Tennis News: Despite coaching change, Roger Federer vows to keep in touch with ex-coach Stefan Edberg
Former World No. 1 Roger Federer has changed coaches at the tail end of his illustrious career but claims that he still would prefer to “stay in touch” with his previous coach, Stefan Edberg.
Federer, who is currently ranked No. 3 in the world, tapped former Croatian tennis pro Ivan Ljubijic as new coach. Federer’s original deal with Edberg was supposed to be for the 2014 season only but the pair extended their partnership until this season.
“I’ll stay in touch with Stefan Edberg, he’s been a wonderful guy, an incredible inspiration and motivation for me,” Federer said in a recent interview. “Unfortunately we won’t be working together as much anymore but he said he would like to come around for some tournaments and we’ll still be in touch.”
Federer’s replacing his previous coach was not seen as a big surprise by most tennis pundits as the Swiss Maestro has come up short in winning Grand Slams during the past two seasons. In the eight majors championships on schedule, he reached the final three times (2014 and 2015 Wimbledon Championships and 2015 US Open), made the semifinals twice (2014 Australian Open and 2014 US Open) and exited three others via quarterfinals or lower.
"After 2 very successful years, I would like to thank Stefan Edberg, my childhood idol, for agreeing to join my team. It was a dream come true. Although it was supposed to only be for 2014, Stefan was great and agreed to extend the partnership through this year which I really appreciated,” Federer said about Edberg during the time he made the announcement of the coaching change.
The Swiss great already holds the record for most majors championships at 17 titles but at 34 years old, Federer is aiming for more as he hits the tail end of his career.
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