There are many lifelong rivals in professional tennis, but there are very few like Federer and his current coach, Lyubic, who have gone from former competitors to mentor-apprentice relationships today.
Federer was born in 1981, a Swissman, and everyone must know it perfectly. Federer's active coach seems to be much bigger than the Swiss in appearance, but in fact he was born in 1979, a Croatian, and is actually only 2 years older than Federer.
Judging from the age and time of entering the professional tennis world, in fact, the two are no different. And indeed, Lyubic and Federer have met 16 times in their careers, with the Swiss leading with 13 wins and 3 losses.
In addition, from the perspective of career achievements, Lyubishic is far from Federer. The right-handed Ljubic won his first singles title in Lyon in 2001, and the Grand Slam scene was even more fruitless.
According to the data, the highlight of Lyubicic's career at the Grand Slam was the French Open Final Four in 2006.
In addition, Lyubic is more of a one-round tour and a second-round tour at the Grand Slam.
It was such an ordinary ordinary player who joined Federer's team after retiring and became the head coach.
Speaking of the two men's previous record of fighting, the 2006 Miami final can be said to be a very fierce match.
In early 2005, Ljubic's world singles ranking was outside the world's top 20. But that year, he played singles and doubles to help Croatia win the Davis Cup for the first time. In the process of winning the title, he defeated Agassi, Roddick and won several crucial doubles matches.
By March 2006, Lyubic's world ranking had risen to sixth place in the world.
In the 2006 Miami match, Lyubishic won five consecutive games and finally reached the final to meet Federer. In particular, in the semi-finals, Ljubic swept the world's third Nalbandian with a score of 6-1, 6-2.
After Federer defeated Ferrer, then world Number 11, 6-4 in the 2006 Miami semifinals, he had been at number one in the world for 237 consecutive weeks.
When the two meet in the Miami final, a pinnacle-to-pinnacle duel between Mai Mang and Mars hitting the earth is on the verge of erupting.
In the end, the final, which played three sets and three snatches, ended with Federer's narrow victory.
"I played a great game in Miami. So, I'm very happy to be able to win in the end," Federer said after the game.
The defeated Ljubic looked very angry.
'I was very angry after the game because I used to be close to victory. Lyubic said, "But I'm also very proud of my performance here because the title is close to me. ”
To be able to win the championship with a few points, Federer believes that it is more about not panicking at key moments.
"I never panic," Federer said, "and I think that's the key to winning in the end, and you have to believe you can win." ”
Since Lyubishic became part of Federer's coaching team in 2015, it has been curious whether the two will talk about this wonderful game in their usual conversation.
However, everything seems to be light and cloudy with the passage of time, and the most important thing is that the cooperation between the two is still as tacit as ever.
As fans, we also hope that these two former competitors, after now transforming into a mentor-apprentice relationship, can rub out a bigger spark and bring more surprises to fans. (Source: Tennis House Author: Wu Li Fun)