Roger Federer is probably the most elegant player to ever play the sport of tennis and is undoubtedly one of the greatest players of all time.
The sweatband that was so often wrapped around his head was usually redundant given that he used to glide through draws with ease across his career.
Federer competes with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic for the mantle of greatest ever and there is no right or wrong answer regardless of which player takes your fancy.
The Swiss player won 20 Grand Slam titles in comparison to Nadal who won 23 and Djokovic who has 24, but is still playing, with Federer not out in front in that sense.
This week, Gael Monfils picked his greatest of all time and it’s a debate that will rumble on until the end of time, with every tennis associate having their own opinion.
The eight-time Wimbledon winner wasn’t renowned for his prowess when it came to playing doubles. Federer did team up with Djokovic but only on Laver Cup duty back in 2018.
Roger Federer once picked WTA champion as his ideal mixed doubles partner
Being Swiss is perhaps no surprise that Federer picked Martina Hingis as his ideal mixed doubles partner when quizzed on that matter back in 2017.
Federer wasn’t renowned for his exploits playing doubles, but he was quite clearly fond of Hingis who enjoyed a brilliant career of her own.
Hingis won five Grand Slam titles, failing to win the French Open despite reaching the final in both 1997 and 1999.
The player was a young sensation when she burst onto the scene and hit a series of youngest-ever milestones when she was lifting titles across the globe.
Federer picked Hingis when asked about his dream mixed doubles partner in an interview with the IPTL on YouTube.
He said: “I think Martina Hingis, I think she was phenomenal and I’ve had the chance to play with her already.”
What happened when Roger Federer played doubles with Martina Hingis
The pair teamed up for the Hopman Cup all the way back in 2001 and actually helped their country claim success in the tournament.
The mixed gender tournament sees two singles matches and a doubles match take place, and after two groups of four teams have battled it out, the top teams face each other in the final.
| Martina Hings & Roger Federer – Hopman Cup 2001 | Opposition | Score |
| Group Stage – Australia | Nicole Pratt & Richard Fromberg | W 2-0 (6-1, 6-3) |
| Group Stage – South Africa | Amanda Coetzer & Wayne Ferreira | W 2-0 (6-2, 6-3) |
| Group Stage – Thailand | Tamarine Tanasugarn & Paradorn Srichapan | W 2-0 (6-0, 6-1) |
| Final – USA | Monica Seles & Jan-Michael Gambill | L 2-1 (6-2, 4-6, 6-7) |
Hingis and Federer were the go-to doubles team for the Swiss in 2001 and after playing four matches alongside each other, they were only beaten once – in a dead rubber!
Although the Swiss pair lost in the final, it didn’t matter one jot. Federer and Hingis added another title to their collection after both players had won their respective singles rubbers earlier in the day to claim a 2-1 win.
Quite clearly, Hingis and Federer had the qualities to thrive as a pair out on the court and there is little wonder that the 20-time Grand Slam champion chose his compatriot as the dream partner.