Roger Federer: 'People were not predicting I was gonna win 20 Grand Slams'
Roger Federer spoke about how it felt like to have a normal childhood to becoming a very famous and well-recognized tennis player around the world. The Swiss said: "I am happy I played against Rafael Nadal, Pete Sampras and then, of course, Bjorn Borg is the captain of the Team Europe at the Laver Cup. I admired those players so much, I am really humbled to be considered part of the best ever, that some even think I am the best, because I come from a very normal background in Switzerland, went to school, went to kindergarten normally, took my bike, became a ballboy, next thing is I got into the Tour, I was a talented player from my hometown in Basel to becoming a talented Swiss player, to becoming a talented junior player worldwide, to becoming a top 100 player. I was one of the most talented guys around but people were not really predicting that I was gonna win 20 Grand Slams, gonna be world No. 1 for 300 weeks, so for me all this came as a surprise and so for me to be in this level of the best ever, a common conversation, is a great feeling. Also, the respect I have for them and they have for me is what means a lot."
Federer also recalled his 2005 ATP Finals five-set championship clash loss to David Nalbandian in Shanghai: "It was crazy, that match goes back into the epic archives for both of us, and of course I would love to still see them around like Marat Safin, Nalbandian, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt. I miss these guys. I am happy I am still on the Tour, those guys ask me, I do not know how you do it, you are still on Tour, I hope you continue. I hope so too but at one point it will be over and I will be happy retired but I miss these guys because I am nostalgic about this generation of players because I thought we had a very strong generation of players."
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2QGbzhP
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