The Laver Cup, which is set to return this year as well in September, fulfilled one big dream of tennis lovers around the world. It helped unite the two giants of tennis, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal as they both played for Team Europe against the Rest of the World. Both have also been seen strategizing and cheering for their team on the sidelines enthusiastically.
One such instance back from the 2019 edition was quite stunning for fans when cameras were able to capture what was supposed to be private, locker room coaching advice from Federer and Nadal. The duo was seen coaching World No. 19 and Germany’s Alexander Zverev in between his singles match against the Rest of the World’s Milos Raonic.
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal hammer Alexander Zverev
The story behind the video is that after winning the first set, 6-4, Alexander Zverev lost the second set 3-6 and the final set was to come down to a virtual tie-breaker in which the first player to reach 10 points would win the match. Notably, prior to the match, Team Europe was trailing Team World, 7-11, making the Zverev vs Raonic match a winner-takes-all finale.
Seeing these two situations must have made both the legends equally concerned and seeing Zverev a bit low, both Federer and Nadal began giving coaching advice to him which served them well over the years. However, Federer stunningly went a bit overboard by swearing more than once, a style of communication and temperament which is not usually associated with the Swiss maestro.
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“I want a ‘let’s go and a come on’ for every f***ing point you win. I don’t want to see any negative s**t’,” Federer was heard saying as they walked to the locker room.
“Whenever you lose a point it’s always ‘ah f*** s**t’,” Roger Federer was quoted as saying in the video.
Rafael Nadal too was clear with just one advice – ‘No negative talk and thinking!’ All the talk worked dramatically as Zverev beat Raonic, 10-4 in the final set. The win came after Roger Federer defeated John Isner in the penultimate singles match. The win became important also since Nadal withdrew from his last singles match due to a hand injury.
When asked about his coaching to Zverev, Federer was quoted as saying in a post-match press conference at the Shanghai Masters 2019 that followed the Laver Cup –
“I yelled at him all the way to the locker room, in the locker room and on the way back.
“I told him at the net that he showed great character, that he was strong and, I thought, he didn’t show any frustrations or too much negativity.
“I don’t see much of my opponent, to be honest. I turn my back very quickly, so I see maybe 10, 20%, but I didn’t see him very often being extremely frustrated except the one time when he hit three let cords in a row, the last game I think it was. That was impressive, because he has tendencies to get a bit down on himself, especially this season he hasn’t been playing maybe so well, so that impressed me the most,” the 20-time Grand Slam champion concluded.
Incidentally, Zverev beat Federer in three sets at the Shanghai Masters, making it to the finals in that edition. The German acknowledged that it was the legend’s advice at the Laver Cup that helped him ‘turn his season’ around since he was facing issues off the court prior to that, which affected his game adversely. The German star went on to be represented by Team8 Sports and Entertainment, which is co-founded by Roger Federer himself.
Federer will never coach: Ivan Ljubicic
Roger Federer’s last head coach, the Croatian and former World No.3, Ivan Ljubicic claimed in an interview prior to the Wimbledon 2023 tournament that his former pupil does not have any plans to take up full-time coaching in the future.
When asked about Federer’s post-retirement life, Ljubicic revealed that he is now busier than ever with multiple commitments when it comes to event appearances, business deals and his foundation work. Yet, Federer somehow manages to meet Ljubicic atleast once a year as both of them were recently enjoying themselves at a beach.
However, interestingly on the request of the Royal Family in the United Kingdom, Roger Federer is known to occasionally coach the children of the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton who is a close friend and business partner of the tennis superstar. As a result, nothing can ever be ruled out as fans would surely love to see or hear some more pearls of wisdom from Federer again in his inimitable style.
