Roger Federer testing new coach Paul Annacone
Roger Federer has announced on his official website that he will employ Paul Annacone as a coach on a trial basis.
The 16-time Grand Slam Champion has said on rogerfederer.com that: “I've been looking to add someone to my team and I've decided to spend some days with Paul Annacone. As Paul winds down his responsibilities working for the Lawn Tennis Association [where he’s currently the men’s head coach], we will explore our relationship through this test period. Paul will work alongside my existing team and I am excited to learn from his experiences.”
Federer has not had a full-time coach since he parted ways with Peter Lundgren six months after winning the 2003 Wimbledon crown. He has since employed coaches including Darren Cahill and Tony Roche on a temporary basis.
Federer’s decision to trial Annacone – whose CV includes coaching retired tennis great Pete Sampras – comes in the wake of the Swiss player’s worst performance at Wimbledon since his first round loss in 2002. Federer, who had won six of the previous seven Wimbledon titles (losing only to Rafael Nadal in the 2008 final) was this year on the receiving end of a quarter-final upset by Thomas Berdych.
That loss followed a quarter-final defeat by Robin Soderling at Roland Garros, the first time Federer had been defeated prior to the semi-final of a Grand Slam since the 2004 French Open; and the end of a 15-match winning streak against Lleyton Hewitt in the final of the grass court Gerry Weber Open in Halle this June.
The appointment of Annacone, even on a trial basis, is an indication the world No. 3 is looking to regain his winning edge ahead of the US Open, which begins on August 30th, where he was dethroned as champion by Juan Martin del Potro last year.
In Sampras, Annacone certainly has a track-record of success with a player whose Grand Slam title record is second only to Federer. The challenge now is to replicate it with a player who is already being labelled as a legend but one who will be 29 by the time the US Open begins, and whose recent results indicate that he might just be on the cusp of relinquishing his dominance of a sport where he has been the almost undisputed superpower for the best part of seven years.
Flushing Meadows - where a red-hot Nadal will be looking to complete a career Grand Slam, and defending champion del Potro could be about to end his long injury lay-off – might just be the first big test of whether the union between Federer and Annacone can be the winning partnership the former world No. 1 is surely hoping it can be.
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