Severin Luthi: Roger Federer Still Tries to Progress in His Game
Severin Luthi, the captain of the Swiss Davis Cup team since 2005 and the coach of Roger Federer says the Swiss maestro still has room for improvement even at the age of 38.
In an interview to Le Monde, Luthi says, "If we see Rafa [Nadal] , he plays differently from a few years ago. Maybe there are things he does not do as well, but there are others he does better. Roger also is still trying to progress. It's in phases. Sometimes there are periods when the forehand works less well, so you have to rework this shot. Sometimes it's the reverse: when he came back after his knee surgery, his backhand was super good, especially in return. A few years ago, we did not think he could progress so much."
Luthi says it is a challenge to be the coach of someone of the calibre of Federer but the Swiss star is always open to feedback which makes his job much more easier. "I think that quality, to accept to hear things, most major players have it. I also saw it with Stan [Wawrinka] . While there are players, when they reach a certain level, they say to themselves, "Well, now I know how to do it" and no longer accept criticism. Especially in tennis, it's the player who pays the coach."
Luthi also says that Federer continues to train and work hard as well as enjoy his tennis practice which is incredible given his accomplishments. "Nobody can be 200% every day, not even him. But he is almost always in a good mood and full of energy. The degree of passion he has is incredible. I meet a lot of players, and many young people when I go to the National Training Center: I sometimes feel that they are the old and Roger the teenager. We always say that he is down to earth, he knows that it's not easy to play so well for years. Some players are having a good season and they are racing. Rodge, he is grateful for all that, he kept his child's eyes. After Wimbledon [defeat in 5 sets against Djokovic after having two match points] , when we resumed training he was good. Maybe this defeat was still present in his head but in any case from the outside it was not visible.
On the future of tennis when Federer and Nadal have retired, Luthi says, "I do not know ... When Sampras and Agassi were at the end of their career, I told myself that we would never see that again, I was wondering: are we going to watch who? And then there was this generation. Today, I myself have a little fear and I can not say that it is not justified, but history shows that there are constantly new faces."
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2rCu4cJ
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