As a kid, Roger Federer imagined of becoming a professional tennis player and perhaps number one in the world, but he never thought that his career would turn out to be one the greatest in tennis history. Roger trained well but his career achievements were not set in stone. Rather, his career was a reward for everything he did leading up to each match and tournament. You can take this as a lesson that you do not need to imagine yourself becoming the greatest of all time, you just need to train well consistently.
Roger gives credit to his coaches for shaping his game. He told his most recent coach, Ivan Ljubicic, who has been coaching Roger from 2016 until his retirement last week, “I don't want to hear from you what you think I want to hear - I want to hear what you really think; I want to hear the truth.” Roger needed to hear the truth so that he could know what to improve. This is likely an important reason he turned out to be a 20-time Grand Slam champion – his skills never stagnated. He just kept getting better. This mentality relates to the fact he did not need to dream up that he’ll win 20-Grand Slams, rather, he needed to know what to work on each day, so that he could continue improving.
One of the key aspects of Federer’s game was his footwork. And when asked about the new generation of players, Roger told reporters that “the best movers are the best players. It’s been like this for the last 10, 20 years already now, and it’s going to stay like this.” Movement unlocks your ability to get behind each shot and control your shot selection. If you move poorly, you won’t have much control over how you hit the ball.
To win those slams, you need more than just good footwork and strokes, you also need grit and resilience. That toughness is not gifted or handed to you, you must learn to become tough. Roger never felt he had the natural grit some other players seemed to possess – he had to struggle with getting toughness. Federer was being told by people all around to fight harder, but it was not clear to him what they meant by getting tougher. Someone even told him to be mean but it didn’t work and he decided to stick with being nice, where he felt authentic. He eventually discovered how to stick with fighting on the court without needing to act like he was fighting. The key is to not give up simply because things are not going your way. Be yourself and keep playing.
Full interview below: