Roger Federer discusses bubble life without family at Roland Garros

While visiting the Tennis Channel desk on Thursday, former world No. 1 Roger Federer spoke at length of his ostensibly unusual decision to leave his family at home this week for Roland Garros.

Though wife Mirka and four children have been regular fixtures at his matches over the years, Federer cited the restrictive bubble protocols as his reasoning after a four-set victory over Marin Cilic.

"For me, it’s not a problem to come to Paris and do [the bubble] for two weeks, going from hotel to club. You can go for an hour’s walk, but I’m not really taking advantage of it. But having four kids in a bubble isn’t really going to work out for me, so we have this situation here and we’ll have it again at Wimbledon, and maybe also at the Olympics.

"My first thought with Mirka is to get through Wimbledon, see how that feels and how that goes, and we’ll go from there. Our initial goal was to get in shape for the grass-court season, and for Wimbledon in particular, but so far, so good, everything is ok at home from everything I hear with Mirka. She’s got things under control and the kids are not completely misbehaved yet and I’m not worried here."

Federer, who sat out all of 2020, is playing just his third event under COVID-19 protocols, many of which are relaxing on the ATP level. The Swiss star stayed with his family when he made his clay-court comeback in Geneva, and hopes to have them by his side when he makes his return to Halle ahead of the Wimbledon Championships.