Roger Federer was shocked when he left his home as a kid, says journalist
Journalist Thomas Sotto commented on his book "A journey called Federer", reliving the Swiss player's career through anecdotes and exclusive interviews with former players and close people. Sotto didn't expect the book to turn so popular: "Initially it seemed like I had a ball in my stomach (laughter). Because I felt I should have not started writing about it. I was afraid to disappoint. And then I got involved in the game: to use a metaphore of tennis, it was difficult to head into the match, the first set was complicated. But once I got into it, I managed to play", said Sotto in an interview to 24Heures.
Sotto said Federer has no double personality: "I asked myself: 'Is this guy clean or not? Are there something we should say? Since I did not want to do a classic biography, as there are already many, I thought of building the Federer puzzle meeting who loves him and knows him. I looked for "Federology" of Mansour Barami, Arnaud Boetsch, Fabrice Santoro, Bernard Arnault, Sarah Pitkowski and many others. And I did not get disappointed. This man is not a machine at all. He is a kid who was a crazy fan, with a very clear goal since the beginning: to be the best player in the world. A guy shocked by his emotions when he had to go away from his parents to go to the Swiss Tennis (centre) in Ecublens, he was angry but not as John McEnroe should be. He is funny, with his character and unique personality."
On the rivalry between Federer and Nadal, Sotto concluded: "They are amazing tennis players and fans split in two fields, pro Nadal and pro Federer. If Nadal were not there, someone else would have been. But I think they really grew up each other."
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2Du3eWi
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