Grand Slam champion reveals special skill of Roger Federer

11/06/2024 03:00 PM

Roger Federer’s career has been full of outstanding wins, but his legacy has gone far beyond the tennis court. The former world number 1 is the player who has gone beyond tennis, helping to bring this sport into a new dimension and becoming an icon recognizable in every corner of the planet.

There is no doubt that the former Swiss champion was the most beloved tennis player of all time, although his eternal rivals Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have taken almost all records from him in recent years. The Swiss Maestro played his last official match at the Laver Cup two years ago, when he greeted the crowd at the O2 Arena in London receiving a truly heartbreaking tribute from all of his greatest opponents.

Federer has participated in many events with his sponsors and appeared in several tournaments of the professional tour, staying in touch with the sport that made him famous all over the world. The legend from Basel was present at the Laver Cup in Berlin in September and at the Masters 1000 in Shanghai last month, having also organized a small practice session with 4-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz.

Federer, Nadal and Djokovic were protagonists of an almost unrepeatable era of men’s tennis, in which three players monopolized the ATP tour creating a rivalry that has very few equals in the history of modern sport. The era of the Big 3 is now over and new champions aim to become their heirs, though it is indeed a most difficult task.

The players who seem to be better equipped from this point of view are certainly Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, who have won six Grand Slam titles in two and nine Masters 1000. The Italian and Spanish ace will have to maintain this level for at least a decade if they want to be joined by those three legends, but both seem to have the right ‘weapons’ to succeed in this.

In a press conference during the Belgrade ATP 250, 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic talked about the Big 3 and the new young champions: “Novak and Rafa, they are similar mentally. If you are not with them from the first ball of the match, you can immediately go home and say goodbye to everyone.

You have to be mentally ready to play from the first shot because once they get into the rhythm, there is no going back. With Roger, on the other hand, it was very different. He always served fantastically, played offensively, and was able to change the rhythm, the game. If I compare them to the younger ones, Sinner and Alcaraz, it is clear that Jannik and Carlos are not yet at the same level of mental preparation as Novak, Roger and Rafa were.”

Cilic - who has had a lot of physical problems in the last year and is living the final part of his career - faced Federer in two different Grand Slam finals. The Swiss legend defeated him in both the 2017 Wimbledon Championships final and the 2018 Australian Open final, winning an epic five-set battle.

The Croatian ace won his first and only Major title at the 2014 US Open, when he played the best tennis of his career. Cilic played a devastating two-week tennis match in New York, defeating King Roger three sets to zero in the semifinals and knocking out Japanese ace Kei Nishikori in the final. The Croatian never repeated at those levels in the following years, but it still maintained a rather high standard and represented a great threat to the Big 3 especially on fast surfaces.

Marin is happy to have been able to face some of the best athletes ever: “With Roger, Andy, and Rafa, it happened quite suddenly. So you never know, it’s very similar to life. You have to do the best you can. I think it was a bit of a pity to see Roger and Rafa doing well and then being out like that. Same for Andy when he was at the top, then having to go through these hip surgeries. The sport was a little bit cruel to them: how much they gave to the sport, and yet it was gone in a second. I hope I can still be competitive, just to give myself a chance. I would love to play another two or three seasons. I will try to take care of the scheduling by maybe playing fewer tournaments. The motivation is still there.“ Everyone hopes that Cilic will end his career on his terms.