Lucas Arnold Ker: "I never thought that Federer would be one of the best in the world and in history"
Lucas Arnold Ker was the player against whom Roger Federer played his first match on the ATP tour. In an interview with the ATP homepage , the Argentine remembers this match.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Jul 26, 2020, 08:51 am
With all due respect, but the influence that Lucas Arnold Ker had on tennis in the past decades can be classified as manageable. A career high from 77th place and the double finals at the 1997 French Open are the two biggest flashlights in the Argentinian career. Then there would be that summer day in July 1998 that gave Lucas Arnold Ker the moment for which the Argentine will be remembered well into the end of his career.
In the first round in Gstaad, Switzerland, the 45-year-old got to deal with a local hero, a youth hope for Swiss tennis. His name: Roger Federer - today 20 Grand Slam titles and one of the best tennis players of all time. Back then, however, at the very beginning of his career, debut on the ATP tour.
"I am often reminded that I hit him, but not many know that it was his first game on the ATP tour," Arnold Ker recalls in an interview with the ATP tour today. "I never thought or imagined that Federer would be one of the best in the world and in history, really not". Because at that time Arnold Ker was able to disenchant the exceptional Swiss player, leaving the court with 6: 4 and 6: 4 as the winner.
Backhand was "miserable"
"I had to play against a Swiss youth player at the time and Switzerland didn't really have a tennis history at the time - there weren't any really good players," recalls the Argentine, who started the match with Federer confidently at the time. And even the first minutes on the court matched the world ranking 88 at the time. Quite positive, as he was able to quickly identify some construction sites in Federer's game.
"Roger had a good serve, a good forehand, but his backhand was poor, not good at all," said Arnold Ker. "I still remember moving him over there all the time, and that allowed me to beat him solidly in two sets," said the Argentine, arguably dryly analyzing the biggest match of his career today.
Federer also remembers a duel
Roger Federer, who - with all due respect - was able to play some far more important matches, remembers the encounter with the Argentine well, as he said in a conversation with the newspaper "La Nacion" a few weeks ago: "I was disappointed because I was was supposed to be playing against Tommy Haas, but he had an upset stomach and instead of playing on center court they put me on court 1. But it was still full of fans and it was really crazy because I had the Wimbledon Juniors won, "said Federer.
At the time, the Swiss judged his opponent as an old man, someone who still likes to use the serve-and-volley element. "He served in my backhand with spin and I had come from Wimbledon where the ball rebounded to another level and I was having a hard time. He was more experienced. I played well, as far as I remember. I lost at 6 : 4, 6: 4, but it was a great experience that the media put me in the spotlight in front of a lot of people and I got used to that kind of pressure. "