Roger Federer’s ex-coach Paul Annacone discloses the Swiss’ reaction after losing to Novak Djokovic in consecutive US Open semi-finals despite holding match points

Paul Annacone was Roger Federer's coach from 2010 to 2013.

Roger Federer’s ex-coach Paul Annacone discloses the Swiss’ reaction after losing to Novak Djokovic in consecutive US Open semi-finals despite holding match points

Roger Federer (L), Novak Djokovic (R) (Via: Eurosport,)

Roger Federer’s former coach, Paul Annacone, recently appeared on Jonathan Stokke’s podcast, ‘Baseline Intelligence’. The two talked about a lot of things, including the reasons behind Roger Federer’s enormous success. In the midst of that, the 60-year-old also discussed how the Swiss international was extremely relaxed when he lost back-to-back US Open semi-finals against Novak Djokovic in 2010 and 2011. 

Paul Annacone was Federer’s coach between 2010 and 2013. Thus, he is probably the best person to narrate the Swiss legend’s stories from that period. Annacone remembered feeling bad for Federer back then, as he was on match point in back-to-back US Open semi-finals against Djokovic and still ended up losing those matches. However, he remembered that Federer was in a pretty good mood. In fact, he was playing with his kids after a while. 

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“I was sitting in his box in 2010 and 2011, successive years where he had match points at the US Open and lost both matches to Novak and I felt terrible for him, but it was hard for me to understand and I remember talking with him afterwards and he was in a really good mood – it was a few hours later and he was playing with his kids,” Annacone revealed. (H/T: welovetennis.fr)

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Upon being asked about his mood, Roger had then said, “Yes, it’s very hard, but I can also tell you ten matches that I had no right to win and which I won. Ultimately, this match is highly publicized because it is a semi-final, but I can also tell you all the others where I had no chance.”

By the end of Federer’s career, Novak Djokovic had a better head-to-head record in the rivalry. The duo have played a total of 50 matches against each other. Novak has won 27 of those, while Federer has won 23. 

Paul Annacone says Roger Federer did not deserve to win the 2012 Wimbledon Open

Adding to his story of Federer’s reaction to his back-to-back losses against Novak Djkovic, he said that the Swiss player was absolutely on point with his remark about winning several matches and that he did not deserve to show that things like these happen in tennis. In the very next year, Federer went on to show that in the 2012 Wimbledon Open. 

Roger Federer
Roger Federer with the 2012 Wimbledon Trophy (Source: Tennis 365)

According to Paul Annacone, he did not deserve to win the tournament. “The following year at Wimbledon, when he won in 2012, he really – in my opinion – should not have won this tournament,” he said. 

The American revealed that early on in the tournament, Roger got injured and his back gave out completely. He won one of the matches in five rounds and he could barely walk. Yet, he somehow managed to seal the deal and win the competition. 

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