Roger Federer deserves to play as long as he wants to, says Nastase
Roger Federer has won 20 Grand Slam titles and someone "blames" him, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic for not making the next generation step up on the biggest stage. In an interview to TennisNet, the former world No. 1 Ilie Nastase said: "I do not understand the people who ask Federer to stop while he is still good. Leave him in peace! If he likes playing tennis, even if he is not on the top 10 or 20 rankings, then it's okay and he shows his love for the sport. Why don't you enjoy as long as possible? Being a tennis professional is a privilege that should be enjoyed as most as possible. When I stopped, it was so tough to retire that after my last event I organized my tennis bag and I put it next to my door. Like if I had to fly to the tournament in the following morning."
On men getting more prize money than women in most of the tournaments, Nastase added: "I have a clear opinion: girls are smart, boys are silly. That's forever. If girls are so smart and behave the same way as guys, then it's justified. And I am sure that they would even make more money than men because they act smarter. So men should stop complaining."
On how the sport evolved, Nastase concluded: "Every sport is changing and it's about even more physical strength and less technique and talent. Also, racquets became much more important. With the new technology, today's guys serve stronger than we did back in the day. If we had such racquets 40 years ago, we would have hit at full strength."
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2FbpfLi
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