INTERNATIONAL TENNIS HALL OF FAME

August 29, 2026

Mary Carillo

Roger Federer

Enshrinement Ceremony

BRETT HABER: Welcome, everybody, to Newport, Rhode Island, home of the International Tennis Hall of Fame where tonight we bring you the induction of the Class of 2026.

Tonight we welcome two new inductees. Mary Carillo, a candid, insightful, and witty voice who elevated the art of tennis story-telling. And of course, the incomparable Roger Federer, the embodiment of precision, elegance, and a role model who set the standard for greatness.

Before we honor tonight's new inductees we recognize the trailblazers whose legacies define the International Tennis Hall of Fame, a place committed to preserving the history of tennis and celebrating its champions to inspire excellence across generations globally. This is where the sport's most important moments are kept, where its greatest figures are celebrated, and where their impact continues to inspire players and fans around the world.

Tonight we are surrounded by pioneers, major champions, World No. 1s, icons who change the game and elevated it for everyone who follows. Every summer tennis returns to these hallowed halls, and tonight its legends walk these grounds once again. Their stories live here, and tonight two more greats join their ranks.

We begin with a trailblazer. To be inducted in the contributor category, a broadcasting legend who has shaped how the world sees this sport, from the Olympic Games to the majors, a Roland Garros mixed doubles champion as a player, who brought that same fire into her story-telling at Tennis Channel and NBC and CBS and HBO. One of the first female play-by-play sportscasters, opening doors for future generations of women in sports broadcasting.

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Mary Carillo.

And in the player category, quite simply a master of the sport. A 20-time major champion, a former world No. 1, and an athlete whose presence changed the very feeling of this sport. A player who turned movement into art, who made power look effortless, and who inspired millions with every swing of his racquet.

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to Newport, Roger Federer.

So we have now set the stage here in Newport, a place where the history of tennis lives in every corner of these grounds. The International Tennis Hall of Fame, of course, exists to preserve that history, to celebrate its greatest champions, and to inspire future generations.

Tonight as the Class of 2026 takes its place in that legacy, we are presenting the ultimate honor in tennis. This evening is just beginning, and the story of the Hall of Fame continues to grow by the minute.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Newport. We'll be back in just a moment.

TOM RINALDI: We are live here in Newport as the induction celebration continues right next door over on the Stadium Court. The watch party. That crowd is in full swing. I'm Tom Rinaldi. I've had the opportunity to cover across all sports for the better part of three decades, champions and icons and legends. What a personal thrill and a humbling honor it is for me to be here to celebrate two people who exceed all of those titles and categories on this great, great occasion.

This is just the heart of an incredible week here in Newport that celebrates inspiration and history of the sport that we all love. So let's take a quick look back at some of the great moments over these past few days.

(Video.)

TOM RINALDI: What a week it's been as we look at those moments and so much more tonight. Joy, heart, and history right here on these grounds.

As we take in these memories, we turn to someone who has been a voice, a presence, a spirit, and a soul in this game we love for decades. Her work has changed the way we hear, see, and understand tennis. So a quick look at the remarkable career and impact of Mary Carillo.

(Video of Mary Carillo.)

MARY CARILLO: Of all of the things that have surprised me about my life, the induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, that's moved up to No. 1.

When I first came into this television thing, there were very few women around me. I had a bunch of people along the way that said, No, no, she can do this. I'm very thankful because all you want is the opportunity. Then it's up to you to do what you can with it.

I'm so lucky that not only did I look up to so many Hall of Famers as a little kid, but then I tracked the careers of so many Hall of Famers, and now I sit next to them in a booth. I've been doing this for over 45 years. It makes me smile just thinking about how much fun I've had for a decade doing this thing.

One word to describe my induction: Overwhelmed, grateful, excited. Is that one word? Does that count as one word? Joyful.

TOM RINALDI: All the words that you could ever have needed. We have spent so much time looking up to you, Mary. To present Mary Carillo, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the podium the 1987 Hall of Famer who fought relentlessly for gender equality, used her platform to drive social change so far beyond any court. The 39-time major champion, the living legend, Billy Jean King.

BILLIE JEAN KING: Wow. Thank you. Oh, my gosh. This is so much bigger than when I got inducted. Thank you so much. Oh, wow. A lot of responsibility here.

There are people who tell stories, and then there are storytellers. Mary Carillo is one of the world's best storytellers. She is our storyteller.

Today we honor Mary and salute her induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Mary was born to Terry and Tony Carillo in Queens, New York, and lived down the street from the Douglaston tennis club. I first met Mary in April, I think, 1977 -- don't quote me -- at Port Washington Tennis Academy. An invitation soon followed to have a home-cooked meal and meet her family and, from around the corner, a young tennis player named John McEnroe.

That June the two lefties, Mary and John, won the mixed doubles championship at Roland Garros. Careful down there. It was Mary's greatest on-court tennis achievement, but sadly, her playing career was cut short due to bad knees.

But like all champions, Mary adapted and found a new way to express her love of tennis. Instead of the racquet and ball, she turned to articulating the sport as a writer and also in the broadcast booth and as a producer. Mary is a purist. Oh, she's such a purist and the queen of preparation, and she has a house full of notebooks to prove it. Very much like this one.

MARY CARILLO: Old school.

BILLIE JEAN KING: With a whip-smart mind and a strong voice and a confident presence, Mary has a remarkable ability to string together words that draw you into a narrative. Mary has become the storyteller of Olympic dreams, of provocative sports features, and even a dog show or two.

Mary especially understands the moment. She understands the moment of being sparse and letting the action speak to us directly.

Mary was the very first woman to break through as a full-time color commentator in tennis. She has -- yeah, give it up.

(Applause.)

She has worked with some of the most respected giants in sports broadcasting: Gordon Beck, Ross Greenburg, Seth Abraham, Dick Ebersol, our 1970 Hall of Famer Tony Trabert, Pat Summerall, Dick Enberg, Bob Costas, Bryant Gumbel. Hey, and a fellow Hall of Famer, Bud Collins.

Her star shined with HBO sports coverage of The Championships at Wimbledon, working on documentary films and 27 years of features on "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel." She has carried us around the globe covering 17 Olympic Games.

For several years Mary was our roommate at Wimbledon. One of the highlights at each fortnight was looking forward to who Mary was going to bring through the door for a visit every day. It was always a treat, and the conversations were engaging and memorable.

South Sports journalist Jim Sarni (phonetic) once wrote of Mary: "Carillo collects friends like lint."

During the telecast, a viewer gets the impression she is sitting in the next chair.

Some of her many honors include three Peabody Awards, several Sports Emmy Awards, the 2010 Dick Schaap Award for Outstanding Journalism, World Tennis, formerly the ITF, Philippe Chatrier Award, their highest honor for outstanding contributions to the sport.

And 2018 brought her induction into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame. You guys, she's really a big deal, okay? What can I say? She has a wonderful sense of humor and is full of gratitude, and she knows the audience is everything. She knows it.

She enlightens and inspires us, is thoughtful, curious, and fearless. Being around her makes us feel better. Mary notices things most people don't. The subtleties, the nuances. It's what sets her apart and what fills those notebooks. Always original, always authentic, always leaving you anticipating what she will say next.

She calls it and tells it as she sees it, even when she understands there might be pushback. She once said, "I am responsible for everything that pass these teeth." She has earned her spot in sports journalism history, and she has earned her spot here in Newport.

It is my honor to introduce my dear and cherished lifelong friend, the newest member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame and the recipient of the ultimate honor in tennis, Mary Carillo. Give it up.

(Applause.)

MARY CARILLO: Oh, boy. Have a seat. Have a seat, everybody. Oh, I mean, it means everything to me that Billie Jean is here today. There's this big party going on in Flushing Meadows. The place is named after this woman, and she schlepped herself up here today to do this for me, and I can't thank her enough.

I have known Billie Jean for about 50 years. She is the most singularly American person I've ever known, and I mean that in the best way. I've had Billie honestly in my life for about 50 years, and every time I sigh her it still hits me like a hammer that she's my friend.

She shaped the sensibilities of so many of us here today, how she occupies space, how she moves through life, how she treats the people she meets with her cardinal virtues of curiosity and kindness.

I'd never be here without Billie Jean King, and I'll never be able to thank you enough.

And what an honor to honor Roger, this funny-looking guy over here. A man so personally and professionally elegant whose mastery has been worn so lightly, who is the same person with royalty or little kids, whether he's moving or just sitting still. Please, show this guy. Whether he's moving or just sitting still, Roger operates on a level few of us can access or even contemplate, but everywhere I look, I see legends and legacies.

I cannot properly express to all you people what it means to be a drop in this chalice.

Here's how I started playing, okay? I grew up about half a block from Little Neck Bay in Douglaston, Queens, in New York. From the time I was little, I learned how the tides work because when you want to swim or fish or sail, you do that at high tide. You plan your whole day around it.

The tide was high on the day of the annual Douglaston fishing contest down at the dock. It was there that a curly little girl pulled in the biggest flounder in the ferociously competitive 6-and-under age group. I got to choose my first prize. I could either get one of those crappy plastic green tackle boxes or a Sears -- maybe it was Kmart -- Alex Olmedo autographed racquet. Yes.

After much deliberation, Billie, and without knowing that Alex Olmedo had won the Australian and U.S. National Championships in 1959, that the esteemed sportswriter Lance Tingay named him the No. 2 player that year. That Lance Tingay, he would become a member of the International Tennis Hall one day, just as Alex Olmedo did. All I knew is that I could use Alex Olmedo to scoop up crabs along the shoreline.

Now, this is -- I'm looking at these magnificent people. This is such a similar origin story. So many professional tennis players have the same thing here today. Forgive me for the redundancy.

So, anyway, I fished and I swam, and I crabbed, and I played around at other sports just like you people, right? And I liked all of them, but then I found tennis, and for a kid like me, it was nothing less than the clap of creation. I didn't want to keep noodling around with other sports, with other stuff, with schoolwork. Of my siblings who are here today, I was the third best student. There are three of us.

Anyway, tennis is all I wanted to do. Tennis is all I wanted to be good at. A tennis player is who I wanted to be. My mom never had to wonder where I was or what I was getting into, because she knew I was up at the Douglaston club. I was picking up balls for our club pro, Dan Dwyer. Great guy. I was putting them into his shopping cart so I could listen in on the lessons he was giving. Or I was bugging kids for a game or hitting against the wall behind Court 5, right?

I had a far less sanguine dream than these greats here, especially John McEnroe, my childhood friend, who, though younger than me, was so damn good even when he was so damn short that I knew at a tender age just how good I wasn't.

No, which was good actually, because I'd play sets against this guy, and I knew -- I promise you, I knew even then that history was brushing against my cheek, and it made me love the magic of the game even more.

It has been an uncommon kick to watch John McEnroe go.

But, first, and crucially, I needed to beat my father. When I was about, I don't know, 9 or 10, I took a set from Tony Carillo for the first time, fair and square. I know what you're thinking, Tracy. You think he handed it to me. You think he tanked. No, he didn't throw it. I'd finally taken the big man down.

We walked home from the club that day, and I told the big news to my mom. As I was going upstairs, I could hear her whisper to my dad, "Did she really beat you?"

My dad whispered back, "She really did."

I walked a little taller to dinner that night, my friends. The sun stayed out longer, Billie. And the only good thing about summer's end was that it was the beginning of the US Open, and you'd score tickets from Mr. Roach up the street, and you'd bum rides to Forest Hills, and then you'd head back to the club and you'd hit a little bit cleaner and you moved a little bit harder because that's how the pros did it, and you wanted to be just like the big kids.

After that, all I wanted was to get a few innings in the big leagues. I mean, that was my dream to maybe make it to Wimbledon, to walk through her gates. But to walk through the gates here in the company of you people, that was beyond my imagining.

I've made it to Wimbledon far more times with a TV badge than a player's badge, and not once did I take it for granted. What a deep privilege it was to have that credential around my neck. I wanted to be a professional, a real journalist, knowing that what counts is to be accurate and to be fair. And there were way too many times when I was neither.

But that's what I strove for, anyway, to love our sport with clear eyes and, when necessary, to tell hard truths. While it is an occupational hazard to piss off people in power, especially your bosses --

(Applause.)

-- here's what you do. Here's what you do, Gabriela. You do your time in the penalty box with the hope that you get out of it and have nobody hold a mortgage on you. Say what you mean, mean what you say, knowing the price and paying it without regret.

If you are really lucky, really lucky, you've gotten to work in this game when tennis launched itself into the stratosphere.

On that note I'd like to thank the following rivalries by way of a brief but moving poem.

Bjorn and John, Martina and Chris, Andre and Pete was a matchup of bliss. Billie Jean versus inequality. John and Jimmy, no frivolity. John and Yvonne was nothing trivial, and as with Jimmy, not convivial. Monica and Stephanie, two as tough as two can be. Boris playing Stefan was a serve-and-volley symphony. Maria and Clay, and Maria won the day. Venus and Serena in every arena they reign suprema.

Stop laughing, Andy.

They changed things for good as pathfinders should. Rafa and Roger and Novak, the dislodger, and he's still out there, that codger. Aryna and Iga and Coco and Elena, there's way too many women, I really can't explaina.

Carlos and Jannik, stereophonic. Their level grows so comical I need a gin and tonical. Oh, boy that sucks. I really got to --

Anyway, but here's the thing. Here's the best thing. I got to watch a lot of the players grow up. Lindsay Davenport winning the US Open on her mother Ann's birthday. I was there when 15-year-old Pam Shriver came through the pre-qualifying of the Avon Futures of Columbus, Ohio, and won the whole damn thing.

I was certainly there when Tracy Austin beat me in two unusually convincing sets when she was only 14, when Andy Roddick triumphed at the US Open, when Jim Courier stopped the Connors' run of '91, when Kim Clijsters won a major as a wildcard mother.

Some of their best memories -- here's the thing, some of their best memories are mine, too, because I got the chance to describe how it happened, why it happened, what it meant, how it changed things, and so many of them ended up sitting next to me in broadcast booths around the world.

Despite the work, the travel, all the time away, I've still gotten to have a family with children and grandchildren I absolutely adore. I have chosen fine people to love all my life, and it is my good fortune that they have loved me back.

But there are some people who are no longer here: Harry Hopman; Bud Collins; Fred Stolle; Nick Bollettieri; the seminal analytics doctor, Leo Levin, who was my best friend on tour for decades, and Al Trautwig, one of the best sportscasters I've ever known.

I'll tell you a story. We had this crazy alchemy and a looseness that I treasured. At his celebration of life last year, I told his son, Alex, this story, and I'll tell it to you because true stories are the best stories.

Early on we called women's matches for USA Network, and then USA decided to fly us to Stuttgart, Germany, for the last couple of days of that tournament. I was thrilled. Billie makes fun of me, but it's absolutely true. It was my first-ever overseas gig.

I studied like a mad woman. Pages and pages of notes, quotes, articles, local lore, half-baked opinions. They were all there. As luck would have it, neither one of those matches was too good, so not terribly compelling. So I filled the time telling stories. From the players' childhoods, you know, stories like that, to the city of Stuttgart itself.

It was originally named Stuttgarten, which means a Garden for Horses. Stutts, you didn't know that. You who knew that? Nobody. It's what we call a work-around, okay? I tried so hard to keep the telecast interesting.

At night and our producer, Mark Stolberger, the man who first plucked me out of abject obscurity to this job, he met us outside the production truck, and boy, he lit into us. He straight-up told us that the show stunk and that things had better change and fast or we were through. I really thought I was through. This was about 45 years ago.

So Al and I walked off into the cold, moonless night. I'm all jammed up. I am beyond consolation. Then Al says to me, Mare, when something like this happens, there's only one thing to do. We have to leave the country.

Now, keep in mind Al -- true story. Al knew a lot more about television than I did, so I asked no questions, right? I followed him first to a liquor store and then to the Stuttgart Train Station where he bought us a few tickets, and off we went.

On the train ride he told me terrific stories, funny stories, ridiculous stories about TV, about sports, about everything. I started to feel better about my life, as Germany zipped past the window. About three hours later we landed in Zurich, Switzerland. Nice city. Nice city. Anyway, we stayed up all night because my cockamamie career was over, Roger.

We took the train back to the Garden of Horses and the women's final, and thank Christ it was good, because when the tennis is good, any of you people doing it, it's a bit of a skate, right? The match tells you what it needs, and this one didn't need much, which is good because I did not have much. The tennis did the talking.

When we were off the air, we met again at the truck, the production truck, and Mark, who is still a dear friend of mine said: You see? That's what I'm talking about. Whatever you did, do the exact same thing from now on.

And that's what I've done ever since.

For any aspiring sportscaster out there, my keys to broadcasting are elemental and unadorned. Sometimes you tell stories, sometimes you stay quiet, and sometimes you leave the country.

(Applause.)

Al taught me that. Look, all of this, all of this has given me a deeply rewarding life, and the best part about this day is that there are so many people to thank for it. That's the very best part. Starting with my family.

Then all the people across time, across countries, networks, and sports not my own. I thank the TV folks for their passion and creativity, the sportswriters who give me so much insight and fellowship, all the extraordinary athletes I've covered, and my legion of female foxhole friends who you really need in this line of work. They're right over there.

(Applause.)

It's the people who have been the very best part for me, and that includes all the people from this Hall of Fame. I mean, come on. Anne Marie, Lexi, JT, Megan, Patrick, Dan, Lindsay, Katrina, and to everyone else who have welcomed me into this wondrous space.

Matches get played. Memories get made. Stories get told, and laughs sure get laughed. The years pass, and athletes know better than anyone that you can't stop the tide. So enjoy the ride. I've been blessed to take mine with so many good people, and that is the best thing I could dream for anybody.

Thank you all.

(Applause.)

BRETT HABER: Ladies and gentlemen, the tennis might do the talking, but only she can make it sound that way. Mary Carillo.

What an amazing start to the night, but still so much more to come here from Newport, including this man, Roger Federer, 20 major titles, a global icon, and tonight his legacy honored on this stage. We'll be right back.

TOM RINALDI: One more time for Mary Carillo, wow. We're back here at the International Tennis Hall of Fame, and tonight we celebrate one of the greatest to ever play the game. You'll see a QR code on your screen. Give it a scan and explore into the museum, the history and everything that makes the Hall of Fame such a prestigious place.

In any performer or athlete's career, there are levels that can be reached, achievements that can be authored, and accomplishments that can be made, but then there is that rarest category that Mary touched upon. It's the ability to make us feel, and it's the ability to become beloved.

You don't know quite how it happens, but when it occurs, it's universally recognized, and there may be no athlete in any sport who has been more beloved than Roger Federer.

(Video shown.)

TOM RINALDI: To present Roger Federer, the person who knows the champion and the competitor, the father and the man, the woman who has shared every triumph, every challenge, and every moment in one of the greatest careers in tennis history, ladies and gentlemen, please, no person more fitting to introduce Roger Federer into the International Tennis Hall of Fame than Mirka Federer.

MIRKA FEDERER: Good evening, everyone. Wow, what a great honor it is for me to be here. Really it's amazing.

It feels a little strange to be the one standing in front of the microphone. Roger was always much more comfortable with a racquet in his hand, and I was always much more comfortable staying out on the spotlight. So let's see how this goes.

Roger and I met at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. He was 18, and I was 21. Yes, I was the older woman. Apparently Roger decided right away that age was just a number. He pursued me anyway, and thankfully he was persistent. When we met, he had exactly zero ATP titles. Zero.

Looking back, I suppose I was there for all 103 that followed. We shared quite a journey. In those early days I would sometimes even help warm him up before matches. I had played professionally myself, so Roger thought I could help him get ready. I still remember Andy Roddick joking after the Cincinnati final: "I can't believe I lost to a guy whose girlfriend warmed him up." He really said that, and I remember, yeah.

We still smile every time we speak about that.

One thing I learned immediately about Roger was that he always wanted the people he loved close to him. That is one of the qualities I have admired most about him. Not just as a tennis player, but as a person. Everyone talks about Roger's elegance on the tennis court, and I understand why as much as anyone. For so many years I had the best seat in the house. I watched him move with the grace that made one of the hardest sports in the world look almost effortless. I know, I know, Roger says it's a myth.

Believe me, I saw the work, the hours, the discipline, the commitment. I saw everything that went into making it look so easy. Even after watching more than 1,000 of his matches, it never stopped amazing me.

But tennis was never what impressed me the most. The man behind it all is even more remarkable. He's the most devoted father that our four children could ever ask for. When I found out we were expecting twins for the first time, I told Roger that my traveling days were probably over. Without missing a beat, he said, "Then I won't play anymore." He wasn't being dramatic. He meant it. That's who Roger is. His family comes first.

Fortunately, we found another solution, and that solution involved babies, strollers, toys, books, and eventually two sets of twins traveling all over the world with us. The tennis tour has always been our home.

Our children, Myla, Charlene, Leo, and Lenny, know him as Papa. The Papa who read bedtime stories, played games with them, who ran their bath, who made them laugh no matter how busy he was. Whether he won or lost, he always made time for them. I know him always as the kind husband, funny, thoughtful, and endlessly supportive.

His parents know him as a loving son. His sister knows him as a wonderful brother, and his friends know him as someone who always has time for them no matter how busy his life becomes. Those qualities didn't happen by accident. He learned them from two incredible parents.

Robbie and Lynette raised a champion, and they raised a genuinely good person. They taught him humility, gratitude, and kindness, and they taught him to treat everyone with the same respect. Long before the world came to know Roger Federer, the tennis player, Robbie and Lynette gave me someone I would come to admire even more: Roger, the son; Roger, my partner; Roger, the friend; and eventually Roger, the husband and father.

(Applause.)

Those values are what have carried him through every chapter of his life. So many people around the world know Roger as one of the greatest tennis players who ever lived. They know the titles, the records, the elegance, the rivalries, the victories, the moments that became part of tennis history, and those of us who know Roger best know something even better. The trophies and records are extraordinary, but they are only part of his legacy.

What makes me proudest isn't what Roger accomplished when the world was watching. It's who he is when nobody is watching.

(Applause.)

Roger, thank you. Thank you for staying persistent all those years ago in Sydney. Thank you for choosing our family every single day since. Watching your career gave me one of the greatest privileges and joys of my life, and sharing your life has been even a greater one.

Tonight it's my honor to introduce my husband, my best friend, and now the newest member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, Roger.

(Applause.)

ROGER FEDERER: Oh, man. She's a good public speaker. I didn't know that. Maybe, you know, the last time I heard Mirka speak publicly was probably at our mixed doubles we played at the Hopman Cup 24 years ago maybe.

After one of our mixed doubles, we had to do an interview together. Maybe this is the last time she spoke publicly. This is very well-done. I don't know if you've been secretly practicing, but this is very high level and a tough act to following, but I'm so happy you did it. Thank you so much.

(Applause.)

Also, a shout-out to Fred Stolle, who actually did the interview, also Hall of Fame, so that was obviously special.

Let me just give a shout-out to Mary as well. That was amazing. You crushed it. Incredible. So many stories, emotions, laughs. Incredible. Congratulations and your whole team and your whole family and everyone who has supported you along the way.

I'm thrilled to have made the journey here to the International Tennis Hall of Fame. You know, this is a beautiful place, and I've really enjoyed every minute so far. I mean, of course, I have -- you've got grass courts here. So my favorite. I was always going to have a wonderful time here.

The museum is just incredible. And I really encourage everyone who comes here to see it. There's so much tennis history, the racquets, trophies, iconic outfits from the greats. And they say they have more than I was told 25,000 artifacts. Now I guess I am one of them, too.

It's amazing to see yourself in a place like this to walk through the Hall of Fame, to immerse myself in the history of the sport. That means everything to me. To read the stories of my greatest heroes and to realize -- I mean, to truly realize for the first time that I have a place here.

This is one of the greatest honors of my life. They call this the Hall of Fame, but fame was never the goal. My goal was to spend my life doing something I love, like what Mirka said, with the people who I love it as much as I do. So many of those people are here today. Family, friends who mean everything to me, fans who have traveled here to join us. Some maybe over there. I saw you before. Give me a shout-out. Help me out.

(Crowd cheering.)

They still show me so much support for so many years, and wow, what a privilege to be with so many legends that are all sitting right here. Now that we're here together, I can tell you what it really took to get into the Hall of Fame.

Let's look at the numbers, okay? Not the obvious stats, like the number of majors or number of weeks at No. 1. 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 in my career. That's more than Borg and McEnroe combined. That's right, Johnny Mac.

I mean, I think it's more. For some reason the tour doesn't keep count of the headbands, but of course, I do.

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. At one time in my first-round match at Wimbledon, I was so nervous I even wore three pairs of socks, I realized after the match. Also, my stringers strung about 10,000 racquets over 25 years, and that's two tired stringers. Ron and Nate, thank you, guys.

But really there's no way to measure what it means to be here. It's hard to put it into words, but I'll try.

I've had the privilege of walking onto the grass of Centre Court at Wimbledon, of course, looking up at Mirka and our four kids -- Myla, Charlene, Leo and Lenny. Seeing my parents, Rob and Lynette. Seeing my team, and looking across the net and seeing some of the greatest competitors who have ever played the game.

I've had the privilege of stepping onto the red clay of Roland Garros for the French Open, the privilege of looking up at thousands of tennis fans in Melbourne Park for the Australian Open, of course, that is, the US Open at Flushing Meadows. And Tuesday night was epic. Thank you, guys, for playing part in that. Thank you, Andy.

Then, of course, the ATP Finals in Houston, Shanghai, and London. Images like these are imprinted in my mind, and they're all part of me today.

Yet, when I close my eyes and think and dream of the game I love, here's what I see. I'm in Basel, Switzerland, I'm 13 years old, and it's the Swiss Indoors. I'm not competing. I'm a ball boy.

I'm standing against the back wall, hands behind me, eyes on the ball. I'll never forget how the game looked from there and how it felt. The thrill of standing so close to the players, feeding them the ball, handing them the towel, seeing them sweat, watching them fight it out, figure it out, the adversity, the intensity.

I remember the next morning my legs were gone. Standing all day is a lot of work. So I wanted to thank -- I really want to thank every ball kid who ever stood through my matches or all our matches, for that matter, for hours on end.

(Applause.)

I see you. I thank you. I was you.

By the time I was 13, I had been in love with tennis for a decade. Already my parents tell me I picked up a racquet when I was 3. My dad's wooden racquet. That's right. I grew up with a wooden racquet. And white tennis balls. That's how old I am. That racquet was so heavy I used to play double-handed forehand and double-handed backhand. Who knew I was going to become a single-handed player? Are there any one-handers left in the game today or here tonight? All right. The proud few, guys. Thank you.

Switzerland was honestly an amazing place to grow up. My parents gave my sister, Diana, and me a wonderful childhood. I had a lot of support to do what I would love to do, and as a kid, that meant hitting balls against bedroom cupboards, my grandparents' garage door, and all the walls at the tennis clubs.

It meant playing football with my friends. I was Maradona and Zidane. I played basketball. I was Jordan or Shaq, of course. We had the Walkman on. We rode our skateboards and bikes. After all, it was the '80s and the '90s. We played table tennis. We played badminton over the fence with our neighbor. For a minute I even had a cricket bat.

But tennis was the main event. Tennis became the fabric of my life. My mom had a full-time job, but she found time to work the badge office for the Swiss Indoors and probably did some badges for you guys. She was also the one who organized my lessons, signed me up for matches, and supported my coaches. Mom made it -- thank you, Mom.

(Applause.)

And she played tennis herself at our local club. I've been told my dad played, too. Just kidding. He can take a joke. He likes to joke around. Thanks to both my mom and dad for all the time spent on the court with me.

What I remember was my dad's total ban on moonballs when I played him. He had the old continental grip. That made me for sure a more aggressive tennis player. Thanks, Dad, Robbie Federer, the real R.F.

(Applause.)

On our street next to the community gardens, my friends and I would use chalk to draw a court and stretch out a net and play mini-tennis with the softball. We played deep into the summer nights or longer. That word "play" says a lot. We'd play tennis. We're tennis players. That for me is what it's about. The sense of play.

Yes, this sport takes work and practice, but the sense of play always carried me through. When the work and play bled together, that's the best feeling of all, which is why I turned pro. I didn't see myself as a professional athlete. I was a tennis player, plain and simple, and I was part of a community of tennis players and tennis people.

It was on me whether I won or I lost. I was a guy on court serving, slicing, smashing, winning, losing. I loved that, but I also learned that tennis is never about the players alone. It's a whole ecosystem.

It's moms and dads, like mine taking their kids to matches, cheering them on. It's coaches who teach children how to win and how to bounce back when they lose. It's people who sweep the courts or pick up the balls. It's young players like me who get a chance to be a ball kid.

Also, by the way, it's the linespeople. That's right. When I play tennis, like with all of us here, we used to have linespeople, remember? And tennis is an ecosystem of all those people. And, of course, the fans.

(Crowd cheering.)

Just making sure that we're still awake. And the long speech, I hope it's not too long.

I was a tennis fan before I was a player, and I'm still a fan and will always be. If you want to know how I played, you can find the answer here at the Hall of Fame or at YouTube.

But if you want to know why I played, the answer is found in Switzerland on Wasserhaus Street and at the All-Boys Club in Basel and at Swiss Tennis in Ecublens and Biel.

Why is a question I get asked a lot. Pierre Paganini, my fitness trainer and mentor, will tell you that when I was at Ecublens, I had a lot of questions. I mean a lot. I nearly killed Pierre with my curiosity.

Pierre, I'm thankful you survived my time at Ecublens. Your guidance and long-term strategy helped me for my whole career. That ball kid had a lot to learn. Skills and shots, stamina, and strategy. Also, that kid had to learn not to throw his racquet so much. Ideally not at all. Not to let his emotions get the best of him, to find the balance between fire and ice.

And thankfully I had a lot of incredible role models. Here's my personal Hall of Fame. Pierre is in there. So are all my coaches. I'm talking about the phenomenal Peter Carter, super cool Peter Lundgren, two men who are unfortunately no longer with us, who not only helped my game but helped me grow up fast on the road. I love you guys.

Also, legendary coaches, Jose Higueras, Paul Annacone, and Tony Roche. I loved my time with them, and I learned so much from their stories and expertise.

I was lucky to have my childhood hero, Stefan Edberg.

It's not a first. Thank God, those are happy tears. I had him in my corner and who provided huge personal inspiration for the everyday grind on the tour. And my amazing friend Reto Staubli, who helped me during an amazing stretch while balancing his banking life with coaching, and Ivan Ljubicic who had a tremendous impact working with me for the last six years in the twilight of my career.

(Applause.)

It's getting tough now. I thought it was going to be easy, this one. And Severin Lüthi, my longest-tenured coach. 18 long years together. Severin's role in my life and my career is even bigger than that number. He kept me motivated when I needed motivating, and he protected me when I needed protecting (tearing up).

(Applause.)

Yeah, we'll get through this, promise. Until the sun rises, guys. Oh, God.

Your insights were super crucial. Thank you to all my success, and together we had a blast.

Physios and my doctor, they're all in my Hall of Fame too.

I thought I was doing so well for a second. Oh, man. Okay. Where are we?

No, so I needed a lot of their help from Roland, Danny, Stef, Gary, Pavel helped a young body get strong and an old body keep working. Thanks for all the good times and the late hours, guys.

One at a time, right? Almost there. Thank you, Martina. Yes, any help at this point, but it's a good one.

Tony is in my Hall of Fame. And every athlete has people who help shape a career. Tony has done even more than that. For over 20 years, he's helped me think bigger and bolder about the world beyond the tour. We built things together that make me incredibly proud, new ventures, new partnerships. And along the way the agent became friend and the friend became family. That includes your wonderful Mary Joe who played so much of a role.

Tony and I have had the chance to develop the greatest relationship with some of the greatest global brands, and I want to thank my sponsors and premium partners for believing in me in the early days to today and being incredible, creative partners who have become friends over the years making life on tour even much more fun. Thank you, guys.

And that includes people like Roy who along with other teammates, have supported me with a million things over the years. Plus, the many tournament directors and everybody who supports them. The ecosystem is incredible. Thank you, guys.

(Applause.)

My Hall of Fame also includes some official Hall of Famers like Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg. I remember sitting on the floor in our living room watching those guys play in the Wimbledon finals again and again and again. Of course, there's Pete Sampras, the best serve ever. What a privilege to share the court (tearing up).

Two not one, but two Martinas. First Martina Hingis, Swiss like me. World No. 1 by the age of 16, unlike me. And Martina Navratilova. You know her for winning 59 majors, but in our house she's famous for inspiring me to play tennis.

(Applause.)

I need tissues and sunglasses. I need everything to protect me right now. Oh, man. Okay. Oh my, God, now we get into the Mirka bit. This is such a mess.

Martina inspired Mirka and Mirka inspires me every day. As you know, Mirka is my wife. Duh. Which is the greatest understatement I can make because she's also been my coach, my hitting partner before matches -- Andy, sorry, man -- and my reality check. Also, my stylist. I definitely needed one at the time. Maybe, I don't know, now.

Mirka is the person who showed me how to get more focused about tennis and take joy in everything else. A wonderful mother to our four kids who make the impossible happen in all of our lives. She and I grab each other's hands, and we run through walls. Thank you.

(Applause.)

Oh, God. So she's all of these things, and that's my Hall of Fame, although the list of legends who have paved the way is even longer than that -- Laver, Emerson, Rosewall, Borg, McEnroe, Marc Rosset, who was like a brother to me on the tour who won the Olympics for Switzerland 16 years before my man Stan and I had the honor to do the same.

I learned from all of them, and eventually I had to figure out my own identity -- okay, it feels like more downhill now -- which evolved over time, and this meant one thing. In 1998, when I became the junior world No. 1, that version of me with bleached blond hair, which has caused me a lot of embarrassment to this day, it meant something different in 2022 when I played my last match in London.

That version of me had 4,040 total sets on his knees, and that's just singles matches. It doesn't include the doubles, quallies, challengers, futures, satellites, practice sets. Same knees. Still got them, by the way, and if I fall, please catch me, okay (laughing)?

At every stage of my career, I tried above all to stay true to myself, and I tried to show my love for the game, because it really mattered to me, and I also wanted it to matter to you to be worthy of your attention, worthy of your attendance, because people don't have to come watch us play.

They come to be entertained, inspired, excited. They could always decide to go somewhere else, but they chose tennis, they chose us. Everywhere I played, you made me feel like I had home-court advantage.

I've always wanted people to see how great it feels to play this game, how great it feels to have a ball hit hard at you. The way it spins, the sound it makes, the way it bounces, how geometry shifts as the ball moves towards you and how the court itself opens or shrinks. Tennis is a complex and beautiful thing. It is spectacular to watch. You the fan, you see it all. You live it with, you every point.

As you know, there's a lot of pressure in tennis. A volcano of pressure. Volcano of emotions. When the match was over, win or lose, you probably saw what I was feeling inside. What can I say, tennis meant the world to me. Not just playing, not just winning, but creating something new. 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 today. This was what was important to me on the court, but so much of what really -- what was really important happened off the court.

The camaraderie in the locker room, guys, plays cards with the team until the last second before matches, laughing with everyone. Even my opponent sometimes. So many of us have become friends through our shared experiences and battles on the court that connect us through life. Those are some of the best memories of playing on tour.

(Applause.)

But there's another kind of play. The kind that happens with friends and especially family. Family, again, okay. With Mirka, we started out doing things like playing video games and doing clubbing -- oh, yeah -- and having late dinners with friends. Then it changed into changing diapers and staying in hotels with elevators big enough for double strollers and good night stories with the kids.

Myla, Charlene, Leo, and Lenny, you definitely changed our lives, and you inspire and make us happy every day. Thank you, guys.

(Applause.)

Our family has traveled together across the world. Yet, we always return to our home country, Switzerland. It has always been an immense honor to represent the flag of Switzerland, and tonight as my -- (birds overhead) you don't have to laugh about it -- tonight as my name enters the Hall of Fame, I'm proud that Switzerland comes with me.

It's been an incredible journey. For me the International Tennis Hall of Fame provides a great opportunity to look back, but also to look ahead. 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.

So this is not a goodbye, but before I close, I want to share my hopes for this sport. The International Tennis Hall of Fame shows the evolution of tennis, and I'm honored to be part of that, and I'm incredibly lucky to have bridged the generations from Pete and Andre, the superstars, to champions my own age, like Roddick, Hewitt, Safin, and Ferrero. To the epic rivalries I had with the next generation: Andy, Novak, and Rafa. We all leave the court eventually, but the sport keeps evolving.

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. 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 the sport we love to the next level, and keep getting better, better, and better. I hope -- yeah, let's give it a round for the future generation, guys. Let's do it.

(Applause.)

I hope you will find other ways to give something back to share your passion. There are a thousand ways to do that. For me it was creating a foundation which does work in Southern Africa where Mom is from and Switzerland where my dad is from. My team and I also created the Laver Cup to honor the legends of all generations.

(Applause.)

Thank you. And to everyone here, I hope you will be a bridge between the tennis that happens at the level of the ATP, WTA, ITF, and all the slams and the tennis that's played as the sun goes down on a quiet street like Wasserhaus where I grew up. Tennis that's played everywhere from Switzerland to South Africa, Slovakia, India, and Brazil, anywhere that kids draw courts in the streets with chalk like I did, where they hit against walls with board racquets, where parents get the kids to practice, where coaches work, and fans show up in the blazing sun or the bitter cold, where the ball kids have their knee on the ground and are ready to move. I will always see the sport through their eyes.

(Applause.)

So this boy from Basel thanks you for the incredible honor, and I thank you, all of you, for sharing the journey that brought us together.

(Applause.)

TOM RINALDI: Ladies and gentlemen, Roger Federer.

Ladies and gentlemen, one more round of applause for our 2026 International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees, Mary Carillo and Roger Federer. A night of inspiration and emotion, of stories and legacies, and for everyone, a way to celebrate this game that we love so much. So we say good night from Newport and the International Tennis Hall of Fame.