'Roger Federer is a genius,' says his coach Ivan Ljubicic

Roger Federer and Ivan Ljubicic started their journey in 2016, waiting for the following season to show their coach-player brilliance as Roger had to recover from a knee injury.

Waiting for his player to get back at 100%, Ljubicic knew how to improve Roger's game and lead him towards Major titles again, winning three between the Australian Open 2017-2018 to move further away from Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

Federer was Djokovic's and Nadal's main rival until the previous season, losing ground after a knee injury and playing only one tournament in 2020. The Swiss experienced two surgeries, and he is currently in Dubai with his coach Ljubicic, working on his game and trying to get back at his best until March. Speaking about his player, Ljubicic called Federer a genius, both on and off the court, pointing that fact as the main one that puts Roger ahead of all the others in the GOAT race.

"Roger is intelligent, both on and off the court. I think his brain is great, and it is underrated. He is a genius on and off the court, and that's what makes him the greatest in my opinion. His legacy goes way beyond Major titles and weeks as world no. 1. I think I played against him 16 times, and he was my biggest rival in that segment. That's also the best way to understand the player.

Watching from the side gives you the least amount of information, and watching from behind the court gives you a lot. Watching from inside the court provides you even more, but competing against the player gives you the most. When I started coaching Roger six years ago, there were many players with whom I played against. That also helped me in the coaching, the fact that they know that I know everything about their game," Ivan Ljubicic said.