How Federer confused his opponents: ‘Everyone thought Roger would always train so loosely’

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Ivan Ljubicic (44) was Roger Federer’s coach for almost seven years. The success story began in 2015 during a joint dinner at the ATP finals in London, where Federer asked the Croat if he would like to coach him. “It came completely out of the blue,” says Ljubicic in the “Tages-Anzeiger”. They worked together until Federer’s career ended in 2022.

Right at the beginning of the collaboration, the maestro warned his new coach: “Sorry, your life will revolve around me now.” The Swiss was right. Even today, Ljubicic is still the “Federer coach” for many.

As Federer’s coach, Ljubicic was impressed by his energy and work ethic. “People talk about his elegance, about his talent. But you can’t achieve all this without working incredibly hard.” Federer never missed an exercise. “We had training sessions that lasted forever. Once we were on the field in Dubai for five or six hours,” recalls Ljubicic.

Ljubicic about Djokovic: “Technically he was average”

It was never heard of in public. The hard work was always done behind closed doors, which confused other players as well. “Then we came to the tournament and played balls for 20 minutes. And everyone thought that’s how Roger trained.”

Much earlier in Ljubicic’s career, he was on the field with Novak Djokovic. Both played as juniors in the same academy and trained together. “Of course you could see that he had talents. He was mobile and very manoeuvrable. But technically he was average,” recalled Ljubicic.

He did not believe that “Djoker” would become the most successful tennis player of all time: “His backhand was good, his forehand was problematic with an extreme grip.” The Serbian’s success is also impressive because of his development.

Federer ahead of Djokovic in GOAT debate

And of course the former coach and player Ljubicic is asked the question of all questions in the tennis world: Who is actually the “GOAT” (German greatest of all time)? Of course he is not completely objective, the 44-year-old admits. “If we talk about the most successful player, it will almost certainly be Novak,” says Ljubicic.

But to him, the most successful and the best are two different things. “For me, the biggest is the one who has had the biggest influence on his sport. For me, that’s Roger in tennis.” (jsl)

Source : Blick