Roger Federer explains why he is averse to creating his own tennis academy
While Roger Federer's great rivals Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have found great success in their respective tennis academies, the Swiss maestro is not too keen to begin one of his own.
Speaking to the media during a recent fan event in Tokyo, Federer explained that it is "hard" for him to run an academy given that it could clash with the operations and plans of the Swiss Tennis Federation -- an entity he considers himself incredibly "close" to.
"I am like the product of Swiss tennis, of a federation. So I think I will always have that with me. That's why it's hard for me to create my own academy, because I feel like that would go maybe potentially against the federation, who I am too close to," Federer said.
"Coaching? I mean, never say never" - Roger Federer
Now that Roger Federer has retired, there has been a lot of talk in the tennis community regarding the Swiss star potentially shifting his focus toward coaching in the next phase of his life.
When asked about the possibility, he stated that for now, he intends to only focus on day clinics for children, and nothing more major. He did not, however, rule out the possibility of becoming a coach in the future.
"I think it was the next gen development programme here at Uniqlo. I will be doing more mentorship and more inspirational, you know, kids day clinics in my mind for the moment. Coaching? I mean, never say never," he said.
The 20-time Major champion pointed out how his former coach Stefan Edberg was averse to the idea of coaching until he rang up the Swede, inviting him over for a practice session.
Highlighting how he does not possess the bandwidth needed for coaching at the moment given that he has four school-going children, the former World No. 1 mentioned that he would never decline to offer advice to junior Swiss tennis players.
"Stefan Edberg said the same, he will never coach, until he got the phone call from me and I invited him over for practise and he said, okay, let me try, you know for a year. But at the moment, my four children going to school and everything going on, I don't see myself coaching at the moment. If a Swiss junior comes around, you know, and he needs some support or you know, advice, I'm happy to do that," he added.