'No one thought Roger Federer would have so much success' - Former player
In an interview to Il Tirreno, the 46-year-old Daniele Balducci, a former top 200 player, recalled his win over the then 16-year-old Roger Federer. 'It was 1997. I remember that the night before the match I phoned my girlfriend, now my wife, and I told her: "If I lose, I think I will take into consideration my retirement". We were in Sierre, near Crans Montana. I was dealing with physical issues and I had dropped on the rankings. It was a semifinal, which shows how Federer was a good prospect, but I won easily, 6-2 6-3, even if in the final I would eventually lose to Severin Luthi. The gamestyle was the same as now, with some differences considering the age. You could see his qualities, but no one thought that he would become the champion he became', said Balducci.
Davide Bramanti's success over Federer is dated back to 1997 as well. Bramanti said: 'I have that match in my mind. Federer was already observed by people. Giacomo Palumbo, who was helping me and other young guys for the Italian Federation, told me: "The draw was not good for you, a very strong Swiss was drawn on your side". I replied: "Okay, tomorrow we play and let's see how it goes". It went well. I won in the third set tie-break in front of many people. Roger was still not a champion in terms of character, and he hit seven unforced errors on seven points in the decisive tie-break.'
The former world No. 42 Davide Sanguinetti defeated Federer in the 2001 Milan final on an indoor hard-court. 'I was going through a magical moment', Sanguinetti said. 'My first title won at 29 years of age. An amazing thing. An enormous joy. I was kissing everyone, it felt like I was flying. On that day he made a lot of mistakes, but I played amazing tennis.'
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from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2IrEIcj
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