Roger Federer reveals recalling his younger years—and facing NextGen opposition—has recharged him in the latter stages of his career.
The 37-year-old Swiss, who concedes "as a tennis player, I'm definitely on the older side," points out advancing age provides an experience edge.
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"In tennis terms, I am on the older side, no doubt about it," Federer told CGTN's Wang Dong. "Average retirement age, I guess is 32, 33-years-old, maybe, if that, and I'm 37 so I understand if they call me old.
"In life, I'm still young. As a tennis player, I'm definitely on the older side and I have to get used to it to be quite honest."
The 20-time Grand Slam champion says recalling the rush he felt as a young player facing top-ranked champions like Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Carlos Moya, infuses him with a fresher mindset facing NextGen stars.
"Also playing the next generation of players that's coming up, it's just a different feel," Federer said. "Because you have to imagine when I came on the tour, back in 2002 when I came to Shanghai, I'm playing with the likes of Agassi and sharing the locker room with Carlos Moya, Tim Henman and Pete Sampras. And those are the guys I knew from TV, right?
"And then all of a sudden well now the players know me from TV and they're playing against me. So you have to switch your mind around a little bit and appreciate that, that the young generation is knocking on the door and is really excited to play against you."
The former Basel ball boy launches his quest for a ninth Basel title against Serbian Filip Krajinovic and could face John Millman, who knocked him out of the US Open last month, if both advance.
These days, Federer says he enjoys facing multiple generations of opponents.
"Of course it was very exciting playing my generation of players like Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt, Marat Safin and Ferrero and all these guys," Federer said. "So for me, you go through transitions. And this one is a very enjoyable one because I still have some of my age guys on the tour, which is great to see.
"But then also the Rafa and Novak generation, Andy Murray and Delpo and then the new one coming through such as Dimitrov, Nishikori and Raonic and then now the super young guys like Borna, Zverev and so forth. So I think it's nice to go through all of these different players and I think it's helped me stay motivated for what's to come."
Photo credit: Christopher Levy