Roger Federer inducted into International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport

Roger Federer was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island on Saturday (August 29, 2026), alongside broadcaster and journalist Mary Carillo. The 20-time Grand Slam champion delivered an emotional address at the ceremony.

Federer captured a men's-record eight Wimbledon titles, spent 310 weeks as the world number one, and won six Australian Open crowns, five U.S. Open titles and one French Open title. He retired in 2022 with 103 ATP Tour titles. Known for his elegance on court, he quipped during his address that he had worn more than 5,000 headbands in his career and that he almost always played with two pairs of socks.

His speech brought him to tears a few times and featured frank reflections on purpose and process: "This is one of the greatest ⁠honours of my life," he said. "They call this the Hall of Fame, but fame was never the goal. My goal was to spend my life doing something I love ... with people who love it as much ‌as I do."

Federer described the sport's personal meaning and his approach to play, saying, "Tennis meant the world to me. Not just playing, not just winning, but creating something new." He outlined his on-court mentality: "It's a mentality I have. I used ‌to play serve and volley, I had a transition game, I played way beyond the baseline sometimes, or on top of the baseline. And I would even try to sneak up on my opponents on my return, and some call it the SABR (Sneak Attack by ‌Roger) today."

He thanked coaches, doctors and family, including his wife Mirka, who praised Federer for his character off the court as husband, father and friend. As his name entered the Hall of Fame he said he was proud that Switzerland was coming with him and recalled how he loved watching tennis as a 13-year-old ball boy in Basel.

"I'm still writing my love letter to tennis, and my time as a player is done, but tennis will always stand at the intersection of everything I care most about," Federer said. "My family, our friendships, the past 40 years, the future we're building — tennis, for me, is responsible for it all. So this is not a goodbye."

He said he was "incredibly lucky" to have played with different generations of players from Andre Agassi and Lleyton Hewitt to Andy Roddick, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. On the sport's future he added, "We all leave the court eventually, ⁠but the sport keeps evolving," and urged the game to retain its spirit: "And as the pace of professional tennis speeds up, as ‌the sport becomes even more global, I so hope it will keep some of that amateur spirit. Keep the camaraderie among the players."

Federer closed by appealing to current and future players to remain curious and take risks: "I hope the players will stay ‌young at heart and stay true to their authentic selves, and always remember, never stop asking questions or taking risks. Do things with the game, we've never seen before. Keep pushing ​this sport we love to the next level and keep getting better, better, and better."