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January 7, 2006
Roche finds time for Mr Nice Guy
By Jessica Halloran, Sydney Morning Herald
Federer is fabulous even from afar, writes Jessica Halloran.
ALL of a sudden Roger Federer pops into Tony Roche's living
room. The Swiss star is smacking tennis balls around on Roche's
giant TV screen in a replay of a match at the Qatar Open.
"Here's Roger playing now," Roche says, waving at the screen.
"Let's see if he's been doing what we've been working on. Get in.
You better make this volley!"
Roche chuckles as he intently watches Federer make the volley.
It's something they worked on in Roche's backyard tennis court over
the Christmas break.
"He's a good volleyer but he can always be better at the net,"
Roche said. "Because he's a great athlete it's a pity he doesn't
always utilise that. But now he's got it and he wants it."
Roche says he finds Federer's tennis ability mind-boggling.
"He's beautiful to watch," he says.
So how does Roche guide such a tennis marvel? Does he phone
Federer immediately after a match ?
"No," Roche said.
Will he talk to him during the Qatar tournament?
"No," Roche said. "No. I never call him. If he needs me, he
knows where I am."
What Roche will do is text a message like "good luck" and "well
done".
Not "fix your groundstroke now, please, Roger"?
"No," laughs Roche.
"Look, when he split with his last coach he had a year on his
own and won three slams. He's quite happy doing a lot of the stuff
by himself."
But Federer didn't want to go it alone after 2004. He wanted
Roche's wise words in his ear no matter what, but the former player
most famous for partnering John Newcombe in doubles initially
turned down the talented Swiss champion.
"I felt at the time I couldn't give him the time that somebody
like he needed," Roche said. "So we virtually left it at that. He
came out [to Australia] for that training week in December [2004]."
It was then Federer stressed: "Whatever time you can give me, I am
happy with that."
"It was a great honour for me first of all to be offered the
job," Roche said.
Their contract is a handshake agreement, and that's the way it's
been with all the players Roche has coached, including Ivan Lendl
and Pat Rafter.
"We just do it year by year," Roche said. "I'm going to do a few
more weeks this year but there's no time frame."
Rocking seven-week old granddaughter Claudia and nursing his
fluffy white dog Buffy on his knee, Roche said that first and
foremost a player had to be a "nice person" before he'd take them
on.
He said the respect must run thick in a coach/player
relationship. That ingredient he has with Federer.
"He listens," Roche said, then added, laughing: "He does what
he's told. A successful partnership can only work if you have
respect for one another. That's the way I've always worked. I never
had a contract with any of the players, just a handshake.
"First of all they've got to be really nice people. I've been
lucky in that sense with Pat and Ivan, even though a lot of people
sort of got the wrong impression of Ivan. He was a terrific
bloke."
Federer and Roche have developed a close friendship. "But it's
different - I'm 60, and he's 24," he laughs. They're not exactly
hitting the pubs together. But they shared Christmas day together
at Turramurra as well as training intensely over a 10-day period.
When training is in full swing, Roche is boggled by Federer's moves
and shots. "Unbelievable talent," Roche said. "Some of the stuff he
can do is just mind-boggling. Nobody else can do that kind of
stuff. You think, 'Wow, did that happen?'. We let him know [when he
does something amazing].
"He's good fun. He enjoys a bit of a laugh, he's very relaxed
and that's a big part of why he's so successful. He's very
laidback. Outwardly, not many things seem to bother him."
While many on the men's tour rock up on court with tricky grips
and swish strokes, Federer plays a complete game without
complication.
He doesn't have many flaws and can pretty much do everything.
"He plays more like Rod Laver," Roche said. "He's got a lot of
variety.
"A lot of the guys that play the game today are one-dimensional,
they're very good at what they do, and they've got the extreme
grips, but Roger, I think he's a throwback to the way Laver and
those guys used to play.
"Roger - he can do it all. He can play strong from the back and
he's a good volleyer, he's sort of the complete player.
"He plays the way the game should be played."
Many people were hesitant when Roche told them he'd taken on the
best player in the world.
"Gee, you're crazy - where can he go from here?" Roche recalled
them asking of him.
But Roche added: "Just because he's been winning a lot and has
had a couple of great years, I mean he knows he's got to keep and
wants to keep on improving. I'm just there to help him get
better."
So how successful can Federer be, and does he have the ability
to better the achievements of that Australian tennis great Rod
Laver?
"Time will tell," Roche said.
"I definitely think if Roger can win the French championship
then he's up there with the all-time greats. That's the ultimate
test: to win all the slams.
"It's harder these days because it's on different surfaces. Not
taking anything away from Rod winning two slams - three of the
tournaments were on grass and one on clay in those days.
"Whereas now it's on four different surfaces and the depth in
men's tennis is much greater now. Especially on the clay, that's
going to be a huge test for Roger to win the French."
After his time in Qatar, Federer will touch down in Australia to
play a lead-up tournament at Kooyong before the Australian
Open.
By then Roche will no longer be spying on Federer from his
living room. He'll be courtside and will have a much closer vantage
to critique the Swiss marvel's volley.
THE ROCHE FILE
TONY ROCHE
Born: May 17, 1945, in Wagga Wagga, NSW.
Plays: Left-handed.
Selected singles titles
French Open 1966, Hamburg 1969, Sydney Outdoor 1976, Queens Club
1978.
Selected doubles titles
Australian Open: 1965, 1967, 1971, 1976 and 1977. Wimbledon:
1965, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1974. French Open: 1967, 1969.
Coaching career
Coached New Zealander Chris Lewis to the Wimbledon final in
1983, Pat Rafter to No.1 ranking and two US Open titles, Ivan Lendl
to eight grand slam championships and No.1 ranking, Roger Federer
to the Wimbledon title in 2005.
Coached Jelena Dokic for 12 months.
Davis Cup team coach 1994-2000, winning in 1999.
Awards
Awarded Centenary Medal 2003.
Appointed Officer (AO) in the General Division of the Order of
Australia for services to tennis in Australia in 2001.
Inducted into Australian Tennis Hall of Fame in 1998.
Compiled by Fairfax Research Library
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