Roger Federer was throwing rackets around as a teenager, says Hizli
In an interview to Sued Kurier, the 41-year-old Alexander Hizli commented on Roger Federer's beginning in tennis. Hizli worked as a coach with Federer's current wife Mirka from 2000 to 2001, and just at the time the Slovakian was starting working with the 20-time Major winner. "The first time I saw him was when I was still playing and he was a young guy with a wild card. If someone had asked me at the time, if he would have been good, I may have said: "I do not know", recalled Hizli.
From then they meet each other on Tour and near Zurich where Federer trains and Hizli coaches some young talented players with his tennis school. They are in a good relationship. "He knows who I am and I once coach his wife Mirka. We do not know each other very well but I like him as a guy."
Was Federer arrogant as a teenager? "I never found him arrogant. But obviously, he changed. Thank to god. When he was 14 years old, you had to run away because he was throwing rackets around."
He also recalled hitting with Martina Hingis at the US Open: "I just wanted to see the big Arthur Ashe Stadium. Martina Hingis had booked the court to play half an hour there and her mother Melanie told me: "Alex, her hitting partner is not there". So I put sunglasses and a hat on the court and I hit balls. I was so nervous."
Hizli finally revealed an interesting thing about his meeting with the former player Anna Kournikova: "I was on the way for a tournament and I had just registrered myself at the airport in Zurich, so Anna crossed my path. We spoke a bit and we took a coffee. A few days after Blick newspaper had posted some photos writing: "Who is the man behind her?"
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2YFdk41
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