Here is the first excerpt from our interview with Gilles Simon which was to be published in our issue 76 of We Love Tennis Mag. Gilles’ answers will allow us to open the debate with our speakers during this week.
Gilles, wouldn’t you have a little obsession with Roger Federer?
Not at all, my intention is not to attack Roger Federer. It is obvious that he is a fantastic player. What I attack is what his background and his game imply in our idea of tennis and performance. In fact, I’ve always felt that there is only one right way to play tennis well, and that way is Roger Federer’s.
However, today, on the courts we see more players who imitate Rafael Nadal than Roger Federer?
Maybe, but in fact, when we talk about tennis, we always come back to Roger Federer. It is this nagging idea that I have always heard. It’s like a little voice running through your head that in important moments you should always take the game on your own, attack, that would be the only way to get there.
Have you experienced this in your career?
Throughout my training and my career to make it short and simple.
In your book, do you also explain that the media are not good, that they do not understand tennis? So where do we really understand tennis?
I would say in Spain because there we talk about zone, tactics. We do not focus only on the famous beautiful game. This is also the case in Serbia, Croatia where with little means these countries always manage to release incredible players.
Posted on Monday, December 14, 2020 at 10:44
