Roger Federer’s journey from being a precocious talent to becoming one of the successful and marketable sportspersons in the world is certainly a very inspiring one. The Swiss maestro was discussed at large in the latest episode of the ATP Tennis Radio Podcast. The special guest happened to be Sven Swinnen, who was Federer’s training partner back in the day.
Swinnen spoke about the health of tennis in Switzerland at the moment, American collegiate tennis, upcoming talents such as his pupil Dominic Stricker as well as some never-heard-before anecdotes on Roger Federer. Swinnen and Federer trained with each other in Lausanne when the 20-time Grand Slam champion was aged 14.
Roger Federer can turn it on and off
Sven Swinnen turned pro on the ATP Tour in 2005, but played his last professional match back in 2013. He was a legend at the University of Oregon in the United States in the mid-2000s in the men’s singles category. As a result, Swinnen is extremely supportive of young players in USA and abroad who wish to play inter-collegiate and university tennis in the country before wanting to go big in their careers.
However, Swinnen is more renowned in the game as a coach. He is mentoring Dominic Stricker, the 20-year-old who is ranked No.106 on the ATP Tour in the men’s singles category at present. In the podcast, Swinnen talked about how Stricker benefitted from travelling with Federer and getting to practice with him at one of the Dubai Open editions. Stricker also practiced with the great Rafael Nadal in a Nitto ATP Tour Finals edition in London, since he is left-handed like the 22-time Grand Slam champion.
Talking about his own bond with Federer, Swinnen reminisced the time when the duo trained in Lausanne together. This meant that Federer had to leave his comfort zone in Basel at an early age and that did get to him at one point, literally being ‘homesick’. Swinnen admired how Federer fought through that and developed a game which became the best in the business.
Swinnen believes that keeping public perception aside, Roger Federer’s greatest strength actually lies in his ability to have an on and off switch. It means that when he is training, he is completely serious and focused, being particular about every aspect of his game and giving it his everything. However, in between practice or once it is done, Federer is someone who is very approachable as he is knowledgeable about many aspects of life and the world outside tennis, so he enjoys those interactions too in a relaxed manner.
During his younger days, Federer also played always with a free mind, not afraid to experiment with his game through different shots even if it meant failing at times. That, according to Swinnen, is something that sets him apart from the rest as he was seen reinventing himself even as he was past his peak and getting older.
Is Dominic Stricker the next Swiss star after Federer?
Dominic Stricker is the second youngest Swiss player of all-time to win a match in Basel, which was at the age of 20 last year when he beat USA’s Maxime Cressy in Round 1 of the Indoors tournament. Roger Federer was the youngest to do so, back in 2000 at the age of 19.
Stricker had ended 2020 as the World No.3 in the juniors rankings and two years later, he made it to the semi-finals of the Next Gen ATP Finals. He made his ATP Tour debut in 2021 and in the same year, won his first ATP Challengers title. Recently, Stricker had teamed up with one of his idols from his home country, Stan Wawrinka to win the men’s doubles title at Gstaad in Switzerland.
