Roger Federer in tears thanks his regretted Australian coach, Peter Carter

Roger Federer: 99 titles and count

"The saddest part of life is wasted talent," says Robert De Niro, driving the bus driver Lorenzo Anello A tale of the Bronx– his teenage son, Calogero (Lillo Brancato). At least in the film, Brancato takes these words into account.

A tale of the Bronx This is one of my favorite movies, so much so that I chose De Niro's message as my eldest quote for my high school yearbook. I could not help but notice when Roger Federer was referring to "a spoiled talent" in an interview with CNN Sport's Christina Macfarlane, about Peter Carter, former Grand Slam coach, twenty times longer.

"I hope he'll be proud," says Federer in tears about Carter. "I guess he did not want me to be a wasted talent."

Former inspiring coach Roger Federer died in a car accident during his honeymoon in 2002.

Nearly two decades later, Federer is still moved when he talks about Peter Carter.

Our exclusive interview: https://t.co/AJM6UXgt6H pic.twitter.com/g9aiylaKy8

– CNN Sport (@cnnsport) January 7, 2019

Carter was at the center of this interview, filmed as the 37-year-old prepares for the Australian Open next week. This is not the first time Federer has discovered his Soul Down Under: see his foggy champion speech at the 2006 Australian Open and his speech as vice president in Melbourne, alongside Rafael Nadal, three years later. But it was clearly something more personal. "Emotional" is a commonplace term in sports journalism, but Federer called the interview just on Twitter.

The conversation begins with the introduction of Federer to Carter at the Swiss tennis club in Basel. From there, the boy and the man formed a partnership, along with another Adelaide player, Darren Cahill, and a young Lleyton Hewitt. Both teams will be successful at the highest level of the sport.

"If I can say thanks for my technique today," says Federer, "it's up to Peter."

But Carter will never attend the majority of his student's huge professional achievements. In 2002, a year before Federer won his first title at Wimbledon, Carter died as a result of a car accident in South Africa while he was on honeymoon.

Nineteen Grand Slam trophies later, Federer has established himself as one of the greatest athletes of all time. He had help along the way, from Peter Lundgren to Tony Roche (another Australian), from Paul Annacone to Stefan Edberg. But Carter's early work with Federer, who once did not take the sport with the seriousness he has today, may have been the most important influence he has received.

"I guess it has awoken me a bit when he pbaded away," says Federer, "and I really started to train hard."

Two-time defending champion of the Australian Open, Federer is not the favorite to win the win in Melbourne, according to the Parisian houses and the man himself. This is Novak Djokovic, world No. 1, winner of the last two Grand Slam tournaments and himself six times champion of the Australian Open.

Open from Australia ????

6/5 – Djokovic
4/1 – Federer
6/1 – Nadal
8/1 – Zverev
18/1 – Kyrgios
22/1 – Cilic
25/1 – Murray

Latest odds: https://t.co/dJfu4CUSWt #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/4nGLGoaHEp

– bwin (@bwin) January 7, 2019

Federer will be the third seeded and top seeded Djokovic at Australia Open. Federer won the Hopman Cup for Switzerland, alongside Belinda Bencic, to prepare for the first major of the season. Djokovic won two three-set matches in Doha before losing to eventual champion Roberto Bautista Agut in the quarter-finals.

"No doubt, Novak is the favorite," said Federer at the Perth Hopman Cup, adding that there were a handful of players vying for the title. "I'm part of this group."

And despite Djokovic's defeat at Doha, Federer noted that the Serb had had a second part of the season "super, super strong" and that he should remain confident in Melbourne.

"With his clbad, once he's resuming his pace, he's hard to beat," said Federer, who knows the talent when he sees it.

Additional reports by Kamakshi Tandon

ATP / WTA Sydney (1/5 to 1/12)

• Stefanos Tsitsipas, Frances Tiafoe, Simona Halep and Sloane Stephens lead Sydney International. Watch live coverage on Tennis Channel Plus.

WTA Hobart (1/5 to 1/11)

• Watch Hobart International's action with Caroline Garcia, Belinda Bencic and Maria Sakkari.

ATP Auckland (1/6 to 1/11)

• Watch John Isner, Fabio Fognini and Denis Shapovalov live on Tennis Channel PLUS from Monday, January 7 at 6:00 pm ET.

FAST 4 – Sydney (1/7)

• The best of the game compete in the always entertaining Fast4 format, with appearances by Nick Kyrgios, Grigor Dimitrov and Milos Raonic. Live coverage begins Monday, January 7 at 3:30 pm ET.

World Tennis Challenge – Adelaide (1/7 to 1/9)

• Watch live from Adelaide Borna Coric, Cco Vandeweghe, Alexander Zverev and Victoria Azarenka starting Monday, January 7 at 3:00 am Eastern Time.

AO qualifying rounds (1/8 to 1/11)

• The Australian Open officially starts with a qualifying action. Tennis Channel PLUS dropped live action! The coverage starts on Tuesday, January 8 at 6:00 pm ET.