Miroslava "Mirka" Federer (born Miroslava Vavrincová on 1 April 1978, later Miroslava Vavrinec) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. She is married to tennis player

Roger Federer Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, including a record 237 consecutive weeks, and finished as the year-e ...

, having first met him at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

. She retired from professional tennis in 2002 due to a persistent foot injury. By the time she closed her career, she was a top-100 ranked player.

Early life and tennis career

Born in

Bojnice Bojnice (german: Weinitz; hu, Bajmóc) is a historical town in central Slovakia located on the Nitra river, near the city of Prievidza. The town is situated just below the Bojnice Castle. It has a population of around 5,000. Bojnice is best k ...

(then

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

), Miroslava emigrated to

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

when she was two years old. In 1987, when she was nine, her father took her to watch a tournament at Filderstadt in Germany. Mirka met

Martina Navratilova Martina Navratilova ( cs, Martina Navrátilová ; ; born October 18, 1956) is a Czech–American, former professional tennis player. Widely considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, Navratilova won 18 major singles titles, 31 maj ...

, who thought she looked athletic and should try tennis. Navratilova later sent her a

racquet A racket, or racquet, is a sports implement used for striking a ball or shuttlecock in games such as squash, tennis, racquetball, badminton and padel. In the strictest sense a racket consists of a handled frame with an open hoop across which a ...

and arranged for her first tennis lesson. In 2002, she teamed up with Roger Federer in the

Hopman Cup The Hopman Cup is an international eight-team indoor hardcourt tennis tournament that played mixed-gender teams on a country-by-country basis.It was held in Perth, Western Australia each year from 1989 to 2019, before being replaced on the calen ...

. Her best Grand Slam performance was in 2001, when she reached the third round of the US Open. Monica Seles defeated her twice. However, a recurring foot injury prevented Vavrinec from progressing further up the rankings, eventually forcing her retirement from competitive tennis in 2002. Following her retirement, she took on the role of Federer's public relations manager, traveling with him on tour, often seen attending his matches. Prior to her retirement, she was ranked in the mid-80s, with a career high of No. 76, during the 2001 season.

Personal life

Mirka married

on 11 April 2009. They were married at Wenkenhof Villa in

Riehen Riehen ( Swiss German: ''Rieche'') is a municipality in the canton of Basel-Stadt in Switzerland. Together with the city of Basel and Bettingen, Riehen is one of three municipalities in the canton. Riehen hosts the Fondation Beyeler (a privatel ...

near Basel, surrounded by a small group of close friends and family. In 2009, Mirka gave birth to identical twin girls, Myla and Charlene. The Federers had another set of twins in 2014, this time fraternal twin boys, Leo and Lenny.

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 13 (3–10)

Doubles: 4 (1–3)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Federer, Mirka 1978 births Living people People from Bojnice Swiss people of Slovak descent Swiss female tennis players Tennis players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Mirka Hopman Cup competitors Czechoslovak emigrants to Switzerland Olympic tennis players of Switzerland