McIntyre Tennis

Federer and Edberg Part Ways Amicably After Two Years

By Mike McIntyre

It shouldn't really come as any surprise that after two years together Roger Federer and his childhood idol Stefan Edberg have decided to end their coaching arrangement. Edberg never struck me as someone who wanted to coach full-time and only initially intended for the partnership to last one season. The six time Grand Slam champ was so encouraged by their success together however that he stuck around for another 12 months. Edberg definitely had a positive impact on the 17 time Grand Slam champion despite the fact the duo did not add to his record setting totals at the majors. Edberg leaves with Federer as the third ranked player on the ATP World Tour and perhaps still the biggest threat to undisputed world No. 1 Novak Djokovic.

Federer will retain Severin Luthi as his main coach for 2016 but has added good friend and former pro Ivan Ljubicic to his coaching staff to replace Edberg. Ljubicic coached Milos Raonic up until the end of this past season. While Ljubicic does not have any Grand Slams to his resume from his days on the Tour, he did still have quite the career that saw him reach a rankings high of No. 3 in the world and he also won ten titles including the Masters 1000 in Indian Wells in 2010.

Here are some of my favourite pictures of the Edberg and Federer partnership that I took back in August of 2014 at the Rogers Cup in Toronto as Federer closes another entertaining chapter of his successful career. Enjoy!

Federer looking very much like he still idolizes Edberg.

An intense shot of the two legends side by side during practice

Comforting to know that even a guy as great as Roger could still take advice at this stage of his illustrious career.

Tuesday at the Rogers Cup in Pictures

By Mike McIntyre

There was more rain on day two of the Rogers Cup in Toronto but things eventually cleared up and by the afternoon everything was back on schedule. Roger Federer made his hardcourt summer debut and three Canadians all made an exit from the tournament leaving Milos Raonic as the only Canuck remaining in the draw. Here are some of my favourite shots from around the grounds today. Enjoy!

Frank Dancevic practices in the morning despite the rain shower.

Philipp Kohlschreiber's shirt might have jinxed the German as he was defeated 6-3, 7-6(3) by Tommy Robredo.

The drying machines proved their worth today and made several appearances throughout the morning as the rain continued to fall.

There's a first for everything. Dancevic looks incredulous as he is asked to sign a fans purse.

An auction item of the last Toronto Maple Leafs team to win the Stanley Cup. Hopefully we don't have to wait that long for a Canadian to win the Rogers Cup!

Despite the wet courts, "La Monf" flashes a grin during morning practice.

 

World Number One Novak Djokovic grins as he prepares to return a shot to coach Marian Vajda. Djokovic makes his singles debut Wednesday in Toronto.

Warning: being the world number one comes with high pressure. At least Novak has an emergency exit!

 

Here we can see reality sinking in for 612th ranked Brayden Schnur of Canada who fell 6-3, 6-3 in the opening round to Andreas Seppi who is ranked 561 spots higher than him on the ATP World Tour.

 Someone finally got a smile out of the normally very professional Milos Raonic. Had to be the Djoker!

Wildcard Jack Sock celebrates his 6-1, 6-3 win over Jurgen Melzer.

Dancevic faltered today in a match he should have found a way to win. He goes down 5-7, 6-0, 6-3 to Donald Young.

To say Young was happy with the result was an understatement.

Likely the scariest serve on the tour. "Dr." Ivo Karlovic

Monfils battled back from a 1-5 deficit in the second set to beat Radek Stepanek 6-3, 7-5.

Tough day for Vasek Pospisil who admitted he has simply, "been on the road a lot of weeks." He loses the rematch with Richard Gasquet 7-5, 7-5.

 

And then there was Federer. Playing in his first match since an epic final at Wimbledon he looked ready to rock. Broken in his first service game of the night, Federer would not have any more hiccups in a 6-2, 6-0 victory against Peter Polansky.

The view from the very top of the Rexall Centre tonight for the Federer/Polansky match.

Former world Number One and six time Grand Slam champion Stefan Edberg was inducted into the Rogers Cup Hall of Fame this evening.

Federer doing some post-match press to end his night.

 

Stan Wawrinka saved a match point against close friend Benoit Paire and prevailed 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(3) to end another fantastic day of tennis in Toronto.

Check back with us often here at ProTennisFan as we continue to provide a glimpse at all the action at the Rogers Cup. Follow us on Twitter as well for regular updates and commentary. 

Monday at the Rogers Cup in Pictures

By Mike McIntyre

Canada's biggest tennis tournament got underway in Toronto on Monday as round one of the Rogers Cup began. Here are a few shots from around the grounds of the Rexall Centre as taken by yours truly.

Canadian doubles legend Daniel Nestor celebrating what he called, "championship point at Wimby" against partner Nenad Zimonjic.

Gael Monfils of France was all smiles as he practiced with American Jack Sock. The jury is still out on the goatee though.

Denis Istomin won for "coolest shades" of the day, but little else as he went down in three sets to Marin Cilic in the first match of the day on Centre Court.

Andy Murray practicing under the watchful eye of coach Amelie Mauresmo.

Milos Raonic receiving his "welcome to the big boys club" award, aka top ten award, from ATP World Tour President Chris Kermode.

You know you're pro when you have your name on your tennis bag as Tommy Robredo does here.

No that's not security standing behind world number 8 Grigor Dimitrov, but his coach Roger Rasheed.

Lleyton Hewitt's struggles at the Rogers Cup continued today as he was defeated 6-1, 6-2 by Julien Benneteau to drop his career record at the event to 9-10.

The biggest grin on the ATP World Tour goes to Vasek Pospisil without a doubt. As soon as the first smile broke, all the photographers in the room started snapping pictures in a collective frenzy.

It's not every day that you get to ask questions to your childhood idol. Here is Stefan Edberg, six time Grand Slam champion and current coach to Roger Federer. He is being inducted Tuesday night into the Rogers Cup Hall of Fame.

 

Frenchman Julie Benneteau fields questions from but a single reporter following his victory over Lleyton Hewitt.

Only Roger Federer could get away with a behind the back volley!

Practice with coach Edberg nearby

I can't think of better suited partnership than Federer and Edberg. Both class acts through and through.

France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga kicks-off the night session on Centre Court.

Ivan Dodig proved to be a handful for John Isner while the American's towel was clearly a mouthful. Dodig prevailed in three sets.

Grand Slam champions Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka head out at 10pm to start their doubles match together. A victory sends them up against Canadian Daniel Nestor and his partner Nenad Zimonjic next.

 

Photo cred on the above picture only: David Li

Celebrating his first Rogers Cup victory in four years, Canada's Peter Polansky autographs the camera.

Check back with us regularly at ProTennisFan.com as we catch the action each day this week at the Rogers Cup in Toronto. Be sure to follow us on Twitter as well for regular updates.

Federer Adds Edberg to Coaching Staff

By Mike McIntyre

Roger Federer announced today that he will add his childhood idol Stefan Edberg to his coaching staff for the 2014 season.

The 47 year old Edberg who hoisted six Grand Slam singles titles during his playing career will join Federer at the Australian Open beginning January 13th in Melbourne.

The Edberg/Federer pairing first surfaced earlier in December with a week of training in Dubai. At the time Edberg said, "If we can, I would be more than happy. The idea of the (training) camp was that I would give my views and come up with some feedback. He wants to try some new things."

Trying new things is a must for Federer as last season proved his old routine was no longer getting the job done. He lost in the second round at Wimbledon and at the U.S. Open failed to move past the fourth round. He closed out the year ranked sixth in the world, his lowest year-end ranking since 2003.

After parting ways with coach Paul Annacone in October, Federer was in no rush to bring on fresh blood. He kept long-time advisor and Swiss Davis Cup captain Severin Luthi who will remain the constant on his team in 2014.

Edberg will join the Federer camp for a minimum of ten weeks according to a post by Federer on his official website.

Andy Murray proved in recent years that hiring a former great can pay immediate dividends. After taking on former world number-one Ivan Lendl as his coach in 2012, Murray went on to win his first Grand Slam title that summer along with an Olympic gold medal. He continued his successful partnership with Lendl last year by becoming the first Brit in 77 years to win Wimbledon.

After losing his number-one ranking in October, Novak Djokovic approached another legend from the 1980s, Boris Becker, to be his new coach. Becker is best known for making the finals at Wimbledon seven times, capturing the title on three occasions.

Regardless of the immediate results of these two new coaching partnerships, watching some of the great tennis rivalries from the 1980s take on new form today should be something to keep tennis fans and pundits alike enthralled this coming season.

For the record, Becker held a 25-10 career head-to-head record against Edberg, while to date, Federer narrowly leads Djokovic 16-15.

If you combine player/coach career statistics the Federer/Edberg team leads the Djokovic/Becker duo in terms of win-loss ratio, career titles and earnings.

	Wins	Losses	Titles	Prize Money
Federer/Edberg	1724	485	118	$99,849,356
Djokovic/Becker	1256	346	90	$83,215,401