A new coach at the side of the 20 year-old Swiss talent, and no stranger.
Simon Graf, the Swiss journalist and author of Roger Federer: Phenomenon. Enthusiast. Philanthropist and co-writer with Simon Cambers of The Federer Effect, posted yesterday a tweet revealing that Dominic Stricker has started working with Peter Lundgren. They have agreed on a three-week tryout, which could turn into a long term collaboration. This week they are together in Ticino for the Challenger Città di Lugano where Stricker is No.2 seed.
I’ve been training very hard after my victory in Rovereto. I’m in high spirits and in this tournament I’m starting a collaboration with Peter Lundgren. Stricker said to Swiss press.
The name of Peter Lundgren definitely evokes powerful memories for Swiss tennis fans, since he mentored Roger Federer in the early stages of his career and Stan Wawrinka in 2010-11. In 2010 Wawrinka also won the Lugano Challenger. It may not be a coincidence that Stricker and Lundgren have chosen Lugano as a springboard for their partnership.
But the Swede, former No. 25 in the world in 1985, has not only interwoven his coaching career with Swiss tennis: many players have been under his wings: Marcelo Rios, Marat Safin, Marcos Baghdatis and Grigor Dimitrov. It’s worth noting he was successful in steering impetuous young talents towards high achievements. Under his guidance Rios burst into the top 10 and Safin won the Australian Open. And of course, many will still remember Lundgren in the players box at Wimbledon 2003 when Federer won his first Major.
Stricker, who won the boys’ singles and doubles at Roland Garros in 2020, reached a highest ranking of 111 in November last year. He made some sensation in the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, where he defeated Lorenzo Musetti and Jack Draper before losing to Jiri Lehecka in the semifinal. This year he has won the Challenger in Rovereto.
His former coach, Sven Swinnen of Swiss Tennis Academy has always praised Stricker for his ball-striking and his vision of the game, while pointing out that his footwork is the area with margin for improvement. A coach like Peter Lundgren, who did not hesitate to scold young Federer for being lazy and not physically on point, could be the right man to kindle the fire.
