Mr. Federer & Mr. Lundgren

[Luxilon Borg]

My buddy Larry Stefanki in a conversation about Federer a few years ago told me a story about Peter Lundgren being the man responsible for Federer transitioning from a volatile. tantrum prone upstart to a steely competitor.

To tell the truth, Stefanki has some unkind words to say about Fed, saying his persona was "manfuactured" and phoney. But that was clearly borne of a bit of frustration at Federer's dominance over Roddick. I totally disagreed with his view.

Anyway, Lundgren and Federer hooked up and I was not sure of the details but a conversation took place about Federer needing to do something with his temper, focus, and stress control. Federer mentioned Borg as a model he wanted to emulate, and Lundgren knew Borg very well.

I ran into Lundgren at Indian Wells and asked him about this story. In his words, verbatim:

"I approached Federer and told him everyone knows you can play, but they also know you are a loose cannon and if they stick with you, you can snap..do you want to do something about it?"

Federer said YES, and they worked on his mental approach for a year. Stefanki says without this intervention, Federer would never had reached No.1 and would have been lucky to win one or two slams. One never knows, but there you have it. By they way, Lundgren is an amazing coach, and his knowledge base is downright scary. He is also a very nice guy.

 

[shawnbm]

Very interesting and just goes to show that Federer may be the most underrated GOAT candidate ever (not that I subscribe to that view) in terms of controlling his emotions/nerves--it turns out, after all (from what I have read here over the years)! LOL

 

[Front242]

Is he related to this other famous Lundgren?

 

[Luxilon Borg]

Is he related to this other famous Lundgren?

Nah..not quite the same physique!

 

[Federberg]

If Fed's persona is manufactured then I have to credit him with superb management of that persona. I'm super cynical, and even though I'm a great fan of his tennis, I'm under no illusions about how people are in real life, but he had me totally fooled! Stefanki may be right, but I really didn't see it. Seemed like a genuinely nice guy. For what it's worth the tennis pro I've met and really got on well with was Pat Cash. Very straight talking and really down to earth. Williams sisters... particularly Serena, not so nice. It's always interesting to hear these things. I'm for tennis play first I guess, but we watch these people so often after a while understanding what makes them tick does fascinate

 

[Luxilon Borg]

If Fed's persona is manufactured then I have to credit him with superb management of that persona. I'm super cynical, and even though I'm a great fan of his tennis, I'm under no illusions about how people are in real life, but he had me totally fooled! Stefanki may be right, but I really didn't see it. Seemed like a genuinely nice guy. For what it's worth the tennis pro I've met and really got on well with was Pat Cash. Very straight talking and really down to earth. Williams sisters... particularly Serena, not so nice. It's always interesting to hear these things. I'm for tennis play first I guess, but we watch these people so often after a while understanding what makes them tick does fascinate

As I stated, for the record, I don't agree with Stefanki. I DON"T think Fed is a phoney...and to be honest, to succeed at the highest levels of tennis, you HAVE to 'manufacture" a persona to deal with the pressure and control your emotions.

 

[Moxie]

^ I think you're spot on here: public figures need a public face, and have every right to keep something of themselves for themselves. If we're going to criticize those who "over-share," (now I'm not talking about mainly tennis players, but sometimes,) then we have to respect those that control their public image with respectability and elegance. They don't owe us whatever might be the 'dirty laundry' of their personalities.

I've said this before, but Peter Lundgren is also the man responsible for pulling Marat Safin's head together long enough to get another Major. He had a go with Marcelo Rios, but apparently no one could help him. Maybe Fognini should see if he could lure him in.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

I don't understand how learning to control your emotions that help you in a positive way can be looked at as "phony". It is a personal improvement, and probably much more difficult than improving your serve for example. One is who you are, the other is what you do.

 

[Luxilon Borg]

I don't understand how learning to control your emotions that help you in a positive way can be looked at as "phony". It is a personal improvement, and probably much more difficult than improving your serve for example. One is who you are, the other is what you do.

I agree completely.

As I said, I disagreed with Larry. By that standard, Borg was a phony, and so was Agassi, whose on court persona changed dramatically as his career developed.

Federer knew a change was needed, was intensely frustrated, and Lundgren approached.

Peter is a gas btw, great personality.

 

[tented]

This adjustment was discussed in Wertheim's book "Strokes of Genius". He has a great anecdote about Roger's mother talking with another person in the front of a country club, who was pointing out that Roger was playing out back. His mother replied, "I know. I can hear him."

Cahill has also mentioned how volatile Roger used to be as a junior, breaking down and crying on court, yelling, screaming, etc.

It's a tremendous credit to Federer that he turned this around, which has to be considered a major contributor to his success.

 

[Luxilon Borg]

This adjustment was discussed in Wertheim's book "Strokes of Genius". He has a great anecdote about Roger's mother talking with another person in the front of a country club, who was pointing out that Roger was playing out back. His mother replied, "I know. I can hear him."

Cahill has also mentioned how volatile Roger used to be as a junior, breaking down and crying on court, yelling, screaming, etc.

It's a tremendous credit to Federer that he turned this around, which has to be considered a major contributor to his success.

I believe there is sufficient YouTube evidence of some of his early mental exploits.

I doubt there is a single player that was not in awe of his relaxed outer appearance under intense pressure circa 2004 and beyond...

 

[brokenshoelace]

Yeah, this is pretty known. Lundgren's always gotten rightful credit for helping Federer turn his career around.

 

[Luxilon Borg]

Yeah, this is pretty known. Lundgren's always gotten rightful credit for helping Federer turn his career around.

The one thing I cleared up for my self was who approached who. Lundgren set the record straight. HE approached Roger. To his credit, Roger accepted his advice and realized there was a problem. Many up and coming players don't want to hear it.

 

[Kieran]

Why did he drop Lundgren? It was 2003, if I remember correctly, and he struck out alone for 2004...

 

[Luxilon Borg]

Why did he drop Lundgren? It was 2003, if I remember correctly, and he struck out alone for 2004...

I think it was earlier than that. I don't know if any one was dropped. Lundgren went on to hook up with Crazy Safin...

I would venture to guess Federer got what he needed and they moved on.

 

[House]

I don't mind if his persona is in fact "fabricated."

It's certainly not an uncommon tale to hear of someone meeting a hero or idol, and them being nothing like they thought they were. Fed doesn't do anything publicly that I disapprove of, so that's good enough for me. His personal life is just that. However, I highly doubt he is a phony. More polished I don't doubt, but I doubt he's wholly fake.

As far as his calm being fake. I'm sure it is. But that's not even worth mentioning. Because it's not something rare. Many players appear/ have appeared calmer then they actually are. It's part of being as good as these guys are.

 

[Luxilon Borg]

I don't mind if his persona is in fact "fabricated."

It's certainly not an uncommon tale to hear of someone meeting a hero or idol, and them being nothing like they thought they were. Fed doesn't do anything publicly that I disapprove of, so that's good enough for me. His personal life is just that. However, I highly doubt he is a phony. More polished I don't doubt, but I doubt he's wholly fake.

As far as his calm being fake. I'm sure it is. But that's not even worth mentioning. Because it's not something rare. Many players appear/ have appeared calmer then they actually are. It's part of being as good as these guys are.

If he has been faking calm, it has been a pretty good 10 year run....uzzled

 

[House]

I don't mind if his persona is in fact "fabricated."

It's certainly not an uncommon tale to hear of someone meeting a hero or idol, and them being nothing like they thought they were. Fed doesn't do anything publicly that I disapprove of, so that's good enough for me. His personal life is just that. However, I highly doubt he is a phony. More polished I don't doubt, but I doubt he's wholly fake.

As far as his calm being fake. I'm sure it is. But that's not even worth mentioning. Because it's not something rare. Many players appear/ have appeared calmer then they actually are. It's part of being as good as these guys are.

If he has been faking calm, it has been a pretty good 10 year run....uzzled

I would say he's very much like Borg in that he was fiery in his youth, and then learned to control himself. Clearly on the inside these guys aren't quite so zen.

 

[Luxilon Borg]

I don't mind if his persona is in fact "fabricated."

It's certainly not an uncommon tale to hear of someone meeting a hero or idol, and them being nothing like they thought they were. Fed doesn't do anything publicly that I disapprove of, so that's good enough for me. His personal life is just that. However, I highly doubt he is a phony. More polished I don't doubt, but I doubt he's wholly fake.

As far as his calm being fake. I'm sure it is. But that's not even worth mentioning. Because it's not something rare. Many players appear/ have appeared calmer then they actually are. It's part of being as good as these guys are.

If he has been faking calm, it has been a pretty good 10 year run....uzzled

I would say he's very much like Borg in that he was fiery in his youth, and then learned to control himself. Clearly on the inside these guys aren't quite so zen.

Of course, without the "fire in the belly", as Tony Pickard, Edberg's old coach use to say, is a prerequisite to domination.