Federer marries longtime girlfriend

Keystone

Roger Federer and Miroslava (Mirka) Vavrinec have tied the knot in a small, intimate ceremony. The matching point was his hometown, Basel.

The world’s number two tennis player announced the wedding on his website, saying the couple had got married on Saturday “surrounded by a small group of close friends and family”.

“It was a beautiful spring day and an incredibly joyous occasion,” he said.

Federer, 27, and Vavrinec, 31, announced last month they were expecting their first child.

Vavrinec, a former professional tennis player who retired in 2002 after a foot injury, was born in what is now Slovakia but moved to Switzerland when she was two.

The couple met at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and Vavrinec is now Federer’s manager.

Ups and downs

The “joyous occasion” on Saturday was in stark contrast to a week earlier when Federer shattered his racket in a fit of anger in Miami, before losing to Novak Djokovic.

After struggling with his form last year and losing his top ranking to Rafael Nadal, Federer is aiming for his sixth Wimbledon title this summer. He lost to Nadal in the Australian Open final, the year’s first major.

Federer is set to play in next week’s Monte Carlo Masters, after accepting a last-minute wild card invitation on Thursday. He is a three-time finalist at the clay-court tournament but has never won.

swissinfo with agencies

ROGER FEDERER

Age: 27

Career singles titles: 57

Grand slam titles: 13

Australian Open (2004, 2006, 2007)

Wimbledon (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007)

US Open (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008)