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Roger Federer and how he’ll find a new gig

john-fornander-4R9CcBdQTEg-unsplash | John Fornander
john-fornander-4R9CcBdQTEg-unsplash | John Fornander

I spent 4 hours and 55 minutes on Sunday morning watching the men’s finals at Wimbledon. The match featured Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer. They were so well matched that the score was even at the end of the fifth set. Each of them had won 12 games, and this a forced tie-breaker.

In the end, Federer lost by only two points.

The commentators were beside themselves. They were not astounded because Federer lost, but because he was able to stay fresh, fast and accurate through out the match at his very advanced age. Get this, he is 38 years old.

That may not be old for the rest of us, but for tennis players, it is ancient.

This means in the next few years, Roger Federer will have to find something else to do. How does the man with twenty grand slam tennis victories find a new career? The same as we all do.

He is going to have to assess his strengths, his experience, his objectives and the market to figure out where he might fit.

How will he maintain his young family?

Will he still have to travel all the time?

Will anyone outside the tennis world take him seriously?

One thing in his favour, he is accustomed to having a coach and listening to their advice. That will come in really handy. He is clearly a very focused individual. It shouldn’t be too difficult for him to lay out the steps, have the discipline to follow through and find his next gig

Even though he is wildly successful having spent 300 weeks as the world’s #1 tennis player, he will face the same difficulties as the rest of us when it comes to switching careers.

If you are facing a career change, take solace in the fact that it’s tough and rewarding no matter how famous you are. Sometimes you get the gold cup and sometimes you get the silver platter.

It's going to look like caviar and crackers.

Follow Laura Machan on twitter.  Read more articles on managing your career by Laura available on Oakville News.