Roger Federer Admits Poor Coaching Led to Fabio Fognini’s Loss at Laver Cup 2019

World Number three, Roger Federer admitted that their singles match loss on the Day One of Laver Cup 2019 was due to bad coaching. Fabio Fognini from Team Europe lost the singles match to Jack Sock 6-1, 7-6, despite receiving guidance from Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

“Bad coaching,” the Swiss maestro said. “It’s that simple. Terrible coaching before, during, and after. Maybe we said the right things afterwards, you know, to cheer him up again. But everything that led to the performance didn’t work.

Jack Sock made his return to the ATP circuit this July, after his seven months of injury hiatus. This year, the American has been win-less on the singles circuit of ATP and in Geneva, he achieved his first singles victory of the season by defeating the World Number 11, Fognini in straight sets.

“No, I think Fabio struggled, you know, just to shake off the nerves. That was my opinion. He tried, we tried, and honestly, Jack started to play very well. Got to give that to Jack in that second set. He was able to keep Fabio uncomfortable, and we tried to get Fabio comfortable. But Jack didn’t agree with our plan, so there you go,” Roger Federer added.

On Day One, Team Europe led by 3-1 on the points table with Dominic Thiem earning their first point. However, the 20-time Grand Slam champion was expecting a different scoreline.

“We are very happy with 3-1, I tell you that,” said Federer. “I’m not a negative or a pessimistic guy. I’m a super-positive guy. But I was looking at a 2-2 today before the day. Just the feelings I had.”

Federer and Zverev won over Shapovalov and Sock in their doubles encounter which stretched out for 97 minutes. 

On the Day Two of Laver Cup 2019, the teams will be earning two points for all their victories. Roger Federer is scheduled to play Nick Kyrgios in the singles round. In the doubles round, Rafael Nadal and Stefanos Tsitsipas will take on Nick Kyrgios and Jack Sock.