Roger Rasheed, the ex-coach of former World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt and current No. 3 Grigor Dimitrov, has claimed that 19-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer is in great shape to defend his Australian Open title in Melbourne.
According to Rasheed, Federer is more confident this year than last year. The former World No. 1 won his 18th Grand Slam in Australia in 2017 in stunning fashion after making a remarkable comeback from injury. Federer had spent six-months out of the game and wasn’t expected to win the title at Melbourne Park.
However, he simply dazzled on the court throughout the two weeks of the event in 2017, notching up surprise wins over Tomas Berdych, Kei Nishikori and Stan Wawrinka to set-up a blockbuster final against his nemesis Rafael Nadal. And in the title clash, the Basel native played breathtaking tennis, eventually coming out on top of the Spaniard in a five-set epic.
“It’s a real different Roger Federer this year because if you rewind it, the emotions of coming out last year – he hasn’t played for six months, (wondering) ‘how my body will react?,” Rasheed told Big Sports Breakfast.
“All of a sudden, it’s twelve months later and you’re now defending champion.
“It’s an amazing journey over such a short period of time.
“At one point, we had a question mark over his future.”
The Swiss superstar opened the defense of his Australian Open crown by beating Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia in straight forward fashion on Tuesday.
“He was pretty good, it wasn’t like a wow moment,” Rasheed said.
“You’re just looking for little things – what his movement patterns are and how quick are they?
“It showed me that Roger is really free, his body is in great condition, his mind is obviously there.”
Federer will square-off against Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff for a place in the third round of the tournament on Thursday.
