Reaction to Roger Federer's Hall of Fame induction: "You're the most important sportsman of all time"
In his induction announcement, Federer received kudos from Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg, Martina Hingis and Billie Jean King.
Roger Federer is headed to the International Tennis Hall of Fame, and his fellow legends of tennis are thrilled.
New of Federer's impending induction was officially revealed on Wednesday by the prestigious Newport institution, via a video of Federer learning the news while surrounded by young Swiss tennis players at the federeration's national training center in Biel/Bienne.
But it was the messages from Federer's fellow former No. 1s and Grand Slam champions were part of what stole the show.
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Germany's Boris Becker and Sweden's Stefan Edberg, two of Federer's idols growing up, were some of the first to offer kudos.
“Congratulations [on] being part of the Tennis Hall of Fame. You really, really deserve it,” Edberg, who also coached Federer at one stage, said. “You’ve had an incredible career and 20 Grand Slam titles tells it all.”
Meanwhile, Becker, a former coach of his longtime rival Novak Djokovic, said that Federer "really put tennis on a different map."
"Whenever you started winning, people that had nothing to do with tennis liked tennis because of you," Becker said. "So you're not only one of the best players in tennis of all time, you're the most important sportsman of all time."
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Also featured were Kim Clijsters, the current president of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, Federer's fellow Swiss Martina Hingis, and WTA co-founder Billie Jean King.
Hingis, who won the 2001 Hopman Cup title with Federer, said: "Everything always looked so perfect, easy when you were on court, and many people don't see all the sweat that is behind it because you kind of make it look so easy."
"You have meant so much to so many of us," King added. "You had such guts, such focus, such intensity. I could see how much it meant to you, and just watching you brought out every aspect of your character."
Federer, and former player-turned-brodcaster Mary Carillo, will be enshrined in Newport during a celebratory weekend next August.