Twenty-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer has won many laurels in his career, but ask him to name one award that is closest to his heart and he will readily pick the Swiss award that he was recently conferred.

Roger Federer was voted the best Swiss athlete in seventy years

The veteran was voted the best athlete in his homeland in the last seventy years. He received the honor at an awards gala that was staged weeks back in Switzerland.

Opening up on the honor in an interview with Swiss publication Schweizer Illustrierte, Federer said he was ‘genuinely touched’ by it.

The Swiss star, who is regarded as one of the ‘Big Three’ in men’s tennis alongside Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, said the best part about the award was that it was subject to a decision by the jury and wasn’t something he had consciously set out to achieve.

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Asked if the national award, indeed, meant so much to him, Federer said, “Yes anyway! You feel very honored and touched, especially with those awards that you can’t aim for yourself, that are in the hands of the jury, associations or fans.”

Federer said he would have been just as happy if someone else had won

The Swiss superstar said that he feels privileged to be ranked among the very best sportspersons that his homeland has produced. 

He said more than the piece of honor; it was the feeling of being in illustrious company that made it all the more special for him.

Federer said that he would have been ‘just as happy’ had someone else been picked for the honor and would have held no grudge or ill-feeling against him.

“For me, it already means everything to be part of this illustrious group. The victory was secondary.

I felt that there was no animosity, I would have been just as happy if someone else had won,” the veteran Swiss star added.

After delivering his acceptance speech and thanking the jury and his fans for the honor, Federer had said that his recovery from a second knee surgery was behind schedule and he was unsure if he would be ready in time for the Australian Open.

Read More: Why is Roger Federer Considered the ‘GOAT’?

The start date for the year’s first Major has since been pushed back to February 8, giving Federer a three-week window to regain full fitness and return to action.