Seven time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer completed a remarkable comeback by beating Sam Querrey on Thursday to win the last of his eight U.S. Open titles.
Not only did Federer win back-to-back major titles for the first time since 2012, but the Swiss also won three majors in a summer that had not seen such dominance since the late 1980s. Federer has now won two out of the past three Grand Slam tournaments and looks like one of the favorites to win next year’s Australian Open.
One more championship this year gives him a record 17 at his favorite tournaments. And with the announcement from his team that their plan is to work together until he is 40, he looks a serious contender to at least win a 20th Slam title in Paris next year.
While Federer has now won 17 Slams, he was on hand at the U.S. Open to help announce the appointment of Severin Luthi, a player’s representative and former captain of the Swiss men’s tennis team, as the ATP’s new head of player development.
Luthi was present on court, but it was clear that Federer was also thinking of one of his main coaches of the past 18 months. “He’s a legend, and for me, he’s someone I’ve looked up to forever,” Federer said.
The 10-year partnership between Federer and fellow-Swiss Stefan Edberg, the last of which ended this year, is great news for Luthi. The ATP currently has no consistent development plan and “risk falling behind international tennis,” according to Luthi. It will now look to the strength of the world’s current top 20 players to match the tour’s current level of development, and the evolution of players like Federer into future global powerhouses. “Roger is one of the future of the ATP,” said Luthi.
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