Despite the inevitable passage of time, the Swiss tennis player Roger Federer keep generating admiration from locals and strangers for his immeasurable legacy, this time from the Canadian Denis Shapovalov (56th), of the Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis (77°) and from the Austrian Dominic Thiem (519°), who met in London, England, in advance of the UTS Tour exhibition.
“Federer could literally make you feel like a junior. I faced him in the semifinals in Miami, after beating good players like Rublev and Tiafoe. I felt like a junior on the court, it was incredible. It seems like he’s just playing around for a while, doing slice and hitting the next ball“, began the American left-hander, recent champion in Belgrade, who would fall 6-4 and 6-2 against ‘His Majesty’ in their only confrontation, in 2019, in statements to the official media of the event.
For his part, the one born in Adelaide, who would succumb 3-6, 6-3 and 7-6 (4) against the Swiss in the second round of the 2018 Miami Masters 1000, would not spare his praise either: “No one can make you feel more ridiculous than him. I never saw him sweat, his hair always stays the same. He also has the biggest calves I have ever seen, if he shaved it would be game over for everyone. It seems like he didn’t even try, like he was kidding you“.
“With Roger you plan to play deep to his backhand, thinking it’s a good idea. Then you hit a very good one to that place and he appears to play straight to the line“exclaimed the 2020 US Open champion in disbelief, who had the pleasure of winning five of the seven matches against each other.
