Roger Federer Says he Prefers a “Nice Guy” for Practice Sessions

Roger Federer will play his first match at the Western and Southern Open 2019 in Cincinnati after his last match at the Wimbledon Championships 2019 finals last month. The Swiss was seen practicing with Grigor Dimitrov and Chris Eubanks ahead of the Cincinnati Masters 2019.

In a pre-tournament interview in Cincinnati, Roger Federer talked about how he chooses his hitting partners. The 20-time Grand Slam champion was asked about the qualities a player requires to have in order to practice with him.

Federer replied, “A nice guy. I like when they are good guys. You can have a chat with them. I guess you could say, Well, we are professionals, who care if it’s nice guys or not.”

Roger Federer revealed that it is very essential for him to get along with his hitting partner so that he can talk about stuff that is beyond tennis. He further added, “But for me, that’s really important, I get along well with them, so on the change events you can have a nice chat and talk about stuff as well away from forehands, backhands, and all that stuff.”

Roger Federer also suggested that he would like to practice with a player who does not break his tempo and hit the ball in a regular pattern without losing the rhythm.

The 38-year-old concluded, “And then maybe helps at times to play with a rhythm player, a guy who doesn’t take away the rhythm from you but also one that maybe possesses a game that can make it complicated and difficult for you. So it really depends on where you are at in your preparation.”

Roger Federer has been seeded no.3 at the Cincinnati Open and is placed at the top half of the draw with Novak Djokovic. The Swiss Maestro is bidding for his eighth Cincinnati Masters title and will face the wild card Juan Ignacio Londero in the second round on Tuesday.