Roger Federer experimented with a new larger Wilson frame last summer before switching back to his tried and true usual smaller frame at the US Open. But during the off season, he tried out a new 98-inch Wilson racket and now is committed to playing with it during the Australian summer.
“The racket is extremely important,” said Federer, who will debut the new frame this week in Brisbane. “But now I have the feeling that this is the right time for a change. I’ve played through two and a half weeks with the new model and am confident. The racket suits me very well.”
Federer also announced that he has hired Sweden’s Stefan Edberg to coach him for at least 10 weeks starting at the Australian Open. Edberg will work closely with Federer’s longtime coach, Swiss Davis Cup captain Severin Luthi.
Interestingly, when Federer offered the Swede the job, he did not get an automatic response. Federer said that six-time Grand Slam champion Edberg needed a lot of time to think about and he wasn’t sure, but that he was very flattered.
“We met the other day and he was excited about it” Federer said. “He’s sort of back in the game and never saw himself doing it, like myself, I never see myself coaching. But I’m sure he can bring a different angle to my game, which I find interesting.”
Federer was recently coached by Paul Annacone and also did stints with Jose Higueras and Peter Lungren. Edberg has the best on court resume as a player of all of them.
“I’ve never had someone with the success of Edberg,” he said. “Roche did win the French and many Davis Cups and doubles and he was a great player himself, but the generation of Lundgren and Edberg was the one I remember as a junior and I thought if I looked into a coach, I wanted one of that generation to see how it worked.”
Editors note. The Wilson pro staff used by Edberg is basically the same racket roger uses today. Edberg played his whole career with that “wonder stick” at one point the top four guys all used it. Edberg, Sampras, Courier….
Topics: 10sballs, Atp, Brisbane, Jim Courier, Paul Annacone, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, Sports, Stefan Edberg, Tennis, Tennis News, Wilson