Six-time Grand Slam champion
Stefan Edberg said Monday he never imagined he would be sitting in the
stands as a lone coach this week to Roger Federer at the Toronto Masters.
The
48-year-old Swede is in charge of coaching arrangements in Canada, with
Federer's main coach Severin Luthi not attending the ATP event that
begins the serious build-up to the US Open in three weeks.
"It's
nothing that I thought that I ever would do, but obviously being around
Roger and the way he is as a person on and off court has actually been a
very, very good journey so far," said Edberg. "It's been good to see
him making some progress this year."
Federer, a 17-time Grand Slam winner, dropped a five-set final to Novak Djokovic last month at Wimbledon.
"He was very, very close to
winning at Wimbledon. There was one or two points that made a difference
in that final, which was one of the better finals I have watched in the
past in the many, many years.
"But
that's the way it is in tennis. But I still believe the way he's
playing, and if he can keep working and stay healthy, he's got a shot of
doing very well here going forward.
"But it's an important week this week as well here."
Edberg
said that while long-time coach Luthi heads the coaching side, he will
get his chance to put some ideas into action in Toronto.
"I'm
here on my own this week and I think I'm coming with the few ideas how
he can handle different things, maybe technically and a few small
things," Edberg said.
"But I can't make that much of a difference, but a little bit of a difference I think I can make. It has been good so far."
The stoic Swede said that sitting in the stands and analysing feels much tougher than actually playing.
"In many ways it's worse sitting in the stands, because you can't really do anything sometimes," he said.
"You wish you could. Actually it has been OK. You want him to do well and so it's a different feeling, but it's good so far."
Date: 5th August 2014, Source: AFP
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