teenage Federer to the Sunday Mail in Adelaide in the late 1990s, Carter — almost in a whisper — said: “I think this guy might be something special.”
As usual with Carter, the comment was accompanied with a sheepish grin, almost as if to dilute the message.
But Carter knew what he had — and Federer, in the years before and since Carter’s death, has come to appreciate his mentor more and more.
“We talked a lot about the technique. I have to thank him that my technique is so good,” Federer said ahead of his first-round match at Wimbledon.
“Of all friends and coaches, Carter helped me the most. I have learned a lot from him.
“His death has terribly struck myself and my family.
“It was the first time that I had to say goodbye to a friend and a such valuable person. I was afraid to be going for the funeral, but in the end it did me good.
“It was tough for everyone that knew him.
“I owe him a lot. He will accompany me on the tennis court my whole life.”
It seems an unlikely tale — that Carter, this son of a builder and the youngest of three boys, who grew up with a cut-down tennis racquet, a footy and brothers Greg and Steven never out of reach, would become the man responsible for helping shape the most admired sportsman on the planet.
And that all these years on his parents — so humble they insist on no photographs — can call 19-time Grand Slam winner Federer closer to a family member than a friend.
“Hell of a story, isn’t it?” Bob smiled. “It really is.
“It has created a bit of interest in this town — Peter’s connection to Roger, and now our connection.
“The guy next door, especially back when Roger was really winning a lot, he would always ask, ‘how’s our boy going?’. It’s been quite an interesting time.
“We went over to Melbourne when Peter was still coaching him. He was maybe 18, and came over just to have a try to qualify for the Australian Open.
“He got beaten in the first round. But you could see what he had. It was out on one of the back courts and we spoke to him after that match. You could see Rod Laver Arena over in the distance, and Diana said to him ‘I hope we get to see you in that arena one day’. He said ‘I hope so, too’.
Peter Carter was Roger Federer’s first and most influential tennis coach.
“Well, we’ve certainly seen him in there, haven’t we?”
As a boy, Carter’s chief passion was tennis. The sport was a family interest, played by all three boys as well as Bob and Diana.
“Everyone played tennis — it’s what you do in the country,” Diana said.
“At one stage there was five of us going off to tennis, all playing in different grades.”
Carter’s own talent became obvious from an early age.
“Peter wasn’t quite eight, so as the youngest I wasn’t concentrating on him so much. I’d cut a racquet off for him and he came in one day and said ‘I beat this kid’ — he was 12 years old, this other lad.
“So I started taking a bit of notice in Peter after that.”
In a twist, it was a primary school football carnival that led Carter to famed Adelaide tennis coach Peter Smith, and an ever-lasting role in world tennis.
“Peter got picked in the SAPSASA football side and the coach knew he was pretty good at tennis, so he said ‘bring your racquet’,” Bob said.
“Well, he didn’t end up playing much football, and that’s really where his tennis started.
“The football coach told us it might be worth taking him to a tennis coach, so we went and saw Peter Smith.
“Peter said ‘I’m really flat out, but I’ve got others who can coach him. Bring him in and I’ll see him hit’.
“Well, it didn’t take him long before he said ‘Don’t worry, I’ll coach him’.”
Peter Carter showed early promise as a tennis player, beating a 12-year-old when he was just eight.
Outside their annual Australian Open catch-ups, the Carters often email Federer with well-wishes or messages of congratulations.
“All the Slams, or if he’s had a big win against one of the bug guys,” Diana said.
“Nadal, mainly,” Bob laughed.
“But whenever there’s big matches on we’ll send an email and ask about the family. So, of course, we’ll be sending one before Wimbledon.
“We have set the alarm to wake up and watch his matches but it’s a bit hard when you don’t know what time he’s playing.
“We would for semi-finals, you get a better idea of what time it’s on.”
It remains unclear whether this will be Federer’s final Wimbledon, or whether he will push his career into 2018 as he has mooted.
The Carters insist they are not privy to any planned timelines around Federer’s storeyed career.
“But when he does retire, we probably won’t take quite so much interest in the tennis any more,” Diana said.
As Federer sat alongside Rod Laver and John McEnroe this week in one of the most stylish establishments in the Wimbledon Village, he was almost star-struck by Laver’s presence.
Carter had filled his head with Australian tennis history and the style and gracefulness of players such as Laver, Lew Hoad, Ken Rosewall, Tony Roche and John Newcombe.
Roche, who later worked with Federer, continued what Federer describes as the “wonderful story-telling.”
Roger Federer spent a lot of time away from the courts with his coach Peter Carter.
“Without seeing those guys play, I knew how I wanted to play and how Peter wanted me to play,” Federer said.
“We spent a lot of time together, since I was a boy. In my youth, I saw him every day.
“We were also born in the same zodiac sign (Leo — also the name of one of Roger’s sons).
“I knew him better than anybody else. Peter was pretty quiet, but also funny, with a typical Australian kind of humour.
“I can’t be grateful enough for everything he has given to me. All my technique and looseness are due to him.
“He died so young and unexpectedly. If something like this happens you realise how unimportant tennis is.”
Roger Federer reveals his close, ongoing relationship with SA family of his former coach Peter Carter
Leo Schlink, Scott Walsh, Sunday Mail (SA)
July 1, 2017 10:00pm
AS Roger Federer lays siege to a 19th major and record eighth Wimbledon, the sounds and visions of Peter Carter shadow the world’s most famous athlete.
When the immensely popular Carter, a quiet and unassuming soul from the Barossa Valley, died in a car accident in 2002, Federer was bereft.
He sprinted through the streets of Toronto, inconsolable, in floods of tears.
Federer was just as grief-stricken at Carter’s funeral in Basel, where Carter’s closest Australian mates mingled with mourners.
Few took Carter’s death as badly as Federer, who was introduced to the Australian coach as a nine-year-old.
More than a quarter of a century later, and almost 15 years since “Carts” lost his life in South Africa, the link between Federer and the Carters is stronger than ever.
Roger Federer and his former coach Peter Carter, who died in a car accident in 2002.
Each year, Federer provides airfares, accommodation and courtesy cars for Carter’s parents, Bob and Diana, to travel from their Nuriootpa home to the Australian Open.
The couple not only sits in the Swiss conjurer’s courtside box but they are part of Team Federer and revelled with the Swiss until dawn after his momentous victory in January.
And, without fail, they reminisce about Peter Carter.
“It’s always nice to invite them down (to Melbourne),” Federer said on Saturday at Wimbledon.
“We tell them ‘Are you guys ready to come?’ and they say ‘Yes, the bags are packed anyway. You tell me when we should come’.
“We spend time together. We go for dinner, we even partied together at the end.
“At 4am, they were like ‘Is it OK if we got to sleep?’ Yes, absolutely.
“It’s been so good to see those guys and it’s been so good to have an ongoing relationship.
“It means a lot to me because Peter taught me so much.
“He was a great coach, great friend. He taught me technique — he taught me so many things for which I can be forever thankful.”
Roger Federer says Peter Carter was a great coach and friend, for which he’ll be forever grateful.
And for Bob and Diana, the yearly reunion with Federer is a reminder that what their son saw in the talented young Swiss was more than pure tennis talent.
“Hasn’t changed,” Bob said. “All the success he’s had, he’s still the same Roger we knew way back then.
“What the public see, that’s just him. It’s not put-on, that’s for sure.
“He’s got a wonderful nature. Mirka, his wife, is the same. In fact the whole team is wonderful. They all say ‘you are part of the team’.
“We feel we are, too. It’s like he’s our own son, almost. That’s how much interest we take in him.”
Now 35, married and with four children of his own, Federer has evolved into the person — and not merely the player — Carter might have envisaged.
Carter was a stylist. Technically brilliant, he was gently mocked for his signature caution and bent for over-analysis.
He was a decent player with — obviously — a sharp eye for technique. He understood fundamentals and he embraced the orthodox.
Carter was only 37 when he died but he knew exactly how he wanted Federer to play. And how he would play.
Peter Carter’s parents Bob and Diana at their home in Nuriootpa. Picture: Dylan Coker
When he first introduced a teenage Federer to the Sunday Mail in Adelaide in the late 1990s, Carter — almost in a whisper — said: “I think this guy might be something special.”
As usual with Carter, the comment was accompanied with a sheepish grin, almost as if to dilute the message.
But Carter knew what he had — and Federer, in the years before and since Carter’s death, has come to appreciate his mentor more and more.
“We talked a lot about the technique. I have to thank him that my technique is so good,” Federer said ahead of his first-round match at Wimbledon.
“Of all friends and coaches, Carter helped me the most. I have learned a lot from him.
“His death has terribly struck myself and my family.
“It was the first time that I had to say goodbye to a friend and a such valuable person. I was afraid to be going for the funeral, but in the end it did me good.
“It was tough for everyone that knew him.
“I owe him a lot. He will accompany me on the tennis court my whole life.”
It seems an unlikely tale — that Carter, this son of a builder and the youngest of three boys, who grew up with a cut-down tennis racquet, a footy and brothers Greg and Steven never out of reach, would become the man responsible for helping shape the most admired sportsman on the planet.
And that all these years on his parents — so humble they insist on no photographs — can call 19-time Grand Slam winner Federer closer to a family member than a friend.
“Hell of a story, isn’t it?” Bob smiled. “It really is.
“It has created a bit of interest in this town — Peter’s connection to Roger, and now our connection.
“The guy next door, especially back when Roger was really winning a lot, he would always ask, ‘how’s our boy going?’. It’s been quite an interesting time.
“We went over to Melbourne when Peter was still coaching him. He was maybe 18, and came over just to have a try to qualify for the Australian Open.
“He got beaten in the first round. But you could see what he had. It was out on one of the back courts and we spoke to him after that match. You could see Rod Laver Arena over in the distance, and Diana said to him ‘I hope we get to see you in that arena one day’. He said ‘I hope so, too’.
Peter Carter was Roger Federer’s first and most influential tennis coach.
“Well, we’ve certainly seen him in there, haven’t we?”
As a boy, Carter’s chief passion was tennis. The sport was a family interest, played by all three boys as well as Bob and Diana.
“Everyone played tennis — it’s what you do in the country,” Diana said.
“At one stage there was five of us going off to tennis, all playing in different grades.”
Carter’s own talent became obvious from an early age.
“Peter wasn’t quite eight, so as the youngest I wasn’t concentrating on him so much. I’d cut a racquet off for him and he came in one day and said ‘I beat this kid’ — he was 12 years old, this other lad.
“So I started taking a bit of notice in Peter after that.”
In a twist, it was a primary school football carnival that led Carter to famed Adelaide tennis coach Peter Smith, and an ever-lasting role in world tennis.
“Peter got picked in the SAPSASA football side and the coach knew he was pretty good at tennis, so he said ‘bring your racquet’,” Bob said.
“Well, he didn’t end up playing much football, and that’s really where his tennis started.
“The football coach told us it might be worth taking him to a tennis coach, so we went and saw Peter Smith.
“Peter said ‘I’m really flat out, but I’ve got others who can coach him. Bring him in and I’ll see him hit’.
“Well, it didn’t take him long before he said ‘Don’t worry, I’ll coach him’.”
Peter Carter showed early promise as a tennis player, beating a 12-year-old when he was just eight.
Outside their annual Australian Open catch-ups, the Carters often email Federer with well-wishes or messages of congratulations.
“All the Slams, or if he’s had a big win against one of the bug guys,” Diana said.
“Nadal, mainly,” Bob laughed.
“But whenever there’s big matches on we’ll send an email and ask about the family. So, of course, we’ll be sending one before Wimbledon.
“We have set the alarm to wake up and watch his matches but it’s a bit hard when you don’t know what time he’s playing.
“We would for semi-finals, you get a better idea of what time it’s on.”
It remains unclear whether this will be Federer’s final Wimbledon, or whether he will push his career into 2018 as he has mooted.
The Carters insist they are not privy to any planned timelines around Federer’s storeyed career.
“But when he does retire, we probably won’t take quite so much interest in the tennis any more,” Diana said.
As Federer sat alongside Rod Laver and John McEnroe this week in one of the most stylish establishments in the Wimbledon Village, he was almost star-struck by Laver’s presence.
Carter had filled his head with Australian tennis history and the style and gracefulness of players such as Laver, Lew Hoad, Ken Rosewall, Tony Roche and John Newcombe.
Roche, who later worked with Federer, continued what Federer describes as the “wonderful story-telling.”
Roger Federer spent a lot of time away from the courts with his coach Peter Carter.
“Without seeing those guys play, I knew how I wanted to play and how Peter wanted me to play,” Federer said.
“We spent a lot of time together, since I was a boy. In my youth, I saw him every day.
“We were also born in the same zodiac sign (Leo — also the name of one of Roger’s sons).
“I knew him better than anybody else. Peter was pretty quiet, but also funny, with a typical Australian kind of humour.
“I can’t be grateful enough for everything he has given to me. All my technique and looseness are due to him.
“He died so young and unexpectedly. If something like this happens you realise how unimportant tennis is.”
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. Who coached Peter Smith?
