Roger Federer: ‘I will play for a few more years. I am not surprised by Nadal’s comeback’

La Gazzetta Dello Sport had an interesting conversation with Roger Federer. Here’s an excerpt:

The talk began with Federer talking about the changes in his coaching team with Ivan Ljubicic replacing Stefan Edberg as Federer’s coach at the start of this year: ‘The approach is totally different. With Stefan the relationship was more global, he was busy with all the aspects of the preparation. With Ivan is different, there was a generational change because he played many of the opponents I play still today and so I have a different mental prospective and more knowledge. It’s not that he is not a tennis player anymore, if i can say it, and it’s what I needed in this moment.’ The conversation then moved onto the future of his career. Federer had quite a philosophical response as he said, ‘I know I am not eternal, it’s normal, and to say the truth it’s from when daughters born, seven years ago, that I started to ask questions to myself about the future. But then the body sends positive signs, despite the operation, my family supports me much and is happy to travel around the world with me. When the body will not keep up and at home they will be tired, I will stop. But I do not think that will happen so much soon. I still enjoy much playing, so you will see me for a few more years.’ About Rafael Nadal’s Monte Carlo win and possible comeback, and whether he’d had any doubts about it, Federer said, ‘Zero. Absolutely not. Maybe you journalists were upset, but we players of course were not. A guy who won nine times in Paris, nine times in Monte Carlo, who was world no. 1 for much time does not lose his qualities. Maybe we have come to expect to him to recover faster from injuries, but I cannot imagine Nadal at such a low level, to me he is always there at the top. And on clay, he is still one of the first two …

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