'Roger Federer was the one who was doing it first', says former Top 5

Roger Federer, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo can easily be counted among the greatest athletes of any era. Their incredible deeds gave a new dimension to their respective sectors, not unlike how a genius like Albert Einstein had done with his revolutionary ideas in the field of physics. Speaking on Alistair McCaw's podcast, Ivan Ljubicic illustrated how Federer led tennis into essentially uncharted territory, eclipsing Pete Sampras’s 14 Grand Slam record, a feat that was thought impossible until the turn of this millennium. The 39-year-old from Basel has been absent from the fields for almost a year due to a double operation on his right knee, which will force him to miss the 2021 Australian Open for the first time in the last 23 editions. According to rumors circulating in recent weeks, the former world number 1 could make his return to one of the fast-paced tournaments after the Happy Slam, perhaps in Rotterdam or in his beloved Dubai. King Roger's goal is to show up 100% at Wimbledon and the Tokyo Olympics.

Ljubicic pays tribute to Roger Federer

"You know, I remember going up and looking at Sampras winning his 14th Slam and people thought 'Okay, my God, this nobody will ever, you know, get anywhere near'," Ivan Ljubicic said. "And then you see these guys, especially Roger Federer because he was the one who was doing it first. You know, they go into the territory that nobody has ever been there? You know, and the same thing with Ronaldo and Messi, you know, they're scoring huge amount of goals that have never been done before. So this I admire incredibly these athletes, (they) were able to do something that has never been done before," the Croat added. "This is something, it's like the inventors, you know, like Einstein. How do you think of something that nobody has thought about before?" Ljubicic went on to stress that Federer, Messi and Ronaldo possess an incredible amount of self-belief, which helps them scale new heights consistently. "I mean, what does make them extraordinary?" Ljubicic said. "It has to be the mindset, you know. You have to be really believing that you can do something that has never been done before and you don't make a big fuss about it." Federer underwent surgery on a troublesome knee after the Australian Open last year and announced that he will be out of action for a considerable amount of time for recovery and rehabilitation. Speaking at an awards night in his homeland at the end of last year, the Swiss maestro said he was unsure if he would regain full fitness for the Australian Open. He later withdrew from the Major, and this was the first time in his career that he had done so.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/38U8kfz