Stefanos Tsitsipas has acknowledged that Roger Federer was virtually “unstoppable” during his heyday. Tsitsipas, 24, was taking his first steps in tennis when Federer dominated the circuit. The 20-time Grand Slam champion is considered one of the greatest players in tennis history, as well as one of the most stylistically beautiful to watch.
There is one statistic that best shows just how dominant Federer was during his heyday: To date, the Swiss is the only male player to have won two Grand Slams in five consecutive years. In addition, the Swiss won five consecutive Wimbledon titles from 2003-2007 and five at the US Open from 2004-2008.
Federer won five consecutive Wimbledon titles from 2003-07, while reaching the US Open for five consecutive years. between 2004 and 2008. The Greek told an anecdote about Roger Federer: “I remember that many years ago he said: ‘If you don’t improve and change something in a positive way, your rivals will realize that what you do and what you have done is not as efficient as before’
So you always have to think ahead, you always have to be progressive in your thinking. And that’s what he did so well for so many years,” Tsitsipas said at the Diriyah Tennis Cup. The 24-year-old Hellene has faced Federer four times when the Swiss was still active, that is, in the round of 16 of the 2019 Australian Open, when he surprisingly managed to beat him in a comeback with a very balanced victory by 6-7, 7-6, 7-5 and 7-6.
That same year, Tsitsipas and Federer met two more times: Tsitsipas defeated Federer in the ATP Finals, while the Swiss won victories in Dubai and in front of his home crowd in Basel, thus closing the statistics between the two with a 2-2 draw.
King Roger is a true legend
Guest of the Court N°1 podcast on RMC, the newly retired Gilles Simon, aptly nicknamed “the professor”, shared a reflection on Novak Djokovic before talking about his opposition against the Big 3.
He notably evokes his ultimately rather simplistic tactics adopted against Roger Federer, whom he managed to beat twice in nine games. “For me, tactically it was easier to play against these players because they are so strong that there are very few spaces, very few things that they do less well than others.
So in the end, there’s nothing tactically brilliant about telling yourself that when I face Roger, I’m going to try to block him on his backhand because anyway he only puts aces, in the forehand he leaves you at two meters and at the net he is comfortable.
If there is a place where you can play and breathe a little, it is on the backhand side. For this reason, it is not an incredible tactic. Where it has always been harder for me, on the other hand, is against players where I have more options, choices, before making a decision.
I asked myself a lot of questions: ‘Am I going to play attacking because when I attack there he finds it difficult to defend, but on the other hand, when I let him play here he also gives some…’ You are always a bit between two waters and it is less clear, ”explained the Niçois.
