Rafael Nadal would’ve still beaten me many times, says Roger Federer

NEW DELHI: Roger Federer said here on Sunday that switching to a larger racquet earlier in his career wouldn’t necessarily have improved his performance against arch-rival Rafael Nadal, who leads their head-to-head record 23-10.

"I tried to change to a larger racquet five years ago. But it’s difficult to do that when you are having so many victories with your existing racquet. As for Rafa, he is a great player, very hard to beat. He’d have still beaten me many times," Federer said graciously at a press conference at the International Premier Tennis League ( IPTL).

In 2014, Federer hired Stefan Edberg as coach, attacked the net more and, most significantly, switched to a bigger racquet. The result was that the Swiss legend had a more rewarding year than 2013, when he slipped to No. 8. Federer’s fans were thrilled, and believed that he should have made these changes a few years ago. It might have brought him more success against Nadal.

Federer also stood by his decision to play without a coach for a number of years. "Being on my own, without a coach or a management team, I learnt so much. It was an amazing time for me and my wife and I wouldn’t change anything even if I had to do it again."