The voice of Roger Federer was heard loudly in the Served podcastled by Andy Roddickwhere the former Swiss tennis player addressed key topics about the evolution of the tennis masculinethe importance of connecting generations, the need to recover variety on playing surfaces and his personal experiences after retirement.
In a relaxed dialogue, Federer shared his reflections on the present and future of the sport, the physical challenges he faced and the possibility of returning to the track with Rafael Nadal.
“In tennis, we forget the legends of our sport. We do not make them visible or include them enoughand it has always saddened me not to see all the heroes who paved the way for us more often,” Federer said at the beginning of the conversation.
The 44-year-old former tennis player explained that the idea of Making Cup It arose precisely from that concern: “It was always something that lived inside me. I thought we should get together, spend time together and give a role to those who made history. “This is how the captains and assistants of the Laver Cup were born.”
Federer stressed the value of small interactions between generations, such as the recent meeting between Yannick Noah and other players, and the inspiration that sharing a week with figures like Rod Laver, Andre Agassi o Björn Borg.
“What I wanted was for the players, when coming to the Laver Cup, to feel inspired and motivated for what is to come, to learn about the history of the game and spend time togetherforming a team that normally would not have that opportunity,” he said.
The withdrawal process and physical problems They occupied a central place in the dialogue. Federer did not hide the difficulty of his decision: “My knee was getting worse and worse and I realized that I couldn’t go back. I took a break and had to leave the sport almost completely.”
The former world number 1 explained that, although He considered retiring at the US Open or the Basel tournamentfinally opted for the Makes Cup en Londresmotivated by the desire not to be alone on the track at that crucial moment.
“I’ve always been a team player at heart, and doing it in London, where I had some of my biggest successes, made sense.. “I just hoped it wasn’t a sad moment, and it was much better than I imagined,” he recalled.
Regarding his health, he acknowledged that the knee injury marked a before and after in his career. “I was always famous for not getting injuredfor never withdrawing from a game. But in the end, The knee forced me to rethink everything. I began to appreciate much more how good I felt before and how carefree I was when moving on the court,” he explained.
The Swiss admitted that he chose not to make public all the stages of his recoveryunlike other colleagues like Nadal, to protect himself and prevent rivals from knowing his limitations.
The analysis of the evolution of men’s tennis was another focus of the talk. He observed that “the current game is increasingly physical, with more exchanges from the bottom and less variety of styles”.
According to his vision, the tendency towards homogeneity was accentuated by the slowdown of the fields and the uniformity of the playing conditions.
“Before, each player had some weak point, now everyone hits hard with their forehand and backhand. They train to hit hard, like Agassi did, and Rafa is the type of player you don’t want to practice with because he always leaves everything behind.”he described.
In this context, he defended the need for tournaments to recover the diversity of surfaces. “I think tournament directors should correct the speed of the courts. We need to see players like Carlos Alcaraz o Jannik Sinner adapt to both fast and slow surfaces,” he said in the Served podcast.
The Swiss illustrated his argument with concrete examples: “It cannot be that on an indoor court, a player like Casper Ruud can return the serve Reilly Opelka from behind and win the point with a passing. It should be more difficult. The ideal would be to see the best adapt to extreme conditions as before”.
Federer also addressed the impact of the court slowdown on spectacle and competitiveness. “Tournament Directors prioritize slow surfaces because this is how the big names reach the finals, but that made everyone play the same”, he lamented.
The possibility of an exhibition match Federer-Nadal It was one of the most celebrated moments of the podcast. Federer acknowledged that they both talked about the idea, although no one feels ready yet to get back on track in that format.
“It would be nice to get back on the court with Rafa or anyone else.to inspire the new generation and be close to the people. “I love the idea of sharing the love of tennis and motivating young people,” he said.
The Swiss admitted that he needed some time to disconnect after retirement, but He did not rule out that the time to return would soon come.even if only symbolically.
