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It was a delightful moment for fans when Roger Federer announced that he would be playing at the French Open 2021. The Swiss maestro hasn’t played in a Grand Slam for about 17 months and it’ll be surely challenging for him. Interestingly, he will also be playing at the ATP Geneva Open 2021 before the Roland Garros.

In a recent interview, Roger Federer’s former coach Paul Annacone revealed how difficult and challenging it was for him to coach Federer. He mentioned that he needed to be a lot more creative while working with the Swiss maestro. He coached Federer for three years from 2010 to 2013 and the Swiss managed to win the 2012 Wimbledon title under him.

“With Roger, I needed to be creative,” began Annacone. “He’s very artistic, likes to hear new things, likes to debate new things.”

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Paul Annacone reveals what was the difference between coaching Roger Federer and Pete Sampras

Annacone has been coaching for quite some time now and has also coached 14-time Grand Slam winner Pete Sampras. He was with Sampras from 1995 to 2002 and won many titles with him. In the same interview, he also stated what were the major challenges in coaching him and how it was different from coaching Federer.

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“With Pete, you know, I needed really succinct in giving him information. He didn’t want to sit around and talk about tennis for two hours. You know, you had to figure it out with him,” explained the American coach.

Paul Annacone has been working with Taylor Fritz now since 2018. Apart from being a tennis coach, he is also a tennis analyst who works with many tennis media houses.

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On his part, Roger Federer is preparing himself for the upcoming clay-court season. Even though he is hoping for an incredible comeback, it’ll certainly not be easy for him to compete with the players who are almost half of his age. Will Federer be able to beat the odds and win his second French Open title this year?

Also Read: “Still Has a Backlog”: Coach Severin Luthi Gives Roger Federer’s Fitness Update