Luthor "Squad Leader": Roger is the world champion who keeps a positive mindset
As one of Federer's closest comrades-in-arms, hear what Federer is like in Captain Luthor's mouth:
The first time I met Roger was at the Swiss Junior Championships, when I was 16 and he was 11. I remember a guy playing a one-handed backhand, and I thought to myself: Why did he play one-handed backhand? He was so small and then very thin.
A few years later, he arrived at the National Tennis Center. I remember a guy laughing all the time in the restaurant, and I don't know why he was laughing. He also had a scar on his face, probably caused by falling off his bike the week before. I thought to myself: Who is this guy?
This man is Roger. I didn't know at the time that he would be such an important part of my life.
Every time I see Roger, he's better than ever, and I'm amazed at that, and my mental thoughts are, "How did this happen so fast?" "Every six months he makes a lot of progress.
In 2005, I became captain of the Davis Cup. Within a few years of that, I started racing with him on a round-the-world tour. I learned quickly that he could do everything on the pitch. For me, he's really playing tennis, not just tennis. Even though there are countless efforts behind this, when he comes out, it always seems easy.
Sometimes it's hard for people to understand how much he's giving behind his back, and everyone just knows it's fun to watch him play.
We always train with some young players. These guys are obviously a little nervous, maybe very nervous, because they always want to behave better. I often think that this face looks a little incredible, Roger looks like he is 15 years old, and training opponents look like he is 30 years old. He was always able to find a way to enjoy himself.
You can have Roger do the most ordinary, boring training, but he'll always find a way to enjoy it all. Sometimes it's imitating other players, sometimes it's about making a different sound with each shot. Roger just has a lot of fun, which has always impressed me and let me know how much he loves playing and how much he loves the sport.
Roger always wanted to learn something new, and even though he had accomplished so much, he knew it was important to be down-to-earth. He was always happy to listen to the voices of the outside world. Many people will ask me: How would you describe Federer as a person? What I can tell you is that he is the kind of person who wants to learn new things and get fresh nutrients every day. They always want to keep improving.
For me, tennis has also become more interesting because of Roger. If he himself just repeated the same thing, he would get tired of it all. It's the same for our coaches, we always want to be able to apply something new, you just want to be different every day, otherwise every day is just repeated.
People may not know that Roger is a very caring person. In 2009, he was reversed and lost the game when he led Tsonga 5-1 in the third set in Montreal. I was a little lost after the race, and when we were sitting in the car he asked me, "Are you okay?" I replied, "It's okay." I'm just very lost. I always ask myself what else I can do better, or different. Although I know 98% is up to you. ”
Roger said to me, "I think sometimes when I lose the game, you lose more than I do. "That's probably true!
Until Roger decided to retire, we felt hopeful and always kept a positive mindset. He's better at that than anyone else and I think he's a world champion with a positive mindset.
In 2016, when he knew he was going to have surgery, he was very positive from the moment he made his decision. Roger told us that when he returns, he will be in better shape than ever. Now there is still some time to spend with the family. I was like, "Okay. But you're going to have surgery! "Of course he knows what's going to happen next, but he's in a really good mindset.
There were times last year when he was in good shape and was able to play again, but it all got more difficult because you had to be careful all the time, you had to know how much you could only practice, sometimes you often overdo it, and then you had to slow down.
I think the biggest difference between Roger and a lot of players is that he has his own life off the field. There is always a little bit of a loss when things don't go well, but once he leaves tennis or is with his family, he has another life. That's a great point, because he never feels like he's losing anything.
It was a torment, but I think Roger handled it well, just like he has always done. #Federer officially retires # #谢谢你费德勒 #
