"It was silence, I felt his pain": Coach Ivan Ljubicic recalls phone call with Federer before retirement

Roger Federer’s ex-coach Ivan Ljubicic has revealed that he felt the ‘pain’ in the last call before the Swiss tennis star’s retirement.

The 41-year-old ended his illustrious career in September 2022 after struggling with injuries over the last few years.

Ljubicic was quoted in a report where he revealed what happened during the phone call he had with Federer before his retirement.

"It was a phone call. But it didn’t come out of the blue,” he said. “It was some time that we he’d had kind of doubts if he ever will come back. But it was silence. I didn’t know what to say, honestly. It’s hard to… I felt his pain.

"I felt, it was not an easy phone call for him, so I tried to give him comfort as much as I could, you know, but I needed comfort, too, so it was a difficult, difficult moment. But again, you know, it did not come as a surprise. We kind of all felt like it was coming sooner rather than later.”

Talking about working with the former world number one, Ljubicic stated that no one could have turned the offer down but also revealed that doubts started to creep in when Federer had a tough time winning a Grand Slam.

"When Roger asks you to coach him, you say yes,” he said. “I mean, it is zero doubt. But then, some time passes and then you’re like, okay : ‘well, if he didn’t win a slam in whatever, four and a half years, why do I think I’m going to be the one who’s going to change all that, or help change that?’ So there was the time there, of course you have doubts in your abilities, in your work.”

Federer finish his career as one of the greats in the history of men’s singles tennis, having won 20 Grand Slam titles. He was the first to achieve that milestone.