The tennis champion – who is turning 40 – has smashed the sport’s early-retirement trend, winning Grand Slam titles deep into his 30s. How?
Federer is widely perceived as a natural, yet he is a meticulous planner who has learnt to embrace routine and self-discipline, plotting out his schedule well in advance and in considerable detail.
“I usually have an idea of the next one-and-a-half years, and a very good idea about the next nine months,” he said. “I can tell you what I’ll be doing on Monday before Rotterdam or what I’m doing Saturday before Indian Wells.