“With Great power comes great responsibility,” is an old adage that was popularized by the 2002 Spider-Man movie. However, this phrase is a theme in most superhero movies, along with another aspect: abandonment. Although abandonment seems to be a character development trait for real-life heroes as well. And Roger Federer is living proof of that.

The 20-time Grand Slam winner announced his retirement from the sport after over two decades of brilliance. The 41-year-old is arguably one of the best the sport has ever seen. With his illustrious career coming to an end, most have wondered how did a young boy from Basel win it all?

Well, Federer’s story during sneaker shopping gave us all slight insight to answer the question. He narrated, “Once upon a time when I went to practice with my dad — he said ‘if you keep behaving the way you’re behaving, I’m just going to leave and I’ll see you at home’.”

“Of course, I kept on misbehaving. He left a 5 swiss franc — put it on the bench and said ‘I’ll see you at home’.”

He continues, “Home was far away. An hour by tram and bus. I thought, there’s no chance he would have done that. So I waited on the bench for like 20 minutes. He never returned.”  

“In some way, it marked me. I said okay, I have to grow up, I have to behave better if I want to become someone. I can’t behave this way,” concluded Federer.

Read More: Top 5 Unforgettable Moments From Roger Federer’s Career

The lesson Federer learned from his father arguably shaped him to achieve his immeasurable success. F1’s Red Bull world champion, Max Verstappen has a similar story.

Max Verstappen, walking on the same path as Roger Federer with similar tales from childhood

Verstappen also shared a story from his childhood with striking similarities to the one Federer shared. Verstappen has often revealed his father’s tough methods during his early racing career. So the story Verstappen shared about a spin that cost him the championship from his karting days didn’t come as a surprise.

He narrated, “I wanted to talk to my dad about the incident. My dad said, ‘Stop talking, I don’t want to hear anything, just sit in the back, I don’t want to hear anything about it’.”

“But of course, I kept on trying to have a conversation until at one point he pulled off at a fuel station and said: ‘Get out. Get out and I do not want to hear you anymore’. So he kicked me out, and he drove off … and this is in the south of Italy.”

Verstappen’s father had left him at a gas station. However, he didn’t actually plan on abandoning him as Max’s mother, Sophie Kumpen, was just a few minutes behind them and Jos too planned on turning back and pick up Max. However, the lesson learned from the incident would’ve been monumental.

WATCH THIS STORY: Max Verstappen: ‘Is my title tarnished? Not at all. I really deserved it’

Safe to say, abandonment as a punishment definitely worked out well for Federer, and it seems to be doing the trick for Verstappen as well.