Federer, a life of Roland: when "RodGER" stole the trophy after his victory

Previous episodes

1.

“I loved facing Rafter on the Lenglen”, the story of his debut

2.

"A victory like any other", he beat the Swiss in 2002 and hardly remembers it

3.

"I couldn't believe my eyes", the day Nadal corrected it in 2008

4.

When a wild selfie provokes the wrath of God

5.

Central in trance and titanic fight… in 2011, the masterpiece in the semi-finals against Djokovic

6.

The day the announcer allowed David Goffin to talk to his idol

7.

"It's done, I'm going to return the game ...", the point that changed everything against Haas in 2009

It is true that this makes sense.

“Federer is a quiet guy, he wasn't going to go to a nightclub with her and bring her back to us in four pieces.

"Jacques Le Ménée, responsible for the security of Roland-Garros, told in 2013, in the illustrated DicoCulture of the tournament, one of the tastiest and moving anecdotes of the Swiss champion in Paris: that night when the Coupe des Mousquetaires left the Porte d'Auteuil, time for a nighttime getaway.

We are on Sunday, June 7, 2009. “The skies of Roland-Garros have just wiped away big tears,” wrote our correspondent after the final won against Robin Söderling (6-1, 7-6 (7 / 1), 6-4). Ten years after his first Grand Slam steps here, the magic circle has come full circle. Here he is master of the four major tournaments on three different surfaces, a feat opposed for four years by the Mallorcan prodigy of clay, Rafael Nadal, and so far only achieved by Andre Agassi. It was from Jean Gachassin, then president of the French Tennis Federation (FFT), that Roger Federer asked him the favor. He knows very well that it is against the regulations, that in principle, the 14 kg of silver return fissa to the FFT museum, once the festivities are over, and that he only takes a replica,three times smaller and weighing about 800 grams, whatever.

Four bodyguards staring at the trophy

“That day, my father was sick, he had a fever and couldn't come to the stadium.

He watched the match in his hotel room, the Swiss told Le Figaro.

It was necessary to savor this moment which perhaps would never happen again.

So they allowed me to take the cup in the evening, to show it to my father.

He was in bed, not well when I opened the door, and I said to him:

Look what I brought

.

It was fabulous.

I always see the scene.

"

We can imagine the intensity of this moment.

But we also wonder how the bodyguards, mandated by the Federation to never lose sight of the trophy, tried to turn into ghosts in this famous hotel room.

Protocol requires, four bodyguards in total had been assigned, including two who spent the night in front of his room before recovering the precious the next morning.

In February 2020, on the sidelines of a tournament, Federer revealed that he and his father were not the only ones to have cracked emotion that day.

“He told me he cried when I won Roland Garros in 2009. He was so happy for me.

The man he speaks of is none other than his friend and rival, whose road had been blocked to general amazement by Söderling in the quarter-finals: Rafael Nadal.