RF Tennis News 2017

Marc Rosset: «Federer was burnt mentally»

After having followed the whole ATP Finals in London, the Genevois (native of Geneva) analyzes the competition and the semi-failure of the Bâlois. Informative!

Par Arnaud Cerutti | 19 Nov. 2017


- Finally, a word about the semi-failure of Roger Federer ...

ROSSET: "I think Roger came to this ATP Finals very tired mentally. With him, we can not only talk about the past twelve months, not just talk about this season. To return to the beginning of the path that brought him here, we have to go back to Wimbledon 2016, the moment he gets injured. Then, everything led to another: the operation, the reeducation, the doubt, the return to the game, then the quest for two Grand Slam titles, three Masters 1000, etc. These are abnormal emotions. And how long had he not won two majors in a season?  (editor's note: since the 2009 season). At 36, all this draws a lot of energy on the emotional level.

This year, for him, has been heavy, loaded. In fact, we saw Roger irritated like never about his tennis this week. We felt that he was not happy. And finally, he played Saturday against a Goffin who gave the match of his life.

Federer is disappointed of course, because he felt it would have been nice to win the ATP Finals, but I do not think that he left London more upset than that. Mentally, he was simply burnt." (TDG)

Canadian teen Auger-Aliassime invited to train with Federer




By Rudi Schuller  | SportingNews
23 Nov. 2017


While other kids his age are looking forward to the holiday break, Félix Auger-Aliassime will be spending part of December training with tennis legend Roger Federer.

Tennis Canada announced Thursday that Auger-Aliassime had been invited by Federer to train in Dubai next month.

“Federer loves tennis, he’s a real fan. He watches the 14 and 15 year olds play all the time. I think he wants to help the new generation,” Louis Borfiga, Tennis Canada’s vice president of high performance said. “I also think he likes Félix and his personality. He wants to give back some of what tennis has given to him. He wants to help Félix… maybe avoid some of the traps that would be good to avoid at his age.”

Auger-Aliassime, 17, is ranked 159th on the ATP Tour. Along with good friend Denis Shapovalov, Auger-Aliassime is seen as one of the rising star of the men's circuit.

Auger-Aliassime ready for excellent Fed-venture


By Stephanie Myles | Tennis.Life
November 29, 2017  

Canadian teenager Félix Auger-Aliassime leaves for Dubai on Saturday.

What follows will be the start of an eye-opening experience as the 17-year-old trains with Roger Federer for two weeks.

“We’re communicating with his coach. Not sure which day he arrives but it will be for two weeks, from (December) 5 to 20. I’ll mostly train with him; no guarantee on what I will do, but it’s becoming clearer,” Auger-Aliassime said in a conference call with the media Wednesday afternoon.

He said it was a great chance to learn from the best.

• "You will always motivate yourself by comparing yourself to the best in the world, he said. “It’s a great opportunity, so you have to take advantage of it. But mostly I’ll be trying to prepare myself the best way possible for the 2018 season.”
  

Auger-Aliassime said he felt the same way as “anyone who follows tennis” about the 19-time Grand Slam champion.

• “I admire everything he does on court, off court, the person he is. And my coaches will be there so we can observe more closely what he does well, why he plays at such a high level,” he said. “I don’t know much about him, but I can’t wait to get there, and I can’t wait to train two weeks with him.”
  

The Canadian, who is 16 months younger than his great friend and frequent doubles partner Denis Shapovalov, has been (somewhat mercifully) improving out of the spotlight a little bit because of what Shapovalov accomplished this summer.


Continue reading about Félix here: Tennis.Life