Federer: 'I won Wimbledon, I was No. 1.But my team is still honest with me'
In an interview to Bote, Roger Federer commented on how important off-season training is for him and his team. Federer started 2019 on a high note winning four matches on four played at the Hopman Cup in Perth, defeating much younger players like Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Frances Tiafoe. 'The good thing is that over 20 years I never had a major problem in preparation', said the Basel native. 'If you already have preparation problems, you might hide it for some months. But at a certain stage of the year it will reach you.
I think I can recover very quickly on holidays and once I come back, I am ready. We never made too many mistakes and I was always able to train hard. Obviously, what's important is Melbourne and beyond, but I am very happy. The first springboard you can get in December can give you a momentum over the season. I know when I have to work hard and when I have to relax. This is the secret. We were all together in Dubai, Ivan (Ljubicic; Coach), Seve (Lüthi, coach), Pierre (Paganini, fitness trainer), Dani (Troxler, physiotherapist), and everything went well.'
Trusting your own team is very important: 'Yeah, for sure. Everyone knows what I need. You can also be completely honest with each other. I am also very open to criticism. Only because I was the number one or I won Wimbledon, it does not mean that you cannot tell me the truth. It's also important to say that I am not 21, 27 or 30 years old anymore. I am different now. Every time you have to look again at what you want. I asked Ivan, Seve and Pierre what they think, what I should play and they told me: "Play what you want". It's nice to hear from the team that this is what matters for them.'
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from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2HdmCfv
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