Guest on Retour Gagnant, a Eurosport show, Ivan Ljubicic spoke about his collaboration with Roger Federer, which was not easy: six years, from 2016 until the end of the Basel player’s career.
The Croatian obviously returned to the legendary final of the 2017 Australian Open and the victory against Rafael Nadal in five sets. But there, nothing new. Tennis and Federer fans remember it. “This match against Nadal, I am proud and happy, because he was down 3-1 in the 5th set. To come back and win was very special for me. It was the most emotional moment as a coach, but almost also as a player for Roger.
But it is the anecdotes, outside the tennis courts, which are more interesting and which allow us to understand a little better why Roger Federer had such a career. “The details, the excellence on all the things he did. Preparing for interviews, his warm-ups, dinners… all the things he did, he did them with great diligence. Often I found myself not knowing what to say because he was perfect.”
Ivan Ljubicic also insisted on the darker periods of Roger Federer’s career: the injuries and physical problems which began to weigh on him in 2016. “We also had difficult moments on a mental level. Everyone thinks everything is easy for Roger, but we had some complicated times.”
The collaboration between the two men ended with the retirement of the Swiss in 2022.
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