The day Roger Federer couldn’t stop laughing at CNN correspondent’s Spanish phrases
Roger Federer has laughed so much over his loss that he has been unable to stop.
The man who has been the world’s most-fancied tennis player for the last decade is now in the final of the Madrid Open after a straight sets victory over Juan Mónaco.
Federer, a six-time grand slam champion, has a chance to become the first male player to win four successive titles at the Spanish city’s best tennis tournament.
He did just that in 2013.
It’s not really surprising that Federer is laughing so hard at the end of the match. Mónaco, the world number six, was playing well, hitting the ball with the best of his racket and also using his forehand and backhand.
He was also on a lucky run in the first set, breaking Federer in the ninth game. But Federer won six of the next nine games and ended Mónaco’s run.
‘That’s normal when someone is losing an epic battle with a very young player’
“I’ve lost to a lot of players in the past,” Federer tells CNN Sport. “And I’ve always had a laugh at them when they lost. The last thing I want to be doing is crying before I get a chance to laugh.”
Federer is in the final after defeating Juan Mónaco.
But he is also a man who has been on the losing end of many tough matches and won all five of his semi-finals and finals in 2011, 2012 and 2014.
“This win isn’t just about the win. You have to have that sort of mindset ahead of time. And that’s something that I’ve had over the years, with a lot of matches that I haven’t won,” Federer says.
“That was one of those matches that I lost to [Juan] Mónaco. The first set was always going to be an epic battle and I had a good chance to win it. And it didn’t come.” – Roger Federer, on his loss to Juan Mónaco
Federer, who has