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Everything tennis icon Roger Federer eats and drinks for breakfast, lunch, and dinner

Roger Federer
Roger Federer. Getty Images
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Roger Federer remains a fierce competitor at the highest echelons of world tennis.

He has 20 Grand Slam titles on his record, and he shows no real signs of slowing down.

Read more: One moment in Roger Federer's first clay match in 3 years shows how wrong he was to fear his return to the soft surface

As he turns 38 on Thursday, Federer continues to marvel on the courts. But to maintain his sporting dominance, he has to eat right. So what sort of food does the face of tennis eat?

Here's everything Federer likes to have for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

This is 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer, who is widely considered as the best male tennis player of all time.

Roger Federer
Getty Images

To start his day, Federer prefers to go sweet rather than savoury and reportedly enjoys homemade waffles with a fresh fruit compote on the morning of a match.

Waffles
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Source: The Guardian

To wash the waffles down, Federer has fresh juice, coffee, and a vinegar shot.

Coffee and juice
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Source: The Guardian

Before tennis, Federer will eat a plate of pasta. "Two hours before every match, I eat pasta with light sauce … I have been doing it for 20 years."

Roger Federer pasta
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In between practice sessions or competition matches, Federer is no stranger to snack bars.

Roger Federer
Getty Images

He also eats bananas, which are a good source of carbohydrate and potassium. When tennis players contest long matches, their energy levels may lull and they may succumb to cramp if they lose too much potassium. Bananas help players like Federer refuel.

Roger Federer
Getty Images

Source: BBC

However, research suggests that energy drinks may be a superior way of replenishing an athlete's body during competition. This is because the body absorbs liquids quicker than solid foods, like a banana.

Roger Federer
Getty Images

Source: BBC

When Federer goes out for dinner, variety is clearly the spice of life. "I am a lover of Italian, Japanese, and Indian restaurants," he said recently.

Indian food
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He even likes to take selfies with his naan bread.

A post shared by Roger Federer (@rogerfederer)


Source: Instagram

It's not all health foods, though. Federer does have a sweet tooth and can't resist ice cream. "I like my ice cream, I like my chocolate," he said in 2017. "That’s my diet. I like my treats. I don’t feel bad about it. I can do it and play tennis at the same time."

Ice cream
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Source: News

Being Swiss, he is no stranger to cheeses and likes to eat fonduta, a dish that combines milk, cream, cheese, and egg yolk. He also has raclette (pictured), a cheese that's melted and scraped onto a plate.

Roger Federer raclette
Shutterstock

Federer has also tried local delicacies in other countries, including Scotland. He once received Irn-Bru and a tin of shortbread biscuits made especially by Andy Murray's grandmother.


Source: Twitter

One thing Federer doesn't eat is wombat meat. It was an allegation he denied during a bizarre interview conducted by Will Ferrell, who channeled Ron Bergundy, his character in the hit comedy movie "Anchorman," at the 2018 Australian Open.

Federer drinks alcohol if he is celebrating success. He may look dapper here in his tuxedo and his glass of Champagne, but sometimes he doesn't just have one glass and suffered a "head-ringing" hangover when he mixed his drinks until 5 a.m., the morning after his eighth Wimbledon title, in 2017.


Source: Twitter and Business Insider

Sometimes there's not a trophy big enough for Federer's Champagne diet ...

Roger Federer
Getty Images

But that doesn't seem to be holding him back.

Roger Federer
Getty Images

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Alan Dawson is Insider's combat sports correspondent. He moved to Las Vegas indefinitely after being shortlisted twice for Sports Journalist of the Year in 2020. He has twice been credited by the Boxing Writer's Association of America, is a Hall of Fame voter, and an MMA Journalists Association member. He joined Insider in 2017 as a reporter, was promoted to senior reporter in 2019, and then again to a correspondent in 2020, after establishing Insider Inc. as one of the best independent publications to follow in the fight sports industries. He is read by millions of people around the world every month. He has investigated the intersection of organized crime and boxing, uncovered possible bribery in sport, and has been ringside for some of the most iconic moments in combat sports including Fury-Wilder 2, Khabib Nurmagomedov's retirement, and Davis-Garcia. He has taken assignments in Europe, the Middle East, and across the U.S., and was one of the few credentialed reporters to cover the UFC during the pandemic era of sports when the company held MMA events behind-closed-doors in a bubble environment on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. Dawson has been featured on Morning Kombat on Showtime, on BBC and GB News in the UK, and The Sun in Ireland. His work has been cited by CNN, The Telegraph, Forbes, USA Today, IB Times, Boxing Scene, World Boxing News, Sherdog, Bloody Elbow, The Sun, The Mirror, and Metro, as well as national media in Finland, Ukraine, Russia, Indonesia, Singapore, and Vietnam. Follow him on Twitter at @alandawsonsport.