Is this the way to handicap Roger Federer and give opponents a chance to stop his perfect 17-0 match record in 2018?
After his semi-final win Saturday at the BNP Paribas Open, Roger Federer got a visit from Aussie tennis great Rod Laver, who presented the Swiss with one of his famous wooden racquets. Laver, who admitted to Federer’s surprise that he used to play whole tournaments with the same strings, was in the stands watching as the World No.1 claimed an impressive comeback victory over Borna Coric to reach his 8th BNP Paribas Open final.
Delighted to present @RogerFederer with my Dunlop Maxply inscribed: ‘To the greatest, from Rod Laver ’62 ’69’ after his SF win today. Onto another final @BNPPARIBASOPEN pic.twitter.com/Zg7kH8bIu0
— Rod Laver (@rodlaver) March 17, 2018
“I saw [Pete] Sampras and Laver there [in the crowd]. So many times during the game you think to yourself, ‘what are they thinking?’” said Federer. “So it's interesting when you have fellow athletes watching you play. It's maybe the biggest inspiration out there for a player.”
It’s only fitting that two of tennis’ most prolific record-setters were sitting in the stands as Federer broke one of his own personal ones. The 36-year-old bettered his previous career-best start to the season – a 16-0 match-win run to begin his storied 2006 season, which would ultimately go down as one of the best seasons of all-time – with a hard-fought victory over Borna Coric. He is now 17-0 to start 2018.
“Took a while to get the record,” said Federer, smiling as he recalled his tricky two-hour, 20-minute victory over Coric.
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“But I'm happy. Especially also with the match, it was just a fighting match [and] it didn't come easy, so I had to go get it. Also got a little bit lucky, of course, throughout the match.
“I hung tough and put a lot of effort into it to get the record,” he added. “You go from one to the next. Clearly, the focus has to be the finals right now and not enjoying the record. But it's nice to get off to a good start this year, and I hope I can play well again tomorrow.”
Having not lost a match and only dropped four sets in total this season, Federer acknowledged the value of having tough matches such as his semi-final with Coric, which allowed him to tap into the grit seldom required in his efficient and seemingly effortless brand of tennis.
“I enjoy these fighting matches, because very often I can't talk enough about my quality of my grit and my fighting spirit,” said Federer. “But when it happens, I actually enjoy the battle, because it's what it's supposed to be, to be quite honest.
Federer will look to take his career-best start to a season one match further when he plays Juan Martin del Potro for the trophy on Sunday. The Swiss owns a 16-8 record against del Potro in their FedEx ATP Head2Head, but nevertheless expects a tough challenge from his familiar foe against whom he will need plenty of today’s grit – and perhaps even more – if he’s to defend his BNP Paribas Open crown.
