'Maybe Roger Federer doesn't know what next year brings', says former No. 1

For the second time in his career, Spanish superstar Rafael Nadal won the Laureus World Sports Award for Athlete of the Year. It is the second Laureus honor for Nadal and the first in ten years as he becomes the third player with multiple awards after Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, who are in nine combined. Nadal won the award against Joshua Cheptegei, Armand Duplantis, Lewis Hamilton, LeBron James and Robert Lewandowski, mainly thanks to his 13th Roland Garros crown and 20th Major that put him on a par with Roger Federer for the first time. In an emotional speech with the trophy in his hands, Rafa said that winning the 20th Major title was an incredible moment, especially after fighting Roger for 15 years. Roland Garros was the final Major of last season and Nadal's chance to save 2020 after competing in just a couple of tournaments that year. Despite tough conditions in Paris in October, the Spaniard proved his greatness again, defeating all seven opponents in straight sets to extend his dominance on clay at 34 and enter the record books. Nadal had to fight Jannik Sinner and Diego Schwartzman in the quarterfinals and semi-finals, entering the final with huge momentum and defeating No.1, Novak Djokovic 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 for one of the moments. highlights of his glorious career.

Andy Roddick on Roger Federer

Against that background, Tennis Channel recently invited four-time Major winner Jim Courier and 2003 US Open champion Andy Roddick to discuss Roger Federer's prospects in the clay season. "Roger throughout his career has not played events he's not ready to play," Roddick said. "He's been fine sitting out weeks, months, especially late in his career he's been really pragmatic about what he plays. At this point of his career, what it tells me is he wants to play in front of his home crowd, wants to play Roland Garros," Roddick added. "Maybe he doesn't know what next year brings, for me he's dealing with being fully fit. This says he wants a chance to potentially say goodbye to Roland Garros if next year doesn't happen." Roger Federer recently starred in an advertisement for Switzerland Tourism along with legendary Hollywood star Robert de Niro. The commercial, meant to accelerate tourism growth in Switzerland, has grabbed a fair few eyeballs already. Now, the creative heads behind the film - Andre Hefti and Livio Dainese - have revealed some interesting anecdotes about Roger Federer and Robert de Niro from the shoot.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3tuO8aT