Roger Federer has a different mindset about his tennis, the 8-time Wimbledon champion’s former coach has revealed.
According to Paul Annacone, the architect of Federer’s sensational Wimbledon triumph over Andy Murray in 2012 was in conversation with Express Sport. Comparing Federer with Sampras, whom he coached in the 1990s and early 2000s, Annacone laid emphasis on the fact that like the American, Roger too has an immense amount of self confidence in his ability.
Moreover, Federer also has the realization of who he is – arguably the greatest player of all time and that is definitely a plus for him because half the time his opponents have already lost their matches even before arriving on the court due to the sheer pressure of facing the great Federer.
Annacone also talked about the final stages of Sampras’ career and what went through the 14-time Grand Slam winner’s mind at that point of time. The 54-year-old disclosed that when Sampras was struggling with his form, he started to get frustrated. However, it has never been the case with Federer.
“Roger has an incredible sense of self and of what he has done.
“Whereas Pete at the end of his career he had a great sense of self but he went 25 months without winning a tournament.
“So he was getting to a situation where he really wanted to finish on a strong note and so frustration was starting to creep in.
“And Pete being Pete he had an amazing way to focus and regroup, which is what he did at the end of his career to win that US Open in 2002. That was the last match he ever played, beating Andre in the final of the US Open.
“That was poetic for his career because 12 years earlier that was the stage where he jumped onto the global tennis scene when he beat Agassi at the US Open.
“Roger is in a different mindset and a different mode about his tennis.”
