Pundit reveals the shocking doubts Roger Federer had after Australian Open
In an interview to Radio Monte Carlo, the former player Claudio Mezzadri commented on the Indian Wells tournament won by Dominic Thiem over Roger Federer on Sunday last week. Mezzadri still sees some positives from the Swiss player's loss. "Thiem is not a Next Gen player anymore as he is 25 years old. A lot of younger players have been coming through lately which is good for tennis. Every time Federer plays, it seems he does it against Next Gen guys because they are much younger than him. But that match showed that he is still there, that he can play at the highest level and compete to win big tournaments. This is what he wants. After the Australian Open he had a lot of doubts about the rest of the season. The day after his loss to Stefanos Tsitsipas, I imagine he was like: Help, oh my God! It may be the end! Then he chose to play in Dubai straight forward, then on clay...", said Mezzadri.
On Rafael Nadal's withdrawal from his semifinal match against Roger Federer and from the Miami Open, Mezzadri added: "He is afraid of hard courts. In the last years he withdrew plenty of times on this surface, he skipped the late part of the season last year and he has been dealing with a chronic knee injury. He will want to win much more on clay. Everyone wants to see a Federer-Nadal clash when they are on the same half. It's the most beautiful rivalry ever, they played great matches and we will see more from them."
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2Ojabyk
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