Miroslava "Mirka" Federer (born Miroslava Vavrincová on 1 April 1978, later Miroslava Vavrinec) is a Swiss former professional tennis player of Slovak origin.

Mirka Federer
Mirka during the 2012 Olympics
Country (sports) Switzerland
ResidenceBottmingen, Switzerland
Born (1978-04-01) 1 April 1978 (age 46)
Bojnice, Slovakia
Height1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Turned pro15 January 1998
Retired2002
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money$260,832
Singles
Career record202–159
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 76 (10 September 2001)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open2R (2000, 2001)
French Open1R (1999, 2000, 2001)
Wimbledon1R (2000, 2001)
US Open3R (2001)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games1R (2000)
Doubles
Career record38–68
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 214 (24 August 1998)
Grand Slam doubles results
WimbledonQ2 (1999)
Other doubles tournaments
Olympic Games1R (2000)

She is married to tennis player Roger Federer, having first met him at the 2000 Summer Olympics. 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

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Born in Bojnice (then Czechoslovakia), Miroslava emigrated to Switzerland 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, who thought she looked athletic and should try tennis. Navratilova later sent her a racquet and arranged for her first tennis lesson.[2]

In 2002, she teamed up with Roger Federer in the Hopman Cup. 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.[3] Prior to her retirement, she was ranked in the mid-80s, with a career high of No. 76, during the 2001 season.[4]

Personal life

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Mirka married Roger Federer on 11 April 2009.[5] They were married at Wenkenhof Villa in Riehen near Basel, surrounded by a small group of close friends and family.[6] In 2009, Mirka gave birth to identical twin girls, Myla and Charlene.[7] The Federers had another set of twins in 2014, this time fraternal twin boys, Leo and Lenny.[8][9]

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

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Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
Tournament 1999 2000 2001 Career W-L
Australian Open A 2R 2R 2–2
French Open 1R 1R 1R 0–3
Wimbledon Q2 1R 1R 0–2
US Open Q2 1R 3R 2–2
Win–loss 0–1 1–4 3–4 4–9

ITF Circuit finals

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$100,000 tournaments
$75,000 tournaments
$50,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments

Singles: 13 (3–10)

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Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Runner-up 1. 12 September 1994 ITF Cluj, Romania Clay   Adriana Gerši 2–6, 1–6
Runner-up 2. 23 January 1995 ITF Bastad, Sweden Hard   Katalin Miskolczi 6–1, 2–6, 5–7
Winner 3. 8 March 1997 ITF Tel Aviv, Israel Hard   Nataly Cahana 6–3, 7–6
Runner-up 4. 2 June 1997 ITF Bytom, Poland Clay   Jana Pospíšilová 6–7, 7–6, 1–6
Winner 5. 22 June 1997 ITF Klosters, Switzerland Clay   Evelyn Fauth 4–6, 7–5, 6–2
Runner-up 6. 30 June 1997 ITF Lohja, Finland Clay   Maria Persson 6–3, 4–6, 3–6
Runner-up 7. 12 January 1998 ITF Delray Beach, United States Hard   Louise Latimer 2–6, 0–6
Runner-up 8. 18 January 1999 ITF Boca Raton, United States Hard   Stephanie Chi 1–6, 3–6
Winner 9. 31 January 1999 ITF Clearwater, United States Hard   Alina Jidkova 6–0, 7–6
Runner-up 10. 8 February 1999 ITF Rockford, United States Hard (i)   Samantha Smith 4–6, 4–6
Runner-up 11. 15 March 1999 ITF Noda, Japan Hard   Shinobu Asagoe 5–7, 4–6
Runner-up 12. 30 August 1999 ITF Huixquilucan, Mexico Hard   Vanessa Webb 6–1, 4–6, 6–7
Runner-up 13. 14 August 1999 ITF İstanbul, Turkey Hard   Tatiana Perebiynis 4–6, 3–6

Doubles: 4 (1–3)

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Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Winner 1. 18 October 1993 ITF Langenthal, Switzerland Carpet (i)   Natalie Tschan   Anne De Gioanni
  Heidi Sprung
6–4, 4–6, 6–1
Runner-up 2. 25 October 1993 ITF Jurmala, Latvia Hard (i)   Aleksandra Olsza   Natalia Bondarenko
  Elena Tatarkova
6–7, 2–6
Runner-up 3. 19 May 1997 ITF Brixen, Italy Clay   Luciana Masante   Caroline Schneider
  Patricia Wartusch
3–6, 0–6
Runner-up 4. 1 June 1998 ITF Tashkent, Uzbekistan Hard   Larissa Schaerer   Melissa Mazzotta
  Fabiola Zuluaga
2–6, 1–6

References

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  1. ^ Miroslava Vavrinec WTA
  2. ^ Viner, Brian (2 July 2005). "Roger Federer: A smashing guy". The Independent. Archived from the original on 31 December 2007.
  3. ^ "Martina set up mixed doubles". The Sunday Times. London: The Times. 24 August 2003. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  4. ^ Oliphant, Vickiie (24 January 2018). "Roger Federer wife: Who is the tennis star married to? Who is Mirka Federer?". Daily Express. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  5. ^ Roger Federer (11 April 2009). "Off Court - Mr. and Mrs. Federer". Roger Federer. Archived from the original on 20 May 2010. Retrieved 6 June 2010.
  6. ^ "Off Court — Mr. and Mrs. Federer". Roger Federer Official Website. 11 April 2010. Archived from the original on 14 April 2009. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
  7. ^ "Roger Federer and wife are proud parents of twins". OneIndia. 24 July 2009. Retrieved 3 October 2009.
  8. ^ "Roger Federer: Mirka and I couldn't be happier with twin boys – and now we know how to cope with babies on tour". The Guardian. 13 May 2014. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  9. ^ "Roger Federer's wife gives birth to second set of twins". BBC News. 6 May 2014. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
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