Roger Federer: “I Follow so Many Different Sports”

Roger Federer, who is set to feature at the Basel open tomorrow, said that apart from tennis, the Swiss Maestro has a keen interest in many other sports as well. Federer has often been compared with Tiger Woods, for the similarity in successes as well as mental strength during tough situations. The pair have also been to each other’s matches quite often.

“I love talking about other sports because I follow so many different sports”, says Roger Federer. “It’s not just tennis for me. I mean, it goes from soccer to golf to Formula One to motorbike racing everything skiing and so forth.”

“Then to be compared to Tiger, it’s obviously very nice”, continued Federer. “For me, it’s just nice to be kind of compared to a different sport, too, and not just within my sport all the time“, said Federer.

“I guess we have something in common. It’s really, I think, the mental strength over the years. And combine that with the talent, I guess, of coming up with good shots at the right time. It’s obviously different, a golf shot to a tennis shot. But, still, I think you see similarities there once in a while”, added the Australian Open Champion.

Federer was also asked if he could predict the victor of a boxing match between him and Rafael Nadal. “We are not physical, the tennis players”, said Federer laughing. “We don’t like to touch each other,‘ continued Federer. Speaking on a serious note, Federer spoke on his rivalry with the world number one: “We’ve had some great matches. I think that we’ve been able to do that so consistently, I think that’s always great for tennis”, he said.

“I enjoy playing against him, but there’s nothing more important to me than winning the tournament in the end. So if I’m in the finals, doesn’t need to necessarily be Nadal. That would just add something more special to it, I guess”, Federer continued. Federer will face Filip Krajinović in his first match in Basel, where he could face Alexander Zverev in the finals.