Former world No. 3 David Ferrer reveals Roger Federer was the player that impressed him the most during his career. Ferrer, 39, and 40-year-old Federer are from the same generation and for many years had been on top of the game.
Ferrer clashed Federer 17 times during his career but never claimed a single win over the 20-time Grand Slam champion. Ferrer gave an interview to Ubitennis and one of the things he was asked was which player impressed him the most during his career.
“Roger Federer, because he made tennis seem like a simple sport, while any professional knows that hitting those shots on the court is very difficult,” Ferrer told Ubitennis, as quoted on Sportskeeda.
Coach speaks on the ‘unique’ Federer
Coach Jose Higueras, who briefly worked with Federer in 2008, recently spoke about the uniqueness of the Swiss.
“It’s tough to compare Roger [Federer] with anybody. He is so unique in everything – how he goes about his game, off the court,” Higueras said on the latest episode of the Holding Court with Patrick McEnroe podcast.
“He likes to feel the ball on his racquet strings, he likes to experiment. If you tell him something, he will digest it, he will think about it and [he is one of] those guys who are always so thirsty to learn.” Also, Higueras revealed an interesting Federer anecdote.
After winning a total of four games in the 2008 French Open final against Rafael Nadal, Federer had a celebration. “With Roger, there is always something funny happening. When he got defeated by Rafael Nadal in the [2008] French Open, he won only four games.
After that, we had a get-together with a bunch of his friends from Switzerland, like forty people. I was so depressed but [he had a celebration after that huge loss],” Higueras said. “My point is, he is just so unique.”