'The fact that Roger Federer is highly esteemed by his fans...', says trainer

Novak Djokovic triumphed in 18 Grand Slam events (9 Australian Open, 1 Roland Garros, 5 Wimbledon, 3 US Open) and got back in the wake of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, who won 20. After winning over Medvedev, with a statement of pragmatism Nole said that his historical rivals have the possibility of winning more Grand Slams. This is certainly the case, but of course the years pass for them too and the overtaking could come already this year or at the latest in 2022. Roger Federer’s long-time fitness trainer Pierre Paganini recently provided some updates about the Swiss star’s recovery process. Paganini highlighted the fact that Federer's muscles have become weaker with age, but lavished special praise for the 39-year-old's perseverance.

Paganini on what Federer can achieve when he comes back

"The big difference (between 2017 comeback and now) is, as Roger Federer paused until Australia after Wimbledon in 2016, his muscles were actually always there," Pierre Paganini said. "Now we had a total interruption and the muscles deteriorated considerably." According to Paganini, Federer always makes his decisions keeping one eye on the future. That, the 62-year-old believes, is why Federer is never inclined towards risky moves. "He will never risk his health," Paganini said. "It is extremely important to him to be healthy in the second phase of his life. He won't overdo anything if it doesn't make sense. He's very strategic and farsighted. The fact that he is highly esteemed by his fans is not only down to the player but also to the human being," Paganini said. "And he will always be this human being as long as he lives." Djokovic is now the holder of 12 Grand Slam titles on hard court, which is the most by any player. Going into the title clash against the World Number 4, the Serb was tied with Federer at 11 championship wins in Majors on hard courts. However, his 18th career Grand Slam title has now put him on top of the all-time list which features yesteryear stalwarts Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi at rank numbers 3 and 4, respectively. The 2021 Australian Open was pencilled in as Federer's comeback tournament, but it was announced in December that he wasn't quite ready to return to competitive tennis. He has since confirmed his return to the ATP Tour will come at the Qatar Open next month to build up his fitness ahead of the summer tournaments. The younger generation are also improving with Dominic Thiem winning his first Grand Slam at last year's US Open while Daniil Medvedev reached his second major final in Melbourne earlier this month.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2NJz62j