Fitness coach Pierre Paganini is regarded as the man who made Roger Federer’s long career possible. After Federer’s knee injury last year, even Paganini didn’t know where the road would lead.
Only a few days ago, Stan Wawrinka, who was injured in the knee, raved about him again:”Without Pierre,”Wawrinka said,”I would have ended my career.” Wawrinka’s words were lost in the general hustle and bustle of coach Magnus Norman’s separation, but in the scene it’s clear: Pierre Paganini is the tour’s most sought-after fitness coach.
The Swiss national has been working alongside Roger Federer since 2000, and he is also largely responsible for his dream comeback. Paganini often stays in the background, only two times he was there live when the Maestro won a major tournament in Paris 2009 – and this year in Wimbledon “He had a fantastic year. This is not normally possible,”he recently said in a conversation with the New York Times.
Paganini remembers the first steps on the way to his comeback:”Rog worked with a physiotherapist for two weeks until we started the fitness training. At the beginning, for example, he was supposed to jog five metres and then go backwards,”explained the 60-year-old:”It was as if he had to learn to walk again,” even the experienced coach had doubts:”You can be the most positive person on earth. But there are still moments when you ask yourself,”Will he really be able to play tennis at the highest level again?”
And Paganini explained the complexity of tennis:”You must be strong, coordinated and have stamina. In addition, you have to do exercises” You should never forget that you have to do these things on the tennis court,”so you have to make a connection between speed and the way you use it on the court” Important:”In nine out of ten cases the speed is in the first three steps, and then you play the ball”.
The speed in tennis has to be assessed differently from that of a 100-meter runner. Coordinating reaction time and speed is the decisive factor, not just being fast. It’s about moving properly. Rog, like others before him, has proven that it is possible to do so even after 30. With him, we often forget the discipline he has upset for many, many years. His whole life and philosophy revolves around tennis.”
How long can Federer keep going? According to Paganini, Federer may have the biological age of 36, but from an athletic point of view he is younger. Only Federer himself knows when it is time to stop – unless an injury takes the decision.
Federer himself trusts Paganini blindly, by the way. Thanks to him, fitness tests are unnecessary.”I work with Pierre. He knows and sees whether I move well or not, whether I am slow or fast. He’s a big part of this success.”