Roger Federer inducted into International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport
Roger Federer was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Newport, Rhode Island on 30 August 2026 and described the moment as "one of the greatest honors of my life." The 45-year-old, who retired in 2022, became emotional while addressing an audience that included Billie Jean King and John McEnroe.
Federer finished his career with 20 Grand Slam singles titles and made his competitive debut in 1998 at age 16. He reflected on his journey and career statistics during the induction speech, at times fighting back tears as he spoke about his life in tennis.
His Grand Slam haul comprises a men's-record eight Wimbledon crowns, six Australian Open titles, five US Open victories and one French Open win; he claimed his first major at Wimbledon in 2003. Federer also spent 310 weeks as world number one, a run that stood as a record until it was surpassed by Novak Djokovic.
Only Rafael Nadal, with 22 majors, and Novak Djokovic, with 24, have won more men's Grand Slam singles titles than Federer. His Olympic record includes doubles gold for Switzerland with Stan Wawrinka at Beijing 2008 and singles silver at London 2012, and he was part of the Swiss team that won the Davis Cup for the first time in 2014.
During his address Federer recounted lesser-known career tallies, telling the audience: "I'm talking about the numbers that really paint a picture. Between 1998 and when I first went on the ATP Tour, and when I retired in 2022, I wore more than 5,000 headbands," said Federer. "That's more than [Bjorn] Borg and [John] McEnroe combined. "And if you think that's impressive, I wore probably over 7,000 pairs of socks. That's probably twice as many as most of my opponents, because I doubled them up. "But really, there's no way to measure what it means to be here. It's hard to put it into words."
He wiped away tears as he thanked his wife Mirka, tennis idol Stefan Edberg and "every ball kid who ever stood through" his matches, and said he felt "incredibly lucky" to have played against multiple generations of players including Andre Agassi, Lleyton Hewitt, Andy Roddick, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. Federer added: "I need tissues and sunglasses and everything to protect me right now. This is such a mess," Federer joked, and later said: "As you can tell, I'm still writing my love letter to tennis. My time as a player is done, but tennis will always stand at the intersection of everything I care most about: my family, our friendships, the past 40 years, the future we're building. "Tennis for me is responsible for it all."
Federer, who began his involvement in the sport as a 13-year-old ball boy at an ATP tournament in Basle, received a trophy at the Newport ceremony and was joined there by his wife Mirka.
