How Roger Federer’s advice helped Shingo Kunieda win the wheelchair singles title at Wimbledon 2022

Over a decade ago, when a Japanese journalist asked Roger Federer why Japan is unable to produce tennis stars like himself, the Swiss responded by saying: "What are you talking about? Japan has Shingo!"

Shingo Kunieda etched his name in the history books when he took the wheelchair men's singles title at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships. The Japanese thus completed a Career Golden Slam after winning his 28th Major singles title overall. Kunieda became the fifth player to win the wheelchair singles title at Wimbledon since the inception of the format in 2016.

In his post-match press conference, the three-time Paralympic gold medalist revealed how the advice of a certain Swiss tennis player helped him clinch the title.

Stories that link Federer with Japan have their roots in 2006, where he won the Tokyo Open by defeating Tim Henman in the final. The Swiss' greatest Japanese rival has been Kei Nishikori, along with whom he has played 11 tour-level matches, winning eight of them.

In 2008 and 2010, Federer and Kunieda were frequently seen together at the ITF World Champions Dinner. Both players have won the 2007 & 2010 Australian Open and the 2007 US Open in their respective singles disciplines.

Roger Federer and Shingo Kunieda at the ITF World Champions Dinner - 2008

Roger Federer's bond with Japan strengthened even more when he donned the Uniqlo outfit for the first time at the 2018 Wimbledon Championships. The 2014 Davis Cup champion's clothing sponsorship with Uniqlo meant that he became the ambassador for the clothing line alongside Kei Nishikori and Shingo Kunieda.

Kunieda has been sponsored by Uniqlo since 2009. When Uniqlo roped in Federer, they decided to capitalize on it by organizing a Lifewear Day event at Tokyo's Ariake Coliseum in October 2019. The event also featured other tennis stars like Nishikori, John Isner and Gordon Reid.

In the exhibition event, the Swiss won his singles match against Isner in straight sets. Later, a single-set tie-break doubles exhibition match was played where Federer partnered Kunieda. The duo lost in a close contest against Isner and Reid (10-9).

"It was such an exciting event, I played doubles with Roger Federer. My dream came true today,” Kunieda said after the Uniqlo Lifewear Day event.

While everyone thought that Uniqlo's deal might have meant the end of the RF logo, Roger Federer announced the return of his iconic RF Cap. In December 2020, Kunieda received one of the new RF Caps.

Shingo Kunieda's vital conversation with Roger Federer

By the end of the 2021 season, Kunieda had won 10 Australian Open titles, seven French Open titles and eight US Open titles. The only Slam he was yet to win was Wimbledon. He came eerily close in 2019 when he finished as the runner-up. As the top seed in 2021, Kunieda lost to fellow Uniqlo ambassador Gordon Reid in the opening round.

In August 2021, in collaboration with the ITF, Uniqlo organized a virtual meeting between Federer, Kunieda and Reid. During the interactive session, Kunieda did not miss the opportunity to take advice about grasscourt tennis from arguably the greatest grasscourt player of all time.

“I don’t want Gordon to hear this, but recently, he beat me on grass, and I was wondering how I should have played," asked Kunieda.

"On grass, offense is important. Of course, offense means taking more risk, and taking into consideration more mistakes. This becomes a mental thing, a mental approach, that you’re actually okay making mistakes. On grass, don’t second guess yourself. You have to go with your first big decision, and then be very strong about it,” replied the 103-time tour-level title winner.

In one of the most closely contested wheelchair men's singles finals to date, Kunieda broke his opponent Alfie Hewett in all four instances when the Brit was serving for the 2022 Wimbledon championship. The Japanese spoke about his win after the match.

“Last year here, I lost in the first round to Gordon (Reid). Then, we had a UNIQLO event and I asked a question to Roger. My question was how to play on grass and how to think when behind on grass. Roger said that I should attack every point and that if I made a mistake, have no regrets. He said that’s the key, to have no regrets," said Kunieda. "Today, when I made a mistake I said, ‘this is okay’. Then I immediately went to the next point and was aggressive. That was key.”

At the age of 38, Shingo Kunieda has now won a total of 50 Slams across singles and doubles. Roger Federer, meanwhile, is likely to return to competitive tennis in his hometown of Basel after participating in the Laver Cup in September.