AC Milan manager Stefano Pioli has compared his star Zlatan Ibrahimovic to tennis legend Roger Federer. Both players continue to express an incredible performance for their age, as well as being driven by a motivation that allows them to make a difference despite the pressing of the years.
At 38, the Swedish center forward is still able to revive the fate of a team, while the 20-time Slam champion occupies the fourth place in the world ranking. “I think talent is an innate quality and it’s not difficult for me to spot it, but talent can be worked on and improved” – Pioli said during a recent Live session.
“I set the example of Roger Federer, as he was born with that talent, but worked constantly every day to become probably the greatest tennis player who ever lived. We also saw great natural talents wasted, perhaps because they were unwilling to make the sacrifices and work hard.
I trained Miroslav Klose, the striker who scored the most goals in the World Cup. Even Ibra tells me his only objective every day is to improve his performance and that’s what it’s all about” – he added. The Swiss Maestro has huge popularity in the world of sport, to the point that he has been called a living legend in his own time.
Given his achievements, Federer is widely considered to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time, with many players and analysts considering him to be the greatest tennis player of all time. He has also been called the greatest athlete of his generation.
Tennis.com listed him as the greatest male player of the open era. No other male tennis player has won 20 major singles titles in the Open Era, and he has been in 31 major finals, including 10 in a row. He has held the world No.
1 spot in the ATP rankings for longer than any other male player. He was ranked No. 1 at the age of 36 and has won a record eight Wimbledon titles. He won five consecutive US Open titles, which is the most in the Open Era.
UPDATES on Roger Federer: ‘I only had one woman in my life. While other players…’
Roger Federer spoke about his wife Mirka’s role in his success in tennis and also off the court. Mirka was world No. 76 in the early 2000s. Federer said: “If I speak of tennis, she had a deep impact on my character, maybe not on my game, but yes on myself as a professional because she was a professional tennis player before me, she was more experienced when I came on Tour, she knew the hard work, I was just learning.
Then she made me grow and mature in the first years. After I think the support I got from here, was always unbelievable support, she was always there to help me, she made my life easier, without caring if I would win or lose, she gave me big confidence.
As a player, it’s always good to have her because some players have a wife one year and then they switch her. Anything can make you enjoy but it can make you distracted.
My life is perfect the way it is. I always loved having the same girlfriend, the same wife, handling the family and protecting them from the press, she has not been having an interview for 12-15 years, so people don’t know everything she did, an unbelievable amount of job for my parents, my life, for Tony [Godsick], my children.
She is a great hard worker. She is amazing. So I hope nothing changes. I was always there for her and viceversa. And if she said, Can we drop a bit the rhythm? I would tell her, Well, but let’s do it slowly, less by less. We have good conversations and she is happy with the trips. But of course, for the children, we always have to make the best possible schedule.”
