Federer May Not Hire A Coach

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 5th December 2013

Federer May Not Hire A Coach

epa03944170 Switzerland's Roger Federer serves to Spain's Rafael Nadal during a Barclays ATP World Tour semi-finals tennis match at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 10 November 2013. EPA/ANDY RAIN |

Roger Federer may well forego appointing a new coach after splitting in the autumn with Californian Paul Annacone, with the Swiss hinting that he might be quite well-served by his longtime ally on court Severin Luthi. “In Severin, I still have a coach who has been extremely helpful for me for a long time,” he told sponsor Credit Suisse in an off-season interview before getting to worked in the heat of Dubai.

“But I don’t know if he can or wants to be on the road with me for 40 weeks next year. At the moment, I don’t know if I am going to appoint a new coach at all. I’m very happy with my team.”

Federer, now ranked sixth, said that parting with Annacone was not at all unpleasant, but a natural progression of the three-and-a-half year relationship. “It was a mutual split, we talked to each other in Dubai before the tournament in Shanghai and both of us had the feeling that it was the right moment. The split went as well as it possibly could. Paul will remain a good friend and we’re still in close contact.”

While Federer has said he will decide on participation in the 2014 Swiss Davis Cup campaign – “in the next few weeks I will make a decision about the Davis Cup. But at the moment I have no idea what it will be – he gave full credit to friend and Davis regular Stanislas Wawrinka, who has been with the team through thick and thin and has voiced the opinion that Federer should play the event more regularly.

Wawrinka and Federer both reached last month’s World Tour Finals in London, a first for the “junior” Swiss. “I’ve known that Stan could beat the best players, he hasn’t had to prove anything to me for a long time,” said Federer. “But I’m happy for Stan that things are going so well for him. It was a fantastic end of season, with two Swiss in the semi-finals in London. And neither of us knew right up to the final tournament at Paris-Bercy whether we would even qualify.”

Topics: 10sballs.com, Davis Cup, Dubai, Paul Annacon, Roger Federer, Severin Luthi, Shanghai, Stanislas Wawrinka, Tennis, Tennis News