'Roger Federer can be frustrating for his opponents', says top footballer

Virgil Van Dijk, very close to winning the Ballon d'Or last year, has just won the Premier League title with his Liverpool. As reported by Daily Express, the Dutch defender believes that it is possible to make a parallel between him and Roger Federer, capable of dominating the circuit for almost two decades while maintaining an elegant and relaxed style. The Swiss phenomenon underwent two right knee surgeries in a month, a decision that will force him to the pits until the start of next season. The 20-time Grand Slam champion, after seeing his great 2020 goals, that is Wimbledon and the US Open, disappeared, he opted to take all the time he needed in 2016. The hope of the former World number 1 is to return to 100% of the form to assault the last gems of an unrepeatable career. In addition to his successes, Roger has also been an example of longevity for many athletes from other sports. The 38-year-old from Basel still does not seem ready to hang his racquet on the nail, although many insiders have expressed some perplexity about his real chances of returning to the competitive 40-year threshold. Federer will conclude 2020 by having played only the Australian Open, where he reached the semifinal losing in three sets from Novak Djokovic.

Van Dijk on Roger Federer

"I have naturally always been a bit laid-back, the way I look and the way my presence is. I think a good example (of the same) is if you watch Roger Federer playing tennis," Virgil Van Dijk said. "It looks like he's not even putting in any work and it can frustrate opponents as well thinking they're trying as hard as they can and you're putting on the slippers for example," Van Dijk added. The Swiss Maestro has been voted by his peers to receive the tour Sportsmanship Award a record thirteen times and voted by tennis fans to receive the ATP Fans' Favorite award for seventeen consecutive years. Federer has been named the Swiss Sports Personality of the Year a record seven times. He has been named the ATP Player of the Year and ITF World Champion five times, and he has won the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award a record five times, including four consecutive awards from 2005 to 2008. He is also the only individual to have won the BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year award four times. Federer helped to lead a revival in tennis known by many as the Golden Age. This led to increased interest in the sport, which in turn led to higher revenues for many venues across tennis. During this period rising revenues led to exploding prize money; when Federer first won the Australian Open in 2004 he earned $985,000, compared to when he won in 2018 and the prize had increased to AUD 4 million.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/31GNDQX