Summary: <img width="1024" height="576" src="https://blog.tennisevolution.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Roger-Federer-The-Courage-of-A-Champion-1024x576.jpg" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" alt="" style="float: left; margin: 0 15px 15px 0;"><p><img class="aligncenter wp-image-13073 size-large" src="https://blog.tennisevolution.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Roger-Federer-The-Courage-of-A-Champion-1024x576.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="576"></p> <p>Listen to Jeff’s analysis of the 2017 Australian Open Mens Final…</p> <div class="smart-track-player-container stp-color-2d7bbf-EEEEEE"></div> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Show Notes</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This is Jeff Salzenstein, USTA High Performance coach, and former top 100 ATP Singles and Doubles player, and today, we’re going to talk about Roger Federer: his championship, his Grand Slam win at the Australian Open, the 2000 Australian Open, beating Rafa Nadal.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Now, I woke up at 4:30 a.m., central time in Chicago. I was there watching Stanford play college, and I woke up without an alarm clock to see the 4</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">th</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> set beginning. Actually, Federer was serving at 1-2 in the 4</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">th</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> set, up 2 sets to 1, and for the next 30 minutes, I saw a player who went off the rails. He didn’t look like a player that was going to win that Grand Slam title against his arch-nemesis; the guy who has given him trouble his entire career, the guy you could arguably say he has a mental block against, and I really didn’t think he was going to do it.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I thought it was going to be the same story on a different day and a different moment, and that was frustrating for me, because I really wanted Roger to get it, and to see him turn things around down 3-1 in the 5</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">th</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> set and play absolutely remarkable tennis, to play with so much courage, was exhilarating. It was so beautiful to watch him turn the tide in the biggest moment of his career against his biggest rival. I get goosebumps just thinking about it. Roger Federer, you are a legend. You are an absolute warrior.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In fact, what he told his coach is he’s working with Severin Luthi, who has been with him for years, and Ivan Ljubicic who, by the way, I haven’t given him his due. He deserves his due now. What a remarkable job both these guys have done, especially Ivan. So, credit to those coaches. But he told his coaches: “I told myself to play free. You play the ball, you don’t play the opponent. Be free in your head, be free in your shots. Go for it. The brave will be rewarded here. I didn’t want to go down just making</span></p>
