DUBAI // During the course of a long and illustrious career – one that has seen him win a record 17 grand slam singles titles – Roger Federer has found Rafael Nadal to be the opponent he most struggled to beat.
For those who have seen Novak Djokovic enjoy a dominant 2015, it would not have been surprising had Federer picked the Serb out as his biggest nemesis, but then the Federer-Nadal rivalry has lasted nearly a decade.
“Rafa for me has been the ultimate challenge, along with some other players at the beginning when I was coming up and when I was bit more limited in my game,” said Federer, speaking in Dubai in the midst his International Premier Tennis League preparations.
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“People like [Argentine player David] Nalbandian and [Australia’s Lleyton] Hewitt and [former British No 1 Tim] Henman – you name it – some guys I struggled to play against.”
But Federer refused to be drawn into the debate about who is better – Djokovic or Nadal? “Totally different players, but Rafa’s been tougher for me even though I guess Novak has beaten me as many times as well,” he said.
The Swiss also paid rich tribute to Djokovic, especially after how far the world No 1 has come over the past eight years.
“He just became a really, really good player and tough to beat,” he said. “Especially in recent years, he’s taken it to another level. That just made it harder for me to dominate him. But still I’m winning my fair share of matches against him, and I’m really enjoying playing against Novak.”
A year to remember
As Federer looked back on an eventful 2015, the Swiss said he was happy with how he had played. The Swiss is 34 years old and a veteran in tennis terms, yet he managed to win six titles on the ATP Tour this year.
“If I look at the year itself – how I played and how many tournaments I’ve won – it’s been a really good year,” he pointed out. “This year I won a lot of matches. I was very competitive and beat almost all my rivals in the top 10.
“I played some really nice tennis. It was aggressive, healthy and I thought it was nearly great.”
But the seven-time Wimbledon champion stopped short of calling it the best year of his career. “If I compare it to my best years, it’s obviously not as good. I used to sometimes win three slams in a year, so for me that was the best year. I can’t give myself a 10 out of 10 this year,” he said.
The man who stopped it from being “great” was Djokovic. “Novak was really tough to beat, especially on the big occasions,” Federer added. “He’s got sky-high confidence and we hope that will come down again sooner than later, but we’re working hard to try to catch him.
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“I’m working hard to become the best player I can be. I enjoyed myself and was very happy with the season, even though I didn’t win a slam.”
The UAE Royals player added that Djokovic is “in the driving seat for the world No 1 ranking for some time now” and that his dominance “won’t change quickly if you look at the points”.
Having said that, the former long-time No 1 himself would be happy to leave rank-chasing to the younger generation, adding that he was more focused on improving his game.
“It’s about winning tournaments at this point in my career. For me if I’m ranked two, three, four, five it’s less important,” he said. “Once you’ve been world No 1 like myself or Rafa or others, you can go in wrong direction in the year if you start chasing rankings.”
Sights on Rio 2016
One event he has his eyes on is the 2016 Olympics at Rio de Janeiro. “I’ve always said the Olympics are very important to me,” he said. “Every Olympics has been an amazing experience and an eye-opener, a great learning curve for me seeing other athletes and getting inspired and motivated, and carrying the flag was such a proud moment in my career and my life as a person. To have done that twice for Switzerland was incredible – in Athens and Beijing.”
Federer won the gold in the doubles with Stan Wawrinka at Beijing in 2008, and a silver in the singles at London 2012 when the final was played at Wimbledon.
He will again team up with Wawrinka at Rio, and there will be the much-anticipated reunion with 20-time major winner Martina Hingis.
“I’m very excited about that because I haven’t played with her in 15 years,” Federer said. “I looked up to her when I was younger. I thought she was the most unbelievable talent. She’s almost my age and she was winning grand slam titles when I was still at the National tennis Centre trying to make it on the tour. I couldn’t believe how good she was.”
New year, new coach
Last week, Federer parted ways with veteran coach Stefan Edberg and included Ivan Ljubicic in his coaching staff to keep up with the constantly-evolving game.
“Usually I worked with players who played in a different generations [including the likes of Tony Roche],” he said.
“Because Ivan played a lot against some of the players I still play today, it’s the first time I have someone on my coaching staff who’s done that.
“So it’s very exciting for me to hear him out, and also in terms of motivation hearing a different voice is always very nice.”
Meanwhile, Severin Luthi will remain Federer’s main coach. “Edberg [whom he hired two years ago] obviously was amazing, nicest guy, gave me great advice and I will appreciate that forever.”
Surfaces do not matter
Federer says it is not easy to compare eras, with the game having changed exponentially in recent years.
“Clearly it seems easier than ever to run through different surfaces,” he pointed out.
“I know we’ve become really good players. You can play almost the same way on grass, hard court and clay, and indoors.
“Back in the day, [former French Open champion] Thomas Muster struggled on grass and [14-time major winner Pete] Sampras struggled on clay. We had more expertise on each particular surface. It was just a different time.”
Impressive Wawrinka
The Swiss also lauded the massive progress made over the last few years by countryman Wawrinka, which has taken him to No 4 in the world rankings.
“I couldn’t be happier for him that he’s playing as well as he is. I didn’t expect him to win two slams and the Davis Cup. Playing the way he does now is unreal. I’m blown away by the progress he’s made.
“When he catches fire, he can beat anybody.”
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PROFILE BOX
Company name: Overwrite.ai
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Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
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Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
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1 Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates 3:48:53
2 Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) Astana Pro Team -
3 Adam Yates (GBR) Mitchelton-Scott -
4 David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:04
5 Ilnur Zakarin (RUS) CCC Team 0:00:07
General Classification:
1 Adam Yates (GBR) Mitchelton-Scott 20:35:04
2 Tadej Pogacar (SlO) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:01
3 Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) Astana Pro Team 0:01:33
4 David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:48
5 Rafał Majka (POL) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:02:11
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TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
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What: India v Afghanistan, first Test
When: Starts Thursday
Where: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengalaru
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
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Rating: 5/5
Rooney's club record
At Everton Appearances: 77; Goals: 17
At Manchester United Appearances: 559; Goals: 253
Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
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'Munich: The Edge of War'
Director: Christian Schwochow
Starring: George MacKay, Jannis Niewohner, Jeremy Irons
Rating: 3/5
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More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The 12 breakaway clubs
England
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur
Italy
AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus
Spain
Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid