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2019 US Open Tennis Tournament- Day Nine. Roger Federer of Switzerland reacts during his match against Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria in the Men’s Singles Quarter-Finals match on Arthur Ashe Stadium during the 2019 US Open Tennis Tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 3rd, 2019 in Flushing, Queens, New York City. (Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)

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2019 US Open Tennis Tournament- Day Nine. Roger Federer of Switzerland reacts during his match against Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria in the Men’s Singles Quarter-Finals match on Arthur Ashe Stadium during the 2019 US Open Tennis Tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 3rd, 2019 in Flushing, Queens, New York City. (Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)
Roger Federer is not only known for being a highly dominant player, people also know him for maintaining a calm and collected demeanor on the court. However, he was not always this way. As a young tennis player, Federer was quite infamous for being rash and aggressive.
He frequently threw rackets on the court and had to change himself along the way to be the player he is today. Lleyton Hewitt was another player who acted rashly and threw tantrums on the court. Darren Cahill, Hewitt’s old coach, talked about an incident of the rage of the two players when they met for a final.
Darren Cahill initially worked with Lleyton Hewitt after he retired from the tour. Under Cahill, Hewitt became the youngest number 1 in the ATP. The Australian also coached Andre Agassi. Under his instructions, Agassi became the oldest number 1 in the ATP.
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The rage of Roger Federer and Lleyton Hewitt
In the book ‘The Roger Federer Effect’, Lleyton Hewitt’s old coach, Darren Cahill, remembered a match between a young Roger Federer and his student. Federer had behavioral problems in the court during his initial years.

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DOHA, QATAR – MARCH 10: Roger Federer of Switzerland looks on in his match against Dan Evans of Great Britain on Day 3 of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open at Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex on March 10, 2021 in Doha, Qatar. (Photo by Mohamed Farag/Getty Images)
As per Cahill, Hewitt and Federer both acted boorishly during a match in the World Youth Cup. The match in Zurich saw both Federer beat Hewitt 7-6 in the third set. “Two or three years later, Cahill was back in Switzerland with Hewitt, this time taking on Federer in the World Youth Cup in Zurich. Federer beat Hewitt 7-6 in the third set and, according to Cahill, both boys were not exactly the best behaved.”
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Cahill further recalled that the two kept bouncing racquets and swore quite a few times during the match. Lleyton even threw his racquet into the back fence. “Both Lleyton and Roger were as bad as each other on the court, bouncing their racquets. A few four-letter words were coming out and I reckon tears were coming out of both guys,” Cahill explained. “And at one point, I reckon Lleyton threw his racquet into the back fence.”
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Lleyton was one of the players Federer struggled against at the start of his career. However, he advanced past his rival very soon and both improved their behavior going forward.
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