Roger Federer's former coach Stefan Edberg looks back on his "fantastic journey" with the Swiss legend
Roger Federer's former coach Stefan Edberg has opened up about the time he spent coaching the 20-time Grand Slam champion.
Edberg is a former professional tennis player who won six Grand Slam singles and three Grand Slam men's doubles titles over the course of his career. He is notably the only player alongside John McEnroe to have held the World No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles in the Open Era.
The Swede took on the role of coach for Roger Federer in December 2013 and their partnership came to an end two years later in December 2015. He was replaced by Ivan Ljubicic in the former World No. 1's coaching team.
Stefan Edberg was honored with the "Golden Racket" last week by the Italian Open for his achievements in the sport. Following that, he spoke to Ursin Caderas about his memories of playing in Rome in an interview featured on the "ATP Tennis Radio Podcast."
The Swede likened the atmosphere at the Rome Masters to that of Wimbledon.
"It is a great feeling coming back to Rome again. I have quite a few memories from here and it is a great place to play tennis with a lot of tradition," Edberg said.
"It was always a tremendous atmosphere playing here and once the Italian crowd gets going, it’s one of the best in the world. It’s a lovely court to play on and it’s a good place to play. You feel like tennis belongs here, like playing at Wimbledon."
Edberg reminisced over his previous visit to the Italian Open as Federer's coach. He recounted his "great experience" of working with the 41-year-old amid their two-year long partnership.
Edberg also shared that working with the Swiss allowed him to witness the significant changes tennis had undergone since his own playing days.
"Well it was a fantastic opportunity. It was a great experience. It was a fantastic journey for two years," he said.
"I never thought I’d be coach anyway ever but I had the opportunity to get to know Roger and yes to see how much the tennis has actually changed since I stopped playing in the 90’s. So, tennis has really progressed."
Roger Federer is an artist on the court: Former Coach Stefan Edberg
Stefan Edberg also spoke about the mutual respect between himself and Roger Federer. He emphasized how much he, like many others worldwide, admires the Swiss Maestro's artistic approach to tennis.
Edberg stated that he cherished the opportunity to work with Federer while witnessing his professionalism and the evolution of the sport since his own playing days.
"We have a lot of respect for each other. I love the way Roger plays tennis like a lot of other people around the world do. He’s an artist on court and very special to watch," Edberg said.
"It was very special to be around him and see how professional he is and see how things work nowadays to how it was back in my days."
Under Stefan Edberg's tutelage, Roger Federer reached consecutive Wimbledon finals in 2014 and 2015 as well as the 2015 US Open final. However, the 20-time Grand Slam champion lost each of the three Major finals to Novak Djokovic.
Edberg and Federer won 11 titles together over the course of their two-year long partnership.