Current No. 2 seeded tennis star Roger Federer received an invitation to return to the court in 2019 after giving his legion of fans a spectacular sendoff at the U.S. Open in New York City this past weekend. That pitch was made by his long-time coach, and now father of his two young children, Severin Luthi, who revealed that he would not be able to move forward in his role of Federer’s coach due to his advancing age (his father died this past winter).
“I’m not going to coach. I’m going to stop,” Luthi confirmed to ESPN. “I’ve worked with Roger for a long time. The family means a lot to me, the kids. I’m in a good place. He’s got two beautiful daughters. The future is bright for him.”
This news comes at a bittersweet time for the Swiss standout. The 36-year-old is eyeing a record ninth grand slam title at the 2018 U.S. Open, and his finals matchup against his long-time rival, tennis legend Rafael Nadal, in an All-French showdown.
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However, Federer will have to navigate the months of intense training he must undertake before beginning his pursuit of his ninth grand slam, beginning in Paris later this month where he is the defending champion.
“The U.S. Open is a bit daunting. You never know how long it’s going to take for the body to recover from long weeks, matches, training,” Federer said after he defeated Sweden’s Borna Coric in straight sets in Sunday’s final. “I’m obviously not going to let it bother me too much because I know that for me it’s important to try to focus and work as hard as I can. That’s my aim for the US Open. We’ll see how I go.”
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Federer has faced Nadal in nine grand slam finals, winning seven of those meetings.
“Any win at the grand slam is good,” Federer said. “It’s great for my confidence to beat him in the finals of two big events.”
The winner of 23 major titles will be named the United States Open champion at Arthur Ashe Stadium on September 9th. The 2017 champion, Rafael Nadal, has never won the Open once.