Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are talents of the century, says Schuttler
In an interview to Tennis.net, the current Angelique Kerber's coach Rainer Schuttler praised Roger Federer, who came back as a world No. 1 this year in February after winning the Australian Open and the Rotterdam Open. "Performances are already shown by numbers. (Andre) Agassi was the number one at the age of 33 years and Roger is three-four years older, it speaks itself. He is a talent of the century just like Rafa Nadal', said Schuttler. 'With his very good serve, he (Federer) gets almost two free points on every serve game, which makes him save many energies. He is a complete player, what fascinates me so much about him is that he plays his tactics against almost all the players, he chooses if he has to play a slice backhand, a kick serve, more first serves, serve and volley or staying back. The way he does tactically is impressive.'
Schuttler himself cannot compare himself to Federer: 'I always played an extremely big amount of tournaments, because I did not play as well as him and so I had to earn points in many tournaments. He instead wins almost all the tournaments.'
Commenting on when Federer may retire from tennis, Schuttler added: 'Roger enjoys himself so much playing tennis, with him everything is possible. As long as he is fit and he knows that he can play at the top, he may not stop so soon. I think it's completely open. Roger and Rafa seek their respective records and I think (Roger) has one, two more records he wants to achieve.'
Schuttler only beat Federer once out of four matches. They often trained together. 'In training I had a lot of success with him. I think he did not take me too seriously (laughter)! Roger was playing a lot of serve and volley while I counted on my biggest strength, the return! In matches he was more serious.'
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from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2GxfcDi
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