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Roger Federer accused of holding tennis back: ‘He has made us lose 20 years’


Gilles Simon claims the huge amount of popularity Roger Federer enjoys has held tennis back ‘for 20 years.’

While the debate over who is the greatest of all time rages on and probably will forever, Federer’s grace and movement on the court stands him apart from everyone in terms of popularity.

However, while Simon counts himself as one of Federer’s admirers, he believes the Swiss ace’s records need to tumble to enable tennis to move forward.

“I have nothing against Roger Federer personally, but against the image we have of him,” Simon told L’Equipe.

“For decades, it has been believed that only Federers should be trained.

“And he, with his style of play, his way of going forward, the confidence he exudes, came to validate these choices. He made us lose 20 years!”

“In France, everyone wants Roger Federer: parents, coaches… We don’t realise that Rafael Nadal has won so many Grand Slams by doing something quite different.

“That’s why it would help if Roger Federer’s records fell because we’d finally have to see the others.”


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Michael Graham, Tennishead.net Editor, has been a professional sports journalist for his whole career and is especially passionate about tennis. He's been the Editor of Tennishead.net for over 5 years and loves watching live tennis by visiting as many tournaments as possible. Michael specialises in writing in-depth features about the ATP & WTA tours.