Roger Federer is fitter than ever at the Australian Open. One man in particular is responsible for this: Pierre Paganini, who has been bringing the “Maestro” into shape for years.
Roger Federer doesn’t have to think long about who is responsible for his late, outstanding career successes:”Without him I wouldn’t be here,”says Federer. And by this he means his longest companion, his faithful companion and special expert for the physical condition – Pierre Paganini. But Federer’s sentence also has a background, a double meaning: without Paganini he might not even be there, no longer on the tennis court, no longer in the advanced professional age of 36 years. And he would certainly not be so high up in the hierarchy, despite all his genius, despite his entire Centre Court magic, his power of ideas and improvisation. Unbelievable, but true: On this Sunday, Federer, the age president of the industry, is already in his 30th birthday. Grand Slam final, in Melbourne he fights against the Croatian Marin Cilic for 20th place. Title.
Paganini is the shadow man behind Federer’s marathon mission in world tennis. In the first place, he made sure that in almost two decades in the treadmill of the tour he almost never suffered serious injuries – apart from a rupture of ligaments and a tear in the meniscus, which made a longer break necessary in 2016. Otherwise Federer was not only lucky, as is often claimed, but he had Paganini. And thus an advisor and fit-maker who is also one of the very best in his field.
“I can hardly believe what Roger does over and over again,”says Paganini, the ascetic bald head, a man who never played tennis himself. And who is also rarely part of the local team at Federer’s performances. The former track and field athlete only experienced two very big moments of tennis live, two groundbreaking triumphs in retrospect: In 2009, he saw Federer overcome the trauma of his many years of unsuccessful French Open attempts and secured the Roland Garros title for the first and only time ever. And last summer he was also eye-witnesses and witnesses to Federer’s historic Wimbledon Gala, the successful hunt for the eighth title in the green tennis paradise.
But apart from that, if Federer goes to a tournament, whether it’s a smaller competition or a Masters or a Grand Slam, then Paganini’s work is done. He doesn’t have to present himself in public, he doesn’t have to show himself in the limelight or compete for headlines. Together with the fitness strategist, Federer has also developed the master plan for the last chapters of his unparalleled success story – with the essence that Federer only plays what is physically justifiable and what promises realistic chances of success. In 2017, in the comeback season, Federer and the head Paganini were mercilessly efficient. Federer was as far removed from the other culture of the travelling circus as hardly any other player before, but when he then went to his engagements, he was wide awake, almost always to the point of performance limits. He won Grand Slam titles number 18 and 19, plus five more trophies. Until the final tournament in London, the ATP World Championships, Federer had only lost four matches.
Paganini is considered a master in the discipline of not letting his grinder programs appear as tough as they really are. The 60-year-old varies the exercises artfully, and in all the routine there is never any dangerous, demotivating boredom:”He makes the workouts as pleasant as they can be,”Federer recently told the New York Times,”I do whatever he tells me. I trust him unconditionally,” says Paganini, who says that the program has evolved over the past few years, more than ever before, is tailored to Federer’s age:”It is about addressing the complexity of modern tennis in training. We work intensively on coordination ability, speed, endurance and athletics,”says Paganini,”it is often not about being super-fast, but about making the right movements. We’re not talking about 100-meter runners here.”
Paganini had always predicted a long career for Federer, well into his thirties. Now, at the beginning of the 2018 season, the fitness maker likes to correct himself, he believes that Federer could still be in the lead at the age of 40,”I wouldn’t have any doubts about athletics,”he says,”but it’s the question of what the human being Federer wants. Does he think that’s right and good? He’s the only one who can decide that.”