“I’ve known Roger Federer since I was 12 and he was bad,” Olympian Fernando Gonzalez divulges lesser-known details on the Swiss maestro

Fernando Gonzalez has claimed that Roger Federer was a bad tennis player in his early days.

“I’ve known Roger Federer since I was 12 and he was bad,” Olympian Fernando Gonzalez divulges lesser-known details on the Swiss maestro

(L) Young Roger Federer; (R) Fernando Gonzalez (Images via Sports Illustrated)

Former Chilean tennis player Fernando Gonzalez has talked about his early impression of Swiss tennis maestro Roger Federer and made an interesting claim. Gonzalez has claimed that Federer, who has 20 Grand Slam titles to his credit, was a bad player in his teenage while lauding a-year-younger player for his great vibe. Gonzalez also claimed that the two players shared a great bond, and he has known Federer since he was 11. 

While talking on TNT Sports’ show Sabor a Gol, Gonzalez talked about his tennis career and then his rivalry cum relationship with Federer. The Chilean also shared an anecdote about his meeting with young Federer and how the Swiss asked all sorts of questions. 

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“I’ve known Roger since I was 12, 13 years old, and at that age he was bad. I remember in a U-14 tournament, when I was the best in the world in that category, Federer was definitely not one of the good ones. Besides, he was a year younger, which at that age is very noticeable. He approached me and asked me questions. I got on very well with him and we went everywhere together,” said Gonzalez (via Clay- Historias De Tennis).

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Roger Federer dominated Fernando Gonzalez throughout his career

Fernando Gonzalez might share a great bond with Roger Federer off the court, but the Swiss legend dominated the Chilean as no one else did. Gonzalez was among Federer’s opponents against whom he rarely lost. The 20-time Grand Slam winner won 12 out of 13 matches these two played against each other.

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Fernando Gonzalez and Roger Federer (Image via 24Horas)

The only time Gonzalez managed to beat was in 2007, at the Tennis Masters Cup in China. Apart from that win, the Chilean was always on the backfoot against Federer. However, Gonzalez never let Federer walk away with an easy win as out of the twelve matches lost, only three were straight-set defeats.

The Chilean also played a decent number of matches against Rafael Nadal. The two players met ten times, wherein Gonzalez managed three wins while the Spaniard came out on top on the remaining seven occasions. Against Novak Djokovic, Fernando Gonzalez did not play much as they faced off three times. Interestingly, out of those three encounters, Gonzalez won two. The only time Djokovic won was in 2006, at the French Open.

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