Roger Federer didn't even have the level to be top 100: Colombian player who beat him as a junior
Roger Federer's early years were not quite an accurate reflection of what was to come from the Swiss maestro. While battling it out at the junior level tournaments in the mid-to-late 1990s, Federer was often found wanting in both the physical and the mental departments of the game.
This has been confirmed time and time again by his former opponents. And recently, Colombian players Manuel Lievano and Nicolas Laverde spoke about what it was like to face Roger Federer back then in both singles and doubles.
Not surprisingly, neither of them saw a 20-time Grand Slam champion in the making.
It is an anecdote of life, one to tell the children: Lievano on playing against Roger Federer
Lievano spoke to MatchTenis about his first meeting with Roger Federer on the European Tour in 1995, during the Swiss player's junior days.
"It was in Amsterdam (Holland) in 95. I lost in the second round and played a consolation draw. It was there that we faced each other and I beat him, but I don't remember the score," said Lievano.
"I had the opportunity to meet him much earlier, when he was just 12 years old. I was representing South America several seasons in a row (on the tour) and there we shared the court. We never thought that he would become what he is today," he added.
The Colombian didn't think the Swiss even had the potential to become a top 100 player, and remembers how he never gave Roger Federer any special attention.
"He did not even have the level to be Top-100 and there were many players above him such as Fernando González, Marat Safin, Xavier Malisse, Oliver Rochus," asserted Lievano.
"In 1996 our best player was the Brazilian Ricardo Melo, who by mistake played the qualification of an important tournament in Torino (Italy), and in the final he lost to Federer. As soon as we knew, we all started laughing."
Lievano faced off against Roger Federer in doubles as well, with partner Nicolas Laverde. The latter also revealed how he wasn't particularly impressed with the 20-time Grand Slam champion.
"He was just another player. Several with better level attended that tournament such as Nicolás Massú, Luis Horna, Fernando González himself; in fact, his partner was better," said Laverde. "I did not have the opportunity to share much with him, on many occasions the language barrier limits a lot, those from South America on the one hand and Europeans on the other. The best of my age were Mariano Puerta, Mariano Zabaleta and Tommy Haas."
But Lievano does cherish the memory of having competed against the now legendary Roger Federer, even if the Swiss was an unknown player back then.
"It is an anecdote of life , to tell the children , every time he spoke with Nicolás we remember him , and we always think that we should never have lost that game, we played very badly," claimed the Colombian.