And after receiving the top gong the tennis star revealed his own kids had trolled him about being behind Rafael Nadal in the world rankings.
Federer went up against gymnast Pablo Bragger, downhill skier Beat Feuz, ice hockey player Roman Josi and handball ace Andy Schmid for the accolade.
And he saw a year in which he won his 18th and 19th Grand Slam titles respectively rewarded with 37 per cent of the vote.
Federer’s victory is the sixth of his career and it will have done no harm to his confidence.