“Roger Federer said that he never should have lost that match” – Julien Boutter on the Swiss ace’s first ATP title win

“Roger Federer said that he never should have lost that match” – Julien Boutter on the Swiss ace’s first ATP title win
Roger Federer

Twenty years ago. A certain Roger Federer, still 19, was winning his first ATP tournament. It was the Milan Indoor at the Palalido and the Swiss with red jersey, long hair, some pimples, a bit of surprise under the happy smile – he defeated in the final (6-4, 6-7, 6-4) Julien Boutter.

It was only the beginning of one of the most extraordinary stories not only of tennis but of the whole history of sports, but this is basically secondary of a love story with the city: “I love Milan – he told one day – .The food, the clubs, the shopping, the people, even the traffic. And then here I have always expressed myself well.”

Federer, now 39 years of age, has collected 102 more ATP victories, including 20 Grand Slams and 5 Atp Finals, along with a Davis Cup with Switzerland and the silver medal at the London 2012 Olympics.

FS Video

But it all began there, at Milan, in the Palalido. Federer had said about the match, “I had lost the previous two finals in Marseille and Basel, so I really wanted to win my first title. I remember it as a beautiful week: along the way I beat some great players like Moya and Kafelnikov, before overtaking Boutter in the final.”

Julien Boutter talks about Roger Federer

Julien Boutter

Julien Boutter had come into the match feeling poised to claim his first title as well. He beat Federer in their only prior match, in a Challenger event in Grenoble two years before.

“He was already considered the future Pete Sampras, but at that time he was still untested and quite nervous on the court,” Boutter said in a January interview with ATPTour.com.

“I was confident… it could have been my final. He said that he never should have lost that match,” Boutter recalled. He further stated that he knew Federer would be a great player, but had no idea he’d win 102 more titles and become one of the all-time greats.

He stated that he thinks the Milan story could have been different if he hadn’t lost serve in that third set when it should have been Federer’s service game after he had dropped the tie-break. “I told Roger ‘Imagine if I had won that match, our careers would be switched’,” said Boutter, who reached a career high of No. 46 in the FedEx ATP Rankings in 2002. “He laughed and said ‘Yeah probably’,” he signed off.

Also Read: Australian Open 2021: Sumit Nagal vs Ricardas Berankis Preview, Head-to-Head and Prediction