In My Sporting Hero, a new podcast series from Nutmeg, footballers talk about the athletes who inspire them. Sometimes those sportsmen and women are also footballers. Sometimes not. You can listen to the audio on this post, on the podcast app of your choice (just search for ‘My Sporting Hero’) or enjoy the written version below.
Our next guest is Alistair Johnston.
Alistair signed for Celtic after outstanding performances for Canada at the 2022 World Cup and has thrived in the Parkhead right-back role. He has already won two Scottish Premierships, two Scottish Cups and a League Cup, and was a key player in the Canadian national team’s run to the semi-final of last summer’s Copa America.
Alistair’s sporting hero is Roger Federer, arguably the greatest-ever player to grace men’s tennis.
Growing up, I played a lot of different sports, including tennis, and I was always drawn to Roger. I loved the way he looked, the elegant way he played, how he carried himself. I looked up to him and he really got me into tennis.
I wanted to be like Roger, and I still have a one-handed backhand to this day. My fiancé was a collegiate tennis player and very good in her own right. We often play and she always makes fun of me for having a one-handed backhand. She said that whoever taught me it was a poor coach, but I told her that there was no coach, I simply copied Roger! He had that iconic finishing pose with his backhand and a superb slice, and I just enjoyed watching everything he could do with the ball. He was someone I aspired to be like, if I ever made it as a professional athlete; I wanted to have that swagger and quiet confidence that he always exuded.
I grew up the middle child of three boys, and we played different sports throughout the year so my parents were constantly shuttling one of us off to one type of practice or another. Tennis was more of a hobby growing up and it was a sport that my whole family enjoyed playing, including my parents. We were members of our local tennis club and we would go down there and play whenever we could. None of us were great, but all of us were good enough to hold our own. We would attend the Rogers Cup in Toronto and get the players to sign balls for us. I remember seeing Roger although I actually more vividly recall seeing Rafa Nadal and just being struck by how big and strong he was. That’s where my love for tennis started and we also loved watching all the majors on TV.
I spoke to my fiancé about Roger being my sporting icon and when she realised how much I knew about tennis it really blew her away. She was also pleasantly surprised by my ability to hit the ball with her. We joined a club when we moved to Scotland and we try and play whenever we can. It’s a nice recovery day for me – plus she gets to take her anger out on me and run me around the court, and it’s always a good fun. We met at Wake Forest University where I was a soccer player and she was a tennis player. I got to continue my career whereas hers ended abruptly, and I know that was difficult for her. I can only imagine what that feels like, so it’s a good outlet for her to play against me and it’s cool for me to see her still have a passion for the sport. She is extremely competitive and fiery, and that attracted me to her because we are cut from a similar cloth. I’m good enough that I can hold my own, and we’re trying to work on my serve at the moment which is very hit and miss, but my ground strokes are pretty good. James Forrest always tells me that had he become a professional tennis player, he thinks he could have broken into the big four; I hope he means it tongue-in-cheek. He clearly believes he is beyond my level and he doesn’t want to play me, he just wants to go right ahead and play my missus! Perhaps the Johnson vs Forrest pay-per-view match will need to happen at some point.
The longevity that Roger had was unbelievable, and it’s been the same for his contemporaries: Rafa, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic. Even late in his career, Roger’s opponents would fear him because he still had that ability to beat anyone on his day. That adds to my appreciation of Roger, because of the mental and physical toll that playing at the top level for so long must have taken. My fiancé has friends who have been on the tour and are very good players, and when you see the amount of travelling and commitment that it takes, it’s very impressive. Even late in his career, Roger was expected to win every match he played in and to put on a good show – which is similar to playing for Celtic, and which is a huge pressure. Tennis is one of those sports where you are playing against an opponent, but you can’t physically touch them. It’s not like football where if you are having a bad game, your team-mates can come to your aid. You are isolated and it is a grind of a sport. There are highs, but there are also a lot of lows and you can get yourself into a really dark place if you’re not mentally strong. Yet Roger had such a long career at such a high level, and was able to keep holding himself to such a high standard. There are only a couple of clips of him really losing his head because that was very rare. He carried himself with such elegance in a sport where that can be so difficult; imagine playing a five-hour match and nothing’s going right for you, but you somehow still manage to keep your cool. So I have a lot of appreciation for the mental fortitude that these guys have, especially Roger.
Djokovic could catch Federer’s record of eight Wimbledon titles, but I don’t think he will. He might get to eight to level it, but I don’t think he’ll get nine. Novak has done such a great job, despite the fact that people have always kind of hated on him. There was such a romanticism in the Federer/Nadal rivalry and all of a sudden this Serbian guy turned up and disrupted it, and I think he got more hate for that than he should have because if you watch him you realise he’s pretty much the perfect tennis player. He’s got everything: physique, ground strokes both on his forehand and his backhand, his net play, his serve, his returns. But I would like Roger to keep that record.
Roger’s a Basel fan, so I do think he will be supporting Celtic when we play their rivals Young Boys. We’ll try and get him sorted with some Celtic gear, and hopefully we can channel our inner Roger!
My Sporting Hero: Alistair Johnston on Roger Federer