If Roger Federer was a kid while Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic were playing tennis, who would the Swiss have cheered for? In a recent press conference, the Swiss player said: ‘For sure Rafa. He is exciting, energetic, the ideal guy for young guys.

I appreciate both of them a lot, they play an unbelievably physical tennis, they are younger than me but I feel better physically than how I was doing at 20 years. I keep what I have. I would definitely like to have those powerful serves, you launch the ball and the point is ended, like Karlovic or Isner, or maybe Edberg’s volley because I always loved volleying players.’ Meanwhile, the Rolex Shanghai Masters Tournament Director Michael Luevano confirmed Federer’s commitment to Shanghai: ‘As long as he is playing, he is going to play in Shanghai.

He will put it in his calendar. We have a friendship, he has his co-partnerships, Uniqlo is one of the largest commercial partners in Asia and I would not be surprised to see him many times in Japan in the future. He was in Tokyo prior to Shanghai.

I know he loves Japan, Asia and Shanghai obviously. We are blessed to have the world’s greatest tennis player.

The tournament had to be cancelled completely last year, meaning the current edition is the first since 2019, when Fabio Fognini was a surprise winner.
That has come with a trade-off, though, with no fans able to attend due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis

“Sad not to see the crowds here this year after practice,” Rafael Nadal, the 11-time champion, posted on his Instagram story.

Interestingly, that was at-odds with Novak Djokovic’s observations, with the world number one saying the lack of fans has made for particularly good practice conditions for players.

“It is better for training because there are no fans, there are only people from sponsoring companies,” the world number one told the Serbian media.

“Under normal circumstances, it is difficult to provide courts for all players and then practice for an hour here, an hour there at the very beginning of the tournament when there are many players.

“Now I notice that most players train one on one without the need to share the court. That may be a positive thing.

“You play matches where you usually train, meet people and spend time outside.

“Now we have time to look at the trainings of other players, for which we are grateful because we are in safe conditions due to all restrictions and it’s nice to catch some fresh air.”

Roger Federer made a name for himself already in his junior days, finishing the 1998 season as year-end no. 1 player and conquering Wimbledon. Still a teenager, Federer advanced into the quarter-final at Roland Garros and Wimbledon in 2001, stunning the seven-time champion Pete Sampras in London before falling in four tight sets against Tim Henman.

Federer had a solid run in the first half of 2002, played in the first Masters 1000 final in Miami and moved one step further in May in Hamburg, lifting the first trophy at that level and entering the top-10 on the next day.

Roger Federer spoke about Martina Hingis in Rome 2003.
After early exits at Roland Garros and Wimbledon and points lost from the previous year, Roger couldn’t play at his best in the rest of the season, struggling on and off the court and hoping for a better run in 2003.

He made a great start to the mentioned season, scoring the most victories ahead of Indian Wells and playing on a high level on clay after conquering Munich and reaching the Rome third round. Asked about the national athlete of the year award, Federer admitted it isn’t easy to earn it in Switzerland and that it isn’t his prime target.

Also, he mentioned Martina Hingis, who had decided to retire from tennis, leaving Roger as the ultimate star of Swiss tennis in those years. “I don’t know; every year you have some guys who achieve something big, like Simon Ammann last year.

Then you have the skiers who win races or World Cups. Maybe I’m the most popular Swiss athlete, but result-wise, I need to step it up in the big tournaments or the Davis Cup to be the year’s sports athlete. That’s the reason I haven’t achieved that yet in Switzerland.

I’ve been second last year, third two years ago. Still, that’s not the most important thing in life. I’m maybe getting more attention since Martina Hingis’s retirement, but I was popular even she was still active.

Also, my results helped me becoming more popular. My goals are higher than that. I mean, I hope I will get sports athlete of the year eventually if we have some guys who don’t perform,” Roger Federer said.