Ivan Horsky: Roger Federer Spent Two Weeks At Our Academy in Dubai

Former Slovak tennis player Ivan Horsky, who owns a tennis academy in Dubai now, spoke about Swiss legend Roger Federer training at his academy during the off-season, in an interview to Sport24.sk.

Horsky's academy is called the IQ Tennis Academy and is focused on training young talents while several ATP players also spend time out there to train when they are not playing on the tour.

In the interview, Horsky says, “We have moved much higher than in the past. We have better tennis players under our wings. In addition, we also help prepare stars like Federer, Khachanov, and Tsitsipas. They come here especially during preparation for the next season. Sometimes they go to America, but when they found out that there are great conditions here and it is much closer to Australia, before the first Grand Slam of the season, they come here."

Horsky says Federer spent two weeks at his academy during the recent off-season. “Roger Federer was with us for two weeks. It is great when we can work with such a tennis legend. Even though he came with his family, his wife was not in training with him, but she was doing other activities. In addition to training, he also attended preparatory matches. He may have chosen us because we were able to guarantee maximum comfort in terms of privacy. We also provided hotel security guards to ensure that no one disturbed him."

Horsky, who has been living in Dubai for more than a decade now, admitted that Federer was totally different in person as compared to when he was in public. “I think he's different when he is under the camera lenses than before. I think he likes to talk to everyone willingly. Even after the training, when he was with us and people wanted an autograph, he never said no. It is also possible that he takes it only as a workout and is more relaxed."

The 31 year old Horsky briefly competed on the ITF pro circuit in 2006-07 but did not make much of an impact on the pro tour, and decided to go into coaching.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2QdbzVv