Roger Federer’s former coach reveals ‘most emotional moment’ and makes ‘difficult times’ admission
Ivan Ljubicic has reflected on a “very special” and “very important” Roger Federer Grand Slam victory from his time coaching the legendary Swiss.
The Croatian labelled Federer’s 2017 Australian Open triumph as the “most emotional moment” he experienced during the pair’s partnership.
Federer secured his 18th Grand Slam crown at the 2017 Australian Open, defeating his great rival Rafael Nadal in a memorable five-set final to complete a stunning run. In his last-ever major final meeting with Nadal, Federer won the last five games after trailing 1-3 in the fifth set.
The Swiss, who was 35, was seeded 17th in Melbourne having missed the second half of the 2016 season due to a knee injury.
Prior to what was his fifth Australian Open title run, Federer had not won a Grand Slam since his victory at the 2012 Wimbledon Championships four and a half years earlier.
Federer downed four top 10 seeds during the event: Tomas Berdych, Kei Nishikori, Stan Wawrinka, and Nadal.
Tennis Features
The 5 oldest ATP Finals champions: Novak Djokovic features twice, Roger Federer 3rd
The 8 men with most ATP Finals appearances: Roger Federer with 17, Novak Djokovic No 2
Federer went on to win the 2017 Wimbledon title before defending his Australian Open crown in 2018 for his 20th and final major victory.
In an interview with Eurosport, Ljubicic revealed Federer asked him if he believed he could still win majors after the Swiss offered him the coaching role at the end of the 2015 season.
“I was working in London with Italian television for the Masters (ATP Finals), and he invited me, his wife and my wife to dinner,” he said.
“He asked me if I’d be interested in working with him. I was really surprised because I didn’t know Stefan Edberg (Federer’s previous coach) was going to stop. I said ‘Yes, absolutely’.
“After that, we continued to talk about goals. He asked me if I thought he could still win Grand Slams because he hadn’t won one for four years. I said ‘absolutely’.
“I also said I wasn’t signing up for just one Grand Slam, I said I’d like to win several.”
The former world No 3 looked back with fondness on the 2017 Australian Open final and expressed the value of Federer winning the tournament.
“I’m proud and happy about this match against Nadal, because he was 3-1 down in the 5th set,” Ljubicic recalled.
“To come back and win the match was very special for me. It was the most emotional moment as a coach, but almost as a player for Roger.
“After that, the story goes on, and we know that Novak [Djokovic] has won more than the others, but that tournament was very important.”
Ljubicic also gave an insight into what it was like to work with Federer and divulged that it was not always easy.
“The details, the excellence of everything he did,” the 10-time ATP titlist added.
“Preparing for interviews, his warm-ups, the dinners. All the things he did, he did with great application. There were many days when I didn’t know what to say because he was perfect.
“We’ve also had some difficult times mentally, because everyone thinks that everything is easy for Roger, but we’ve had some complicated times.”
