'If you observe Roger Federer, he's always ready to wait', says top footballer

After he announced his intention to stay out of the tour for six months in 2016, hardly anyone would have guessed that Roger Federer would win three more Grand Slams in the next two years. The success at the Australian Open 2017 will be remembered as one of the most exciting exploits of the Swiss's career, certainly the most unexpected. Also favored by the speed of the Melbourne Park courts and a polished physique, the former World number 1 played a tournament on the verge of perfection embellished with three victories in the fifth set. The final against eternal rival Rafael Nadal sealed one of the most spectacular majors of the last 20 years, with the Rod Laver Arena packed in every order of places for an event to be delivered directly to posterity. Toni Kroos, Real Madrid midfielder and Germany star, recalled that historic triumph on the German podcast 'Einfach mal Luppen'.

Kroos on Roger Federer

"Roger Federer won the Slam in January when he was coming back from injury and I was so excited because everyone had written him off at the age of 37. It was emotional for me because I would like to think there was a friendship. I also enjoy playing tennis, I like the aesthetics. I am far from a big follower, but I know a little bit" - Toni Kroos said.  The German Sniper then finally revealed how he had to move earth and sky to meet Roger Federer for the first time in 2015, some time after his wedding. "Anyway, I met Roger Federer in 2015 at Wimbledon that was after our wedding, it is in my wedding time I will never forget. I was travelling London without children for 2-3 days to London and I promise Jessi (Kroos' wife) we will go shopping a little bit then, London that was definitely the plan. Now we arrived and of course I knew there were no tickets or anything," Kroos said. "Well in any case we arrive, and I had a friend who had played professionally, and they had organized tickets for us, so I drove from the airport to the tennis facility and watched Roger on the center court. If you observe Roger, he's always ready to wait, he's pretty cool," Kroos added. "He comes across as someone who is super easy to talk to and joyful. Afterwards, I got to know he is a Basel fan, and he was a very, very big football fan and very interested. He was really very nice and very personable, since then we have met three of four times in Madrid, last of it being in London," Kroos said.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2EwLP3r