Roger Federer’s incredible career has seen some highs as well as some lows. Two of the biggest losses of his career came at the US Open in 2010 and 2011 when the Swiss legend faced Novak Djokovic and lost both times despite holding match points. Roger Federer must have been devastated by those defeats but was still very cheerful according to his former coach Paul Annacone.
Federer’s former coach even mentioned that he had a great perspective towards tennis and everything in general and never really let matches affect him too much. Another big loss for Roger Federer was the Wimbledon 2019 final to Novak Djokovic but according to Annacone, the Swiss moved on from that as well rather quickly.
Paul Annacone praises Roger Federer for his positive attitude
Roger Federer was on the verge of winning the US Open in both 2010 and 2011 and in both years, succumbed to Novak Djokovic. Both of Federer’s losses were extremely close since his only failure was not to multiple convert match points. If it was any other athlete and not Roger Federer, he would have probably taken time to move on or perhaps never moved on from such defeats.
Speaking in a podcast with Jonathan Stokke, Paul Annacone mentioned that Roger Federer was surprisingly in high spirits not too long after those losses and was playing with his children. Annacone was stunned by Federer’s outlook towards life and heaped praises on him.
“I sat in his box in 2010 and 2011, successive years where he had match points at the US Open and lost both matches to Novak and… I felt terrible for him, but it was hard for me to even comprehend it and I remember talking to him afterwards and he was in a great mood – this was a couple of hours later and he was playing with his kids.”
Annacone had questioned Federer as to how he managed to remain in a good mood after such losses. The 20-time Grand Slam champion responded that on the flip side, he had won some matches in his career that he should have lost actually. Such a positive attitude in adversity is a hallmark of a great player.
“I asked him about it and he said ‘Yes, it is really crushing, but I can also give you 10 matches that I had no right winning that I won. At the end of the day this is high-profile as it is a semi-final, but I can also list all the other ones where I had no chance’.”
Roger Federer’s approach is about understanding that the game has ups and downs and defeat teaches vital lessons. Annacone highlighted the Wimbledon 2012 Championships as an example of what Federer was talking about. It was the Swiss legend’s 17th Grand Slam win.
Federer struggled physically at Wimbledon 2012
Wimbledon 2012 was memorable for Roger Federer and one of his most special Grand Slam wins. It is because the ‘King of Grass’ was constantly struggling with injuries and finding it difficult to get into his rhythm for most of the competition. One of the hurdles Federer had to overcome was a back injury that he carried into the tournament.
According to Annacone, Federer could barely walk during his 5-set victory against Julien Benneteau of France. After going through all the struggles, the Swiss star reached the final where he faced Great Britain’s Andy Murray. With the crowd firmly in favour of Murray, Federer had to dig deep to win the match and the championship.
“Sure enough the next year at Wimbledon when he won in 2012, he really – in my opinion – should not have won that tournament. At the beginning of the tournament his back went out and he really struggled and one of the matches he ended up winning in five sets – I believe against Julien Benneteau of France – and he could hardly walk. He got through that match and got gradually better, but he wasn’t able to practice that much and during that time he didn’t sweat it.”
