“Many times when I spoke with Rafael, I said Federer plays not too smart with you. “Because we knew, at this time, Federer moved the wrist a little too much to play the backhand and then with the spin, he had more problems. “In the first years, where we put the focus was to put the ball in high over his backhand,” Toni says. The Swiss had won three slams in 2004 but on clay, especially, hitting hundreds of one-handed backhands from the baseline was something which, at the time, he was not ready for. Rafael Nadal, who won his first grand slam title at Roland-Garros in 2005, however spotted the weakness in the Federer game. I love not only where the ball goes but how you put the ball there. “I saw a guy who played really well, who played with unbelievable technique,” he says. When Federer won his third round match against Mardy Fish in four sets – he dropped the third – Toni Nadal, Rafa’s uncle and coach, was immediately impressed. As he made his way through the draw, unbeknown to him, a man who would become an integral part of the rivalry with Nadal was watching in the stands. While Nadal was making his Grand Slam debut at Wimbledon in 2003, Federer won his first grand slam title, beating Mark Philippoussis in the final to win the first of his eight Wimbledon crowns and 20 slam titles. Together, they have inspired each other to unrivalled heights. Between them, the trio have dominated men’s tennis, mopping up the Grand Slam titles and leaving very little room for anyone else to get a look-in. It is no slight on the others to say that Federer’s career has been defined, in many ways, by his clashes with Nadal and Djokovic.
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