© Getty Images Sport – Julian Finney
Roger Federer reveals “always asking questions” was probably his “annoying side” during his career. Federer, a former 20-time Grand Slam champion, was a perfectionist on the court and always striving for greatness. Over the course of his lengthy 24-year career, Federer worked with several coaches.
This past weekend, Federer was in Vancouver for the Laver Cup. The Laver Cup is a team tournament and that gives opportunity to players to speak to other players and coaches on the bench. “Maybe an annoying side of mine, I always asked questions.
I used to always need to know from my coaches, ‘Why are we doing this? What’s the plan?’ I would not hold back. Looking back in time, our weekends here at the Laver Cup, all around the world, the fun moments we had, the intense moments we had.
For me, it was always one of the best weeks of the year. No doubt about that,” Federer told Eurosport.
Federer was once called ‘the Why Man’
In 2010, Federer added coach Paul Annacone to his coaching staff and they worked for more than three years.
Last year, Annacone explained how Federer was committed to every single detail during practices. “Yeah, I think it’s almost unfortunate because people thought that it came so easily, he didn’t ever have to do anything, Well, I can tell you first-hand that the pre-season training sessions in Dubai after the US Open with Pierre Paganini and Severin Luthi, it was very strategic.
He spent a ton of time in the gym, he spent a ton of time on the practice court. And one of the things that I found most interesting about Roger was that the first time I met him, we talked about doing something and I asked him to do it, and he said, ‘Why?’ I said, ‘What do you mean why?’ And he goes, ‘Well, when I was a kid, everyone used to call me the ‘Why Man.’
I’m happy to do it but you have to tell me why and how does it fit into my game.’ And that mantra lasted from the day he started to the day he stopped as a professional tennis player,” Annacone said of coaching Federer on Tennis Channel last year.
