They are no strangers to prime seats on tennis’s biggest stages – but these twin sisters caught the photographers’ attention this week as they sat alongside one of their dad’s former rivals.
Looking the very picture of their famous fathers, Myla and Charlene Federer, all-time great Roger’s twin daughters joined Cruz Hewitt (son of Australian great Leyton) at the Australian Open.
Hewitt and Federer played each other 27 times in their impressive playing careers, with Myla and Charlene’s dad the victor on 18 occasions to Cruz’s father’s nine, but there was no bad blood in Melbourne for the tennis icons’ offspring.
Cruz, 17, is forging his own tennis career in the spotlight but fans have seen less of 16-year-old Charlene and Myla in the wake of Federer’s 2022 retirement.
The eldest of Federer’s four children with his Swiss-Slovakian wife Mirka Vavrinec, Charlene Riva and Myla Rose were born in July 2009, just over three weeks after their father claimed his sixth Wimbledon title.
They were often seen with mother Mirka at Roger’s matches but following his retirement are no longer a fixture at Grand Slam events.
But Federer is back at Melbourne Park this week, for the first time since 2020, and has been joined by his family.
He chose not to push his children into tennis – admitting watching him ‘didn’t excite them’ as kids.
‘They don’t get so excited watching me play,’ Federer said previously of his children. ‘We’re trying to bring them into the game a little bit even though I don’t think we’ll see them here one day.
‘I would be happy if they don’t end up being on this court, actually,’ he added. ‘I’d rather support them in another sport. Go see them be a super skier.
‘That would be exciting. To go watch tennis matches, I don’t know. As much as I love it now, I’m just not sure what my excitement level will be in 20 years’ time from now. You never know.’
The Federer family split their time between a lavish villa on the banks of Lake Zurich, close to his hometown of Zurich, and a luxurious chalet in the mountainous Graubünden canton.
Charlene and Myla are however content to keep a low profile rather than showing off the exotic locales where they spend their time, with both daughters opting for private, rather than public, social media profiles on TikTok and Instagram.
Federer dusted off his famed Wilson racquet to play a series of exhibition matches on a nostalgia trip this week – with the occasion doubling as an opportunity for fans to farewell the sporting icon, who never formally said goodbye to his many supporters on Australian soil.
Federer reached the semi-finals of AO 2020, losing in straight sets to Novak Djokovic, and didn’t return before calling time on his historic 24-year playing career in 2022.
He has been joined Down Under by his parents, Lynette and Robert, as well as his wife Mirka and the couple’s children, as they celebrate Federer’s decorated career.
‘I feel good to rip the band-aid off and show up on a big court like Rod Laver Arena. I need to get out there, because it’s too easy and too convenient just to stay home,’ Federer told reporters.
