Former French Open winner: Roger Federer is a prince who plays tennis
The former world no. 4 and 1976 French Open winner Adriano Panatta praised Roger Federer during an interview for Radio Deejay. Panatta said: 'He is the greatest player of all time, he has an innate class, he manages to deliver the modern tennis perfectly and the "old" one with an unique elegance, he is a prince who plays tennis. From a music point of view he is a mix between the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix and Wagner.'
Commenting on how the game has changed, Panatta added: 'Over the years tennis became a more physical and mental sport but differently than others you have not the coach who gives you suggestions, on the court you are alone with your racket and no one helps you.'
Reflecting on his career, Panatta added: 'I became professional at the age of 17 years and I retired at 33, working for 15 years in tennis. At my time the Australian Open was not a such important event, best players did not come there and over the years I always preferred to travel over European tournaments.'
How would he rank Rafael Nadal on the list of the greatest tennis players of all time? 'At the first place you have Roger Federer because as I said he is the best ever, then Rod Laver who is the only one able to achieve the Calendar Grand Slam twice, while at the third place there is Rafael Nadal who despite he is not one of my favorites tennis-wise, won 11 French Opens and he is a 360-degree athlete,' said Panatta.
He also commented on how a balanced career between private life and tennis can work: 'Having sex with your partner is not bad the night before a match, but if you add to it a night in the disco and you stay awake until 5:00 AM while drinking alcohol, you are stupid and you deserve to lose. Until he was a professional player, Borg did not drink and he followed a strict lifestyle which allowed him to win all what he won, but after his career he enjoyed a little bit more.'
ALSO READ: Rafael Nadal: Worse players than David Ferrer won a Grand Slam title
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2EJXN87
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