Federer was born in Binningen, near Basel, to Swiss national Robert Federer and South Africa-born Lynette Durand. He grew up in suburban Münchenstein, near Basel and close to the French and German borders. Federer speaks Swiss German with his family. He also speaks German, French and English fluently, and conducts press conferences in all three. He was raised Catholic and met Pope Benedict XVI while playing the 2006 Internazionali BNL d’Italia tournament in Rome. In addition to tennis, he also