“He commanded respect by walking, not just playing,” Roger Federer’s ‘aura and presence’ explained by former coach of Grigor Dimitrov and Kei Nishikori

Dante Bottini revealed that he and Roger Federer played a tournament together as juniors.

“He commanded respect by walking, not just playing,” Roger Federer’s ‘aura and presence’ explained by former coach of Grigor Dimitrov and Kei Nishikori

Roger Federer (Source: Daily Sabah)

Dante Bottini, the former coach of players Grigor Dimitrov and Kei Nishikori, recently talked about retired tennis player Roger Federer and the aura that he carried with him. Bottini said that Roger Federer was just a tad different from everyone else and his absence is felt. The coach did not have words good enough to explain it but the tournaments, according to him, were just different when Roger Federer was playing. 

Tennis continues, but when he entered the locker room he was a presence..., people were a little speechless, they looked at him. The guy had a presence... he commanded respect by walking, not just playing tennis. Afterwards he was a normal, fun guy, with a sense of humor. A phenomenon.
Dante Bottini said. (H/T: Lanacion)

The coach said that just because Federer was such a big figure in tennis, people were often awestruck to see him and he was respected both on and off the field. He was like a senior in every aspect and everyone treated him like that too. Dante Bottini has also had the fortune of meeting Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal several times but Federer was the player who made him feel this way. 

After a prolific career wherein he won as many as 20 Grand Slam titles, Federer finally retired at the 2022 Laver Cup. It was an emotional moment as both he and his longtime nemesis, Rafael Nadal, broke into tears during his retirement event. Both of them shared the stage for decades and are by far known as the two most famous tennis players of all time. Even after his retirement, Federer follows tennis pretty closely and often shows up at tournaments as a spectator. 

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Bottini on Roger Federer’s humility

Dante Bottini also revealed how humble Roger Federer was on and off the court. The Swiss asks players questions if he is training with them for the first time and tries to get to know them. For a player of his caliber and level, it is not very common. 

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

Bottini said that in 1997, he and Roger shared a tournament. They both played in Italy’s Prato International as juniors. He showed Roger the tournament draw and told him that if he had won his round, they would have faced each other but unfortunately, he lost. 

I was 17 years old and he was 15. I showed him the tournament draw and told him that if I won I was going to face him, but I lost. He remembered everything and he told me: 'I won that tournament and that's where my promotion began.' He remembered that he had beaten a Frenchman, who was number 1 in the category (Julien Jeanpierre). A phenomenon.

Apparently, Roger remembered everything. He remembered having beaten Julien Jeanpierre who was No. 1 in his category back then. 

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