Sven Groeneveld, the former head of the Swiss Tennis Federation, says that Roger Federer was advised not to pursue Mirka Vavrinec when the two started getting to know each other during the 2000 Olympic Games.
Federer and Vavrinec, who later went on to get married, met during the 2000 Games in Sydney when Vavrinec was still active on the tennis circuit.
Speaking on the Kasi Live show with Christopher Kas, Groeneveld says, “He asked everyone if he should go with her. Everyone advised him against. And that Federer did it was the best decision of his life.” Mirka retired from professional tennis in 2002 due to a persistent foot injury and had been a Top 100 player during her career.
The couple teamed up at the Hopman Cup for Switzerland in 2002. Mirka has accompanied Federer on the tour for many years, even after having children and the Swiss legend has said that she has played a key role in his personal and professional success.
Groeneveld also spoke about the altercation between Federer and Wawrinka during their semi-final clash at the ATP Finals in 2014. The Dutch coach said there had been considerable tension in the Swiss camp for some time after that but everything has been resolved smoothly now, thanks to Severin Luthi, the Swiss Davis Cup captain.
Groeneveld commented, “There were still a few problems internally. It’s unbelievable how the two of them solved it.. Stan was able to laugh about it again on the train to Lille on Sunday. Both have everything subordinated everything to the larger goal.”
Here Roger Federer tests the new Wilson Clash racket!
Roger Federer is continuing his quarantine by sharing new videos with his fans. The Swiss Maestro has been very active in these months during which tennis and everyone’s daily life are affected by the various lockdowns caused by the global Covid-19 pandemic.
Roger, after the semifinal at the Australian Open 2020 lost against Novak Djokovic and the subsequent Match for Africa 6 with Rafael Nadal and Bill Gates decided to go under surgery on his right knee, in order to come back competitive for the grass-season.
Obviously the pandemic changed everyone’s plans and now Federer is passing the lockdown at home, sharing moments and thoughts with his followers. First he launched the #tennisathomechallenge on Twitter, which went viral and was shared by other tennis players and many fans.
Then he shared through the same Twitter his thoughts about a possible union between ATP and WTA Tour, to face the future of tennis in a common way. Then, after giving backhand lessons to his fans, the Swiss is continuing his personalized training at home, also allowing himself funny moments with his followers. In recent days Roger tried the new Wilson Clash racquet.
Federer decided, after the bad 2013, to make some changes both in his team and regarding the racket. In fact, from 2014 he began to regularly use a slightly larger racket than in the past, in order to minimize unforced errors and obtain more winners: at the same time this new tool would have become perfect for his new style, more aggressive and devoted to conserving energy.
With Stefan Edberg and Ivan Ljubicic he improved and perfected these details, learning to use a different racket than in the past. From 2014 onwards, Roger Federer won three Slams (Australian open 2017 and 2018 and Wimbledon 2017), playing a total of 7 Slam finals in 6 years.
We can see Roger Federer training with the new Wilson Clash racket in the following video.
