Roger Federer: 'I thought I was never going to become No. 1'
In a recent interview, Roger Federer admitted that the time when he was trying to become the new world No. 1 in tennis was a pretty difficult one. He achieved this historical milestone after winning his second Grand Slam title at the 2004 Australian Open. "It was very hard of course but I was very close and I was very nervous getting there and I realized that I was close and maybe never going to become world number one, so I started to stress out, so for me the time of getting to world number one was quite stressful and when I got to world number one I started to really relax because I felt what I have achieved is almost everything I ever wanted and I had a choice, do I want to stay there or was I just happy to be there once", said the 37-year-old. "And I decided I would like to stay there, I worked extremely hard and try to beat everybody and just have that mental determination and become just a different player. I really enjoyed being at the top and pressure didn't really cause any problems. They made me play better tennis and that's why I am grateful I had this wonderful experience."
Asked how he manages to find a mental balance, Federer replied: "It's actually quite easy. I struggled much more when I was younger, trying to make the breakthrough, trying to prove everybody that I also got talent, I can play but other guys are having success earlier and people started to question me and early on I could not cope with it may be as well as today because today the only success you have had, nobody can take that away so it gives you a sense of security but at the same time you want to achieve more, you need to have that fire burning to really want to achieve big things and that's what I have and that's what I am doing really well still in."
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2YyqR9P
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