Vijay Amritraj explains why fans prefer Roger Federer over Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal despite him having a poor record against the two
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Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and Novak Djokovic
Swiss maestro Roger Federer announced a few days back that he will be retiring from professional tennis after the Laver Cup next week. After losing the quarterfinals at Wimbledon last year, Federer decided to undergo a third knee surgery which ruled him out for almost a year. He was supposed to return a couple of months back but his recovery was taking more time than expected.
But things didn’t go Federer’s way and given his age, it was best for him to bid adieu. He wrote a heartfelt letter addressing the fans and confirmed that the Laver Cup will be his last tournament as a tennis player.
Speaking to WION, Indian legend Vijay Amritraj spoke about Federer’s retirement and said that he has the retirement coming as it was long due. Amritraj said that Federer has won everything there is to have won and has gotten good numbers. He also put light on Federer’s grace and elegance.
“Well, it was certainly coming. I mean, he’s 41 years of age, he’s won everything there is to have won, but we can talk numbers all day long because he’s really got all the numbers that you could possibly want… I think you could use a lot of superlative words to describe the way Federer played. Things like grace and elegance and beauty and ballet,” Amritraj said.
‘Even when he missed, he looked like a ballet dancer’: Vijay Amritraj on Roger Federer
Amritraj then spoke on why fans prefer Federer over his two biggest rivals- Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. Federer has won fewer majors than both Nadal and Djokovic and has a negative H2H record against both of them. Despite everything, Federer is still the most loved tennis player. Amritraj reasoned that the way Federer conducted himself is one of the main reasons why fans adore the 41-year-old.
“Yes, I think the reason we tilt towards Roger Federer, globally, is really because of the way he played, the way he conducted himself, he looked graceful when he played the game,” he said.
He added that even when Federer missed, he didn’t look ugly and rather looked like a ballet dancer. “Even when he missed, he looked like a ballet dancer. So you kind of favored that portion of it in the subconscious on a regular basis. And I can understand that completely because he’s so beautiful to watch,” he said.
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Lakshya Chopra
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