Watch: Patrick Mouratoglou in awe of Roger Federer, calls Swiss maestro 'perfection at work'
One of the greatest players ever to pick up a tennis racquet, Roger Federer was once again hailed for his eye-pleasing game style recently, this time by French coach Patrick Mouratoglou, who shared a video to relive one of the Swiss maestro's "moments of perfection."
While the majority of the tennis world considers the rivalry between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic better than any other on the men's circuit, everyone unites in Federer's corner when it comes to choosing the player with the most beautiful game in the history of the sport.
Mouratoglou has played a vital role in the careers of several top players like Serena Williams, Marcos Baghdatis, Grigor Dimitrov, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Coco Gauff, Simona Halep, and currently Holger Rune. The Frenchman recently took to social media to praise Federer for his ability to win points in difficult situations.
The video, recorded by a spectator sitting directly behind the Swiss legend, shows a nine-shot rally on clay from his Round of 16 match at the 2019 Italian Open against Croatia's Borna Coric.
The rally started with the Swiss icon's serve and the seventh shot saw him hit a single-handed crosscourt backhand from almost outside the court behind the baseline. As he started to move to his right in anticipation, Coric also hit a crosscourt backhand, which took Federer by surprise. However, he produced a stunning single-handed backhand dropshot to win the point as Coric failed to reach the ball.
"The perfection at work with @rogerfederer. The art of bouncing from being wrong footed into wrong footing the opponent," Mouratoglou wrote on his Instagram post.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion eventually won the match 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(7) but withdrew before his quarterfinal clash against Tsitsipas.
"Roger Federer was kind of unstoppable" - Stefanos Tsitsipas
Stefanos Tsitsipas faced Roger Federer four times, with their head-to-head record standing at 2-2. The fourth-ranked Greek is currently in Saudi Arabia for the Diriyah Tennis Cup exhibition tournament, scheduled to begin on December 8.
In a recent video released by the tournament, Tsitsipas heaped praise on the former player, saying that he was unstoppable during his prime.
"Roger's best years, you know, he was kind of unstoppable. It seemed so going forwards," Tsitsipas said. "He said many years ago that 'if you don't improve and if you don't change something in a positive way, the opponents are going to kind of find out what you are doing and what you've been doing is not anymore as efficient as it was before. So, you always got to think forward, you always gotta be progressive in your mindset'. And that's what he has been doing so well for so many years."