When talking about Roger Federer, we often talk about the beauty of his playing style but rarely talk about his physical strength.

Federer has never had to abandon a match due to injury. He is now playing his 53rd consecutive Grand Slam tournament in his career (losing the record of 56 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments set by South African player Wayne Ferreira), 11 consecutive ATP World Tour Finals tournaments (1 tournament less than Ivan’s achievement). Lendl). That means Federer has tremendous physical strength and endurance. Hear Pierre Paganini decode this tenacity with The New York Times journalist Christoper Clarey.

What else has Roger Federer done to be successful at this age?

You cannot have the same goal at two different ages: 19 and 31. When you work with a 19 year old, you not only think about today, but also think about his career. As he gets older, each season or period of time becomes important in and of itself.

Roger has incredible progression at any age. With Roger, you have to be good to find exercises that give him trouble. In 2000, when we started working together, I gave him very difficult exercises but he did them perfectly in a short time. Finally, he explained to me why I asked him to do those exercises. Roger is not a “consumer” type of person but a “creative” type of person.

Why does Roger have endurance that others don’t?

His life is associated with tennis. But he also knows how to take steps back. Roger knows recovery is an important part of progress. The breaks after each tournament give him greater motivation to return to training. He still has the same motivation now as when he was 20 years old. Many people believe that Rogen’s body type and natural flexibility in his genes make it easier for him than others to maintain his fitness. Is that true?

I’ve heard this a thousand times. Having potential is one thing, but showing it more than 70 games a year is another. When we watch Roger play like an artist on the field, we think that he doesn’t have to work hard at all. That is wrong thinking. This is like watching a ballet artist, you only see the beauty in each of her movements but forget the work behind each of those movements. Surely anyone must practice a lot if they want to have the physical beauty of a ballerina.

Modern tennis is increasingly physical, so speed seems to become very important in Roger’s playing style?

In tennis, we cannot talk about just speed, speed here must be associated with endurance. A smart tennis player is like a 100m runner, who has to run 3-4 hours at a time, stop and run, 25 seconds between each match point and 90 seconds between each match. We can’t ask him to break a speed record, but we can ask him to repeat high speeds over a long period of time. He didn’t run 40km in a 5-hour match, he only ran about 6km.

Is Roger slowing down?

I believe he is not slowing down at all. Don’t forget that Roger’s judgment is very good. In tennis, you don’t just need speed, you need to run clearly from step to step, using speed intelligently. Roger is especially good at these things.

Does Roger need to exercise as much as Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic?

All three are champions, but I think Roger is completely different from Rafa and Nole. He doesn’t need to train as much physically as Rafa and Nole, because Roger’s diverse playing style doesn’t rely as much on physical strength as Rafa and Nole. Take for example someone who speaks English and French well. Another person speaks 7 languages, including English and French, but not as well as the other person. Who is better? I think people know 7 foreign languages, and Roger belongs to this type of person. On the field, with his own creativity, Roger “speaks” many “languages”.

If Roger was not a tennis player, what sport do you think Roger would play best?

Roger would probably be a classy soccer player, because he has very good coordination between his head, arms, and legs. He could be a good javelin thrower, basketball player, volleyball player or skier because Roger’s sense of balance is very good. Roger is very flexible and I think young players should learn this flexibility, like learning a foreign language. If you learn many things when you are young, it will help you a lot when you are older. Tennis training should not be done in the tunnel, but should be outside on the playing field. This means that you should not train the “chicken” in a closed oven, but let the “chicken” out into the yard to learn many other skills.