ATP: Too much respect from Roger Federer for Patrick Rafter

Once again, Roger Federer is praised by a former competitor and an ex-coach.

You should be Patrick Rafter. Well, there were those Wimbledon finals that the charismatic Australian lost after a great battle. Against Pete Sampras, for example, but especially in the legendary Monday final against Goran Ivanisevic. At the US Open, on the other hand, the meanwhile 45-year-old won two titles, so he has been allowed to operate as multiple Grand Slam Champion since 1999. And as one of the few men in men’s tennis to have a white vest against Roger Federer.

Three times Rafter and Federer faced each other on a professional level – the Australian won all three matches. The last of these was on the lawn in Halle/Westphalia, where Rafter had prevailed in a tie-break thriller in 2001.

Federer will be competing in Rotterdam next Monday to try to become the oldest player in tennis history at the ATP World Tour 500 tournament. To do so, the 20-time major winner would have to reach the final round. The self-confidence with which Federer had performed until the Australian Open finals, however, was sometimes lacking at the beginning of his career. Especially in matches against Rafter.

“I think there were times when Roger had too much respect for me,”Rafter told the Australian newspaper Herald Sun,”He was always in the matches and lost the match because he was too respectful. He was almost a bit soft. But you could already have guessed the changes when Roger started to believe in himself:” Especially with the match in Halle mentioned above, it would have been possible to see how things would change for the better for Federer.

It is also astonishing, however, that there is only one Roger Federer at the 36 year old bidder in Basel, both in private and in public “What you can see is exactly what Roger is like. He’s a great guy.”

He has a lot to give, as former coach Federers, Tony Roche, believes,”Well, Roger wasn’t just lucky. But the fact that he has survived such a long career without major injuries testifies to how he plays. It’s a bit like Ken Rosewall played:” And he fought for titles up to the almost biblical age of 42.