Lucas Arnold:Never thought Roger Federer was going to be one of the best in the world

Former ATP Top 100 player Lucas Arnold Ker is a part of tennis trivia history, as he was the player to defeat 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer in his ATP Tour debut at the 1998 Swiss Open in Gstaad. 

Lucas Arnold Ker on beating Roger Federer

Argentina's Arnold Ker, who is now 45 years old and peaked at No. 77 in the world rankings, spoke about his encounter with the Swiss legend, which he won 6-4, 6-4 while Federer was still a teenager, in an interview to the ATP Tour website. 

“I’m often reminded that I beat him... but not many know that it was his first match on the ATP Tour. I never thought or imagined that Federer was going to be one of the best in the world and in history, I really didn’t."

Ker, who got into the tournament as a lucky loser, says, “I had to play a Swiss junior and at the time Switzerland didn’t have much of a [tennis] history. They weren’t very good players. Roger had a good serve, a good forehand... but his backhand was stunted, not good at all. I remember moving him over there all the time and that allowed me to beat him solidly in two sets. It’s incredible that he progressed as a player to be one of the best in history."

Lucas Arnold Ker also won 15 ATP doubles titles in his career and also reached No. 21 in the ATP doubles rankings. He was a semi-finalist at the 1997 French Open Grand Slam doubles event and has played several times for the Argentine Davis Cup team. Roger Federer has won 20 Grand Slam singles titles in his career- more than any other male player in tennis history. Federer has won a record eight Wimbledon men's singles titles, six Australian Open titles, five US Open titles and one French Open title. He held the world No. 1 spot in the ATP rankings for a record total of 310 weeks and was the year-end No. 1 five times and is one of eight men to have achieved a Career Grand Slam. Federer is currently ranked No. 4 in the world and is recovering from a knee injury for which he underwent a surgical procedure. Federer has said that he will not play again in 2020 and will return to the tennis circuit in 2021.

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