‘Roger Federer’s genius would still keep him in top 5 without injury’, feels former coach
Roger Federer’s “genius” would have kept him in the top five of the rankings had he not been forced to retire through injury, believes the Swiss’ former coach Ivan Ljubicic.
Former world No 3 Ljubicic, who coached Federer from 2016 until his retirement in 2022, declared his ability “would not go down” with age.
Federer called time on his glittering 24-year career after partnering Rafael Nadal in his last match in doubles at the Laver Cup.
The 41-year-old played his final singles match at the 2021 Wimbledon Championships, losing in the quarter-finals to Hubert Hurkacz.
The Swiss won 20 Grand Slam titles, the third-most of all-time in men’s tennis behind his contemporaries Novak Djokovic and Nadal.
Ljubicic claimed the former world No 1, who will turn 42 next month, would not have stopped playing without the knee issues he suffered in the latter stages of his career.
“Well, I think that (injury) was the only way for him to stop, honestly. I don’t think there was any other way. His ability would not go down,” said the Croatian in an interview with Tennis Majors.
“His fitness would maybe, with time, he would be slightly slower, slightly this, slightly that, but his genius would still keep him in the top, whatever, five. I honestly think that the only way for him to stop was the body was not able to carry on.
“Looking back, because he loves it so much, there was no way for him to make a decision to stop playing because, I don’t know,: ‘I don’t want to play anymore’. That would never happen.”
The former French Open semi-finalist also discussed the importance of the love Federer has for tennis and everything that comes with playing the sport.
“His genius is also finding joy in everything he does, even in doing press conferences, even meeting up with people, spending time with sponsors, he always enjoyed it. It does not necessarily come automatically, but he finds the way to enjoy it,” added Ljubicic.
“And I think that’s the key why you can keep on for so long and actually have fun. And tennis, it’s something different. I mean, whenever he sees the racket, any kind of racket, he would pick it up and start swinging. You know, it’s just love for hitting that ball is just too big.”
