Roger Federer speaks about the criticism he received in 2013
Roger Federer's career was considered done and dusted in 2013 when he ended the year as the world no. 6 after dealing with a back injury. The Swiss player suffered some tough losses that year: against Rafael Nadal in Indian Wells, Federico Delbonis in Hamburg and Daniel Brands in Gstaad, to mention some of them.
In a chat with Tennis Channel, Federer recalled that difficult time of his career: "Everyone who has had back pain in the past knows that sometimes is bad, sometimes it's a bit better, then it goes really bad again," the 37-year-old admitted. "It feels like you have fog in your head, and then you eventually just get tired of it because going through life was back pain is just not fun and often I did not talk about it either so people did not know I had a bad back, and then you think that 'He is not moving that well or he has now lost again in the quarters, in the semis, he looks older,' and I probably looked older because I am not as happy maybe around because I am not worried thinking all the time about how is my back going to get better and that's why playing too long hurt or injured is not good, it's not good for anybody because in the end, people judge you the wrong way, the lesson I learned is I brought a step away and then come back the right way and then you can really be judged again. My back is not good and I am really not feeling well, then some people might see it as, 'Oh, he has another excuse,' or 'I don't believe what he is saying' or 'Poor guy' and then people start feeling sorry and honestly I don't need people to feel sorry for me, my career has been too good and that's where it was good for me to sometimes step away from it."
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2ugcKbc
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