Roger Federer tells Reuters that learning to deal with the pressure of being a sporting icon takes time.

“Everybody handles it differently,” he said. “My success came gradually, which was helpful, even though I was always considered a great talent, someone who could become world number one. So it wasn’t a huge surprise that I made it to world number one and won Wimbledon, but for me it was. To handle that stardom, the red carpets, the photo shoots, people all of a sudden recognizing you and following you in everyday life, it’s a bit weird. It’s strange and it can have funny effects on you in terms of do you like it or don’t you like it.”

The Swiss added that some stars run away from the spotlight while others embrace it.

“I found a good middle ground. It’s tricky, especially (because) people love fairytale stories; take you down, put you back up, put you down,” he said. “And obviously the more famous you become, the more great everything seems when things goes well, and the worse they seem when things don’t go so well.”