‘I See Him Running A Show’ - Alex Corretja On Federer’s Possible Return To Wimbledon As Pundit - UBITENNIS

‘I See Him Running A Show’ – Alex Corretja On Federer’s Possible Return To Wimbledon As Pundit

By Adam Addicott
5 Min Read
Roger Federer (SUI) playing against Adrian Mannarino (FRA) in the first round of the Gentlemen's Singles on Centre Court at The Championships 2021. Held at The All England Lawn Tennis Club, Wimbledon. Day 2 Tuesday 29/06/2021. Credit: AELTC/Jed Leicester

Former world No.2 Alex Corretja says broadcasters must value Roger Federer if he works for them amid growing speculation that the Swiss maestro could join the BBC for this year’s Wimbledon Championships. 

British media reports have claimed that the 20-time Grand Slam winner is currently in negotiations with the BBC over possibly joining their team for the grass-court major in what would be a major coup for the organization. The Express newspaper says a ‘special condition’ must be met for such an agreement to take place but it is unclear as to what this alleged condition will be. 

Federer, who has won Wimbledon more times than any other male player in history, pulled the plug on his record-breaking career last year. In recent months, he has vowed to stay connected with the sport in some capacity to avoid becoming what he describes as a ‘tennis ghost.’ In an interview with the newspaper Tages Anzeiger, he expressed an interest in potentially going into broadcasting.

“I never thought I would say this but six months ago I suddenly thought (about) commentating on tennis someday. Who knows? Although I always said I would never do that,” he said.

Speaking about the possibility of having Federer on the TV screen once again, Correrja said ‘it would be awesome.’ The Spaniard is a former coach of Andy Murray who has since worked as a tennis analyst for Eurosport. 

“I mean Roger can do whatever he likes, he’s going to be welcome anywhere he goes,” he told Express Sport.
“He knows tennis, he loves tennis, he is well respected, he’s such a classy guy and definitely that would be awesome for us to have him somewhere related to tennis.”
“I think it’s nice to have the ex-players involved because they can add lots of things, lots of experiences that no one lived before so if you’ve been there before it’s much easier to explain why players are feeling one way or another than if you’ve never been there before.”

It is unclear when the BBC will release their line-up of presenters for this year’s tournament which will not feature Sue Barker as the broadcaster’s main anchor for the first time since 1999. Barker retired from her position last year and is rumoured to be replaced by Claire Balding. 

Corretja says If Federer agrees to join the team it would be a waste of time having him just call matches and argue that he should be given his own segments. Even though the former world No.1 hasn’t got any presenting experience yet. 

“I’m not so sure if he’s going to be calling matches or not, I’m not so sure if he’s going to be sitting in the booth, maybe he might do it from time to time,” he said.
“But I see him running a show, being the main one there and saying ‘Okay, I’m the man here’, guiding the whole thing. Maybe doing interviews or a programme, doing something special.”
“But it has to be something special and knowing Roger, for sure it’s going to be something special.
“He’s not going to be calling matches for eight hours a day, I don’t think that makes sense. You need to value Federer as what he is and he has to be something very unique because he is very unique.”

Should Federer join the BBC, he could earn thousands depending on how much he commits to doing and his contract terms. According to the BBC’s 2021/2022 star salaries list, John McEnroe earned between £180,000-£184,999 for his work during the tournament. 

The 2023 Wimbledon Championships will begin on July 3rd. 

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