Roger Federer – “I Was Mr. Emotional”

Published 08/25/2019, 2:23 PM EDT

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The emergence of Rafael Nadal happened curtailed the Grand Slam count of Roger Federer and at Australian Open 2009 finals, Roger’s unseen side was rendered to the tennis world after the Swiss fell to his adversary, Nadal in four hours and 23 minutes. It was one of the toughest defeats in Federer’s career and it was second his consecutive major loss to Rafa after the epic finals at Wimbledon 2008.

That day, he couldn’t control his emotions in the Rod Laver Arena and broke down in tears on the big stage. With a faltering tone, the Swiss maestro uttered, “Maybe I’ll try again later. God, it’s killing me,” while he was on the podium for his runners-up speech.

World Number three, Roger Federer confessed about shedding tears in the locker rooms as a young contender on the ATP Tour after he came across tough defeats. During Wimbledon 2019, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev were day one upsets and the next era contenders of the ATP Tour gave a poignant presser after they dealt with their opening-round losses. 

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With reference to this, Federer pronounced his opinion on the NextGen of tennis, he said, “I had the same impression. It was a very emotional press. I understand. I was Mr. Emotional, so… I come from that same side. I would cry after losing matches throughout my junior years. Some take it harder. Some take it more relaxed. Some take hours to get over it. Some take days.”

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It is difficult to deal with Wimbledon losses, and Federer advised them to take their own time to get rid off their those emotions before they showed up for press conferences. “Go back, come back. I don’t know what you do. Take a super shower. Leave all the tears in the locker room. Once you come here, you feel like you get it done,” he added.

Their behavior was disastrous and it is definitely not the way a professional presents himself on Grand Slam presser. “I don’t know how much time they took, but I just feel like maybe taking extra time when you’re young when you’re so sad, which can be the case, is maybe the way to go. I’m not sure. I just felt also it was quite rough for them, which is not nice to see,” said Roger Federer.

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During Wimbledon last month, Roger Federer collected 353 Grand Slam match wins, which is the highest in the Open Era of tennis. This year he entered the two centennial clubs in tennis, the first one being in Dubai, where he picked up his 100th ATP title and next one at Wimbledon, where he collected his 100th Wimbledon match win during the quarterfinals. 

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Mahalakshmi Murali

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Mahalakshmi Murali joined EssentiallySports in 2018 as a tennis author and has gone on to pen more than 1800 engaging articles, probing into various aspects of the sport and its illustrious players. With her expertise on the sport, Mahalakshmi has interviewed stalwarts from the sport such as Serena WIlliams’ coach Patrick Mouratoglou and Kevin Anderson’s physio, Carlos Costa. Equipped with her vast experience and a keen understanding of the sport, Mahalakshmi now co-heads the tennis department.
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