Roger Federer is number one in the world again at the age of 36 – 14 years after climbing the tennis throne for the first time. For Rainer Schüttler, there is no end in sight: The Australian Open finalist, who also played on tour until the age of 36, talked to Omnisport about what makes FedEx so unique, what fascinates him so much about his game – and why he was able to beat him often in training earlier.
By 2012, the 42-year-old Schüttler, meanwhile 42 years old, played on the tour and won four individual titles. In 2003, he lost the final down under against Andre Agassi, and a year later, he finished fifth, his best position in the world ranking.
Federer, on the other hand, is number one again despite his advanced age:”You can already see the performance in the numbers,” explains Schüttler in an interview with Omnisport:”Agassi was number one at 33 and Roger is just three years older, which speaks for itself:” Federer is just as talented as Rafa[Nadal] is.
The Swiss benefit from several factors that allowed him to determine the world class until old age:”Due to his extremely good serve, he gets almost two free points in every service game. It saves a lot of energy.”
In addition, Federer could perfectly adapt to his opponents:”He is a complete player. What fascinates me so much about him is that he plays tactically against almost every player differently. He chooses whether he plays a deep slice, with more spin, more kick serve, more first serves, whether he plays serve and volley or stays behind. I think it’s impressive how he does it tactically.”
He himself couldn’t compare his game with Federer at the age of 36:”I have always played an extremely large number of tournaments because I didn’t play so successfully as he did. I had to collect my points at many tournaments. That’s why Federer plays fewer matches, can plan his season better and take breaks:” That’s what he does very cleverly.
That’s why there is no end in sight for the career of the 20-time Grand Slam winner:”Roger enjoys playing tennis so much. With him, anything is possible. As long as he feels fit and knows:’ I can still play upstairs’, he may not stop that fast. I think it’s completely open.”
The elegance of Federer’s play betrays the fact that he worked extremely hard. Roger and Rafa will certainly want to break some records:”Roger and Rafa think in other spheres. Every record counts for them. I believe that[Federer] has yet another one or two records in his head that no one has ever achieved and that he still wants to achieve.”
Schüttler himself played Federer four times in his career, one time he was able to beat the Maestro. I always played very successfully in training,”recalled Schüttler laughing,” I don’t think he took me so seriously.”Federer often played serve and volley in training -” and my return was my strength.”In the matches on the tour, he then went a little more seriously to the point”.