"He trains better and better" - Ivan Ljubicic believes Roger Federer can do a "big" Australian Open
Ivan Ljubicic has high hopes for his protégéRoger Federer at the Australian Open 2021.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Nov 10, 2020, 07:49 am
It is probably the match that conjures up the most goosebumps on their skin for Roger Federer's fans to this day: the final of the Australian Open 2017. Federer is completely unexpectedly in the final of the first Grand Slam tournament of the year after more than six months of injury, In the final against Nemesis Rafael Nadal, everything seems to go the usual way despite the 2-1 lead.
The Spaniard leads 3-1 in the fifth set and seems well on the way to his second title in Melbourne. But Federer unpacks what is perhaps the best tennis of his career out of nowhere, pulls the backhand with a consistently unknown consistency and deservedly crowned his comeback.
If coach Ivan Ljubicic and Federer have their way, not too much speaks against a similar success story in the coming year. The 39-year-old wants to play the "big" Australian Open. And the Croatian trusts his protégé to do that, because "the program that we had in mind so far has been fulfilled one hundred percent," said Ljubicic in an interview with the oktennis.it website .
No end of Federer's career in sight
"I would say it is going very well. He trains more and more and better and better," said the former world number three, extremely satisfied with Federer's progress. "There's a lot of self-confidence there. I'm excited to see how much we can push in the next few months."
At the same time, however, it is also important to take breaks and to go "step by step". Therefore, Ljubicic could not say what Federer will do in April, but the 20-time Grand Slam winner does not have an end to his career: "He does not set himself any limits, let alone me. Hopefully he will stay for a long time on the pitch. "