Tennis: Family man Roger Federer says he refuses to go to bed without his wife

Roger Federer and his wife Mirka attend the Louis Vuitton show as part of Paris Fashion Week 2017. Photo / Getty Images

Roger Federer has revealed that he refuses to sleep in a bed without his wife of almost a decade by his side.

The Swiss-born tennis ace, 37, who is widely considered the greatest male player of all time, admitted that his wife, children and friends come first, despite his passion for the sport, the Daily Mail reported.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, Federer explained that his wife, who he married in 2009, and their two sets of twins, who are home-schooled, travel everywhere with him when he is on tour.

Federer is widely considered the greatest male player of all time. Photo / AP

Speaking about life with Mirka, 40, a Slovak-born former tennis player, twin girls Myla Rose and Charlene Riva, 9, and twin boys Lenny and Leo, 4, he admitted that he has had to change "a ton" of nappies between matches.

"I refuse to leave the bed with my wife. We always wanted to have kids, but my dream was to be with [her] and not in another bedroom on another floor," he said.

"I'd rather sleep with kids screaming than away from my wife," he added.

Federer tours with his wife and children, along with their nanny and teacher, but plans to enroll them in mainstream schools in Switzerland when he retires.

But the tennis ace refused to reveal whether he had any plans to hang up his racket any time soon, admitting that all he cared about were his "wife, children and friends", and if he won more tournaments "fantastic', if not 'it's all good".

Currently ranked world No 3 in men's singles tennis by the Association of Tennis Professionals, he has won 20 Grand Slam singles titles—the most in history for a male player.

And despite tantrums in his earlier career, he is now famous for his personable caring manner.

Federer with then-girlfriend, Mirka Vavrinec, after winning the 2003 Wimbledon championship. Photo / Getty Images

Speaking about Serena Williams' on-court outburst during the September Open Final- a move which resulted in her having a game docked as a penalty after she called the umpire a "thief and liar", he admitted to thinking she "should have walked away".

But Federer defended Serena for wearing a catsuit that was later banned, before referring to French player Alize Cornet who was told off for readjusting her T-shirt, describing himself as "all for women".

The interview comes shortly after Federer and Serena Williams committed to play the Hopman Cup mixed teams event in late December.

Frances Tiafoe will be Williams' partner for the United States, while Belinda Bencic will again represent Switzerland with Federer to defend the title they won in January over Kerber and Zverev in the final.

Williams and Federer are scheduled to play mixed doubles against each other when the US meets Switzerland on the January 1, 2019.