'When I started to coach Roger Federer six years ago...', says top coach

Even without playing, Roger Federer continues to set record after record. The Swiss tennis player 'in this case' took advantage of the frozen ranking and remained in the Top 5 for the whole of 2020. In addition, thanks to this possibility, Roger Federer became the first tennis player in history to start the season in the 19 consecutive season. Top Ten. So overtaken André Agassi who had instead remained at 18 and who had held this particular record for some time. The American tennis player started this record in 1988 by entering the Top Ten and only came out of the Top Ten in 2006 shortly before his 36th birthday and almost 18 years after entering it for the first time. Roger Federer, on the other hand, found himself in the top 15 for the first time after the quarter-finals of Roland Garros 2001 and even waiting another year to enter the Top Ten thanks to the victory of the Masters 1000 in Hamburg, beating Marat Safin in the final. The young Swiss then came out of the Top ten but returned in October and thus remained in the Top Ten. Roger Federer's numbers are immense and the Swiss tennis player, together with Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, is considered among the best tennis players in history. Together with the Spaniard Nadal he is the tennis player with the most Grand Slams in history (20) and leads the ranking ahead of Novak Djokovic, currently stopped at 17. On a recent podcast, Ivan Ljubicic spoke at length about Roger Federer's tactical and interpersonal intelligence. According to the Croat, Federer has used his 'genius' brain to build an infallible legacy that will stand the test of time - irrespective of what the record books might indicate.

Ljubicic reflects on Roger Federer's legacy

“On the court, Roger Federer's intelligent, and off the court, he is intelligent,” Ivan Ljubicic said. “I think his brain is great, it's just underrated. I mean, he is a genius on the court and off the court, that's what makes him the greatest, in my opinion. You know, we don't know how many Slams or weeks at number one are these that I mean how you know how these careers gonna look like at the end of his career, but you know, his legacy goes way beyond.” According to the 41-year-old, that has proved to be beneficial while coaching the 20-time Grand Slam champion. "I played against Roger 16 times so I think yeah, I think definitely he the player I played the most against," Ljubicic said. "This is the best way to understand about the player you know. Watching from the side it gives you the least amount of information and watching from behind the court gives you a lot. Watching from within court, inside court gives you even more so, but playing against the player it gives you the most. When I started to coach Roger six years ago, on tour, there were a lot of players I mean majority of the players that were still the ones that I played against," he added. "So that also helped me you know, in the coaching that you know that I know how these guys are on the court."

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/39JazkZ