Twenty-time tennis Grand Slam champion Roger Federer has turned an entrepreneur, and has invested in Swiss shoe brand On. CNBC caught up with the man himself to talk about his latest investment and life after tennis.

“My wife had shoes and my friends had shoes and I have been seeing the company for over the last five years in my country. They are very strong in that market. So it is all around me and then I started wearing them myself in the last couple of years now and I was like how about we get together, get to know each other and who knows what comes out of it and here we are announcing the partnership and my investment into the company and I am very excited because they are great people,” he said.

“As I run around the whole time and I use them for running but then of course I also may explore the idea of a tennis shoe, we will see what is going to happen there. We are also working on different other projects already, it has been a fun process, nothing has really been finalised yet, we are already working on projects and talking to each other because we just had a good feel about a possible partnership and only recently it has come to this, so it has been very exciting times but stay tuned, there are a lot of things coming next year,” he added.

On retirement, the 38-year-old said: “In a way I am understanding the take and on the other hand I am surprised that people think that way because it is true.

"I haven’t spoken much about what comes after because I always used to say for the last few years that I want to keep it as free as possible, so I basically have nothing when I am retiring but ever since I signed the Uniqlo deal and I have gotten together with On, it has changed a little bit.

"I am going to be working also beyond my playing days, which I was anyways always going to do — also with my charity and then I have my four children and my wife and I want to spend maximum time there. So I am really excited about it but the team at On, they want me to keep playing, I want to keep playing, my fans want me to keep playing and they are all telling me to keep on playing and I will. This is not the end of my tennis career, this is just a process that I am going through right now."

On differences among athletic brands specifically on Nike, the brand with which he had a 20-year association before signing a 10-year deal with Uniqlo, he said: “I was with them for a long time and it was a great partnership with them but when that ended two years ago, it was a bit different. It opened up completely different opportunities and I wasn’t in any hurry, I wanted to take the time to make my next move and I have been very interested in the fashion aspect and I just think working with a brand like On that is literally around the corner from where I live, we can always get together, it is very easy to see each other, we can just catch up for coffee.

"It is also the team that showed me what a great couple of guys they are and I would like to spend time with them and talk about everything about how I can contribute to the On brand. The shoes are super comfortable, they are great and it is one of the fastest growing snicker companies out there and it is very cool to be part of that story.”

On brand association, he said: “I remember, back in 2004 when I came here to the US Open, people were saying like how I don’t have enough partners because the Americans focus very much on who are your partners and that is how they judge you, on how popular you are. In Switzerland, it is a bit the opposite, it is first what your tennis results are and then only later your partners. I think it has been great that I kept the white canvas until that time and I was able to then partner with the best brands in the world. It has been a pleasure and for an athlete or specifically for a tennis athlete to stay with the same brand for a long time which I have been able to do, has been a real privilege and I love it and I am sure some will exceed my playing days and the luxury business is as strong as ever.”

On playing at the age of 25 versus playing at 38, Federer said: “It is very different. I think you recover faster as a teenager or at the beginning of your 20s, you play tough match and without thinking about it, you just feel back to 100 percent after two days. I feel sometimes the same but it doesn’t always come automatically at 38 and I have to make sure I do my warm-ups right. It is windy at the top, it is tough and I have to keep on improving and work hard but it is definitely more quality over quantity nowadays because I know I can play long matches. I have to be selective with my schedule.”

First Published:Nov 26, 2019 1:27 PM IST