BRATISLAVA – Elegant. Gentleman. Virtuoso. The man who raised tennis to an art and won the hearts of fans all over the world with his inimitable strokes, but above all with his exemplary behavior on and off the court.
In short, Roger Federer.
When the name of the Swiss maestro is mentioned, perhaps every white sports enthusiast will think of a graceful and technically perfectly refined game expression on the court and especially an unusually polite and friendly nature, which is one of the main reasons why this living legend belongs to the most respected tennis players, but also athletes of all time.
He was, is and forever will be at least as important a person for tennis as Pelé for football, Michael Jordan for basketball or Wayne Gretzky for hockey.
Despite Roger’s extraordinary personality and the cult of the perfect icon without scandals and fads, he was accompanied by an immense temperament in his youth, and it was no great science to make him cry, or even destroy him – he, like most of us, was not immune to the power of his own inner demons.
True, young “Fedex” was never a fool. However, he focused his anger primarily on himself, not on the world around him. He sulked, cursed at idiots, shed a sea of tears, swung his racket and thundered all the time, even when he played the winning ball and got a fifty, but was not identified with the batting execution.
He stepped onto the court as if he didn’t care at all
As a perfectionist, he could not be satisfied with a simple gray average, he wanted much more. He received immense talent from the judges, he knew his possibilities very well and already in his teenage years he was flying in the clouds and dreaming of perfection. But she didn’t and didn’t come…
“I’ll never forget the day I trained with Roger Federer for the first time. He was one of the biggest promises of Swiss tennis and it was more than obvious that he had immense talent. But he was really very lazy.
When you’re young and training with a Tour veteran, you’re usually nervous and stressed because you want to be noticed. Roger stepped onto the court as if he didn’t care at all. I say to myself: ‘Wow…’. I have to admit that I was very surprised by his attitude,” the former star Swiss tennis player and Olympic champion from Barcelona 1992 Marc Rosset was heard in the latest edition of the Tennis Podcast.
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Source: SITA/AP/Kin Cheung
Who could have predicted that between Lake Geneva and Lake Constance, in the land of skiers, Emmental, watches, banks and the iconic purple cow, one of the best, if not the best, tennis player in history would grow up?
Twenty straight Grand Slam trophies, 310 weeks at the world number one position, 103 tournament titles, Olympic gold and a whole host of other awards…
Above all, an exceptional personality and a perfect example for the next generation of athletes and in general for every person breathing on this planet.
The career of the long-time ruler of tennis and the holder of dozens of records ended in September of last year, when he played his last doubles match at the London Laver Cup. Probably the most watched doubles match in history. How else – alongside his old rival and friend Rafael Nadal.
- Author: © List/Patrik Seman
- Source: Sports shoes
