Roger Federer will return to play in the Olympics and is set to partner with Martina Hingis in the mixed doubles tennis event in Rio, Brazil in 2016, the former World No. 1 confirmed in a report on Saturday, Dec. 12.

The Swiss Maestro admitted that he idolised the women’s singles former World No. 1 during the early part of his career and stated that playing in the Olympics is still a priority for him even at this point of his career.

"I looked up to her when I was younger, I thought she was the most unbelievable talent. She's almost my age and she was winning Grand Slams while I was still at the national tennis centre and I couldn't believe how good she was,” Federer said via BBC.com.

"I've always said the Olympics is very important to me. Every Olympic Games has been a super-amazing experience, an eye-opener, a great learning curve for me, seeing other athletes, getting inspired and motivated, carrying the flag is such a proud moment in my career and my life as a person, to have done that twice for Switzerland - in Athens and in Beijing - was incredible," he continued.

While Federer is considered the best player of his generation and among the greatest of all time, the Swiss has been relatively unsuccessful in his Olympic stints. Federer won the gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the doubles event but settled for the silver medal in the 2012 London Olympics. Federer’s first Olympic stint came in Greece in 2004, where he lost in the early stages of the tournament.

Meanwhile, Hingis, who was a former top player in the women’s singles and currently one of the top seeds in the doubles events, played in the Olympics as early as 1996, where she got eliminated in the second round in the women’s singles event and in the quarterfinals of the doubles event.

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