World No. 2 Roger Federer has revealed the secret behind his longevity. The Swiss, who will turn 37 in August is still one of the most dominant players on the men’s circuit.
Federer, who won the Hopman Cup in Perth on Saturday is the clear favorite to lift his 20th Grand Slam trophy at the upcoming Australian Open in Melbourne. While, the Swiss icon is still dominating the ATP tour, his chief rivals Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are struggling with injuries and are doubtful starters for the event in Victoria.
And after his victory over Alexander Zverev in the Hopman Cup, Federer disclosed how he was still achieving so much success in his mid-thirties.
“When you’re younger you have to put in the hours to be able to tell yourself ‘I can stay out on a court for four hours and train for 10 days straight’,” Federer said.
“You have to prove it to yourself that you can do it. It’s more of a mental thing in my opinion.
“Of course, your game needs a lot of tennis and your game needs fitness so you don’t get hurt so often.
“But as you grow older, it becomes a bit more quality-orientated and not so much quantity because quantity hurts the body.
“I’ve played almost 1500 matches in my career so you have to be careful there.”
Federer also hinted at skipping the entire clay-court season in 2018. The 36-year-old had pulled out of last year’s French Open and other major events scheduled on the red dirt of Europe to preserve his body from injuries that have generally affected him on that surface. According to his own admission in the past, clay is one of the worst surfaces for his injury prone back.
Federer added: “It’s nice because I work part-time now: work in the morning, off in the afternoon or the other way around.
“It’s good doing that, it’s good being a husband, good being a tennis player.
“I have the best of all worlds. It’s great.”
