[onewoman74]

http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/news?slug=ap-cincinnatimasters&prov=ap&type=lgns

It wasn't always so. Rochus, who is from Belgium, and Federer, who is from Switzerland, were teenage doubles partners. They won the Wimbledon junior doubles title in 1998.

Before that, Rochus beat him regularly.

``I remember him when we were 13 years old. He was always losing 6-0, 6-1 against everybody in the under-14 tournament,'' Rochus said.

But that was then. Federer, who just turned 24, has been No.1 in the world for 81 weeks, the seventh-longest period ever.

``We were almost laughing at him, and now he's laughing at us,'' Rochus said. ``He's No.1, easy. And really, when he was young, at the beginning, he was really bad.''

 

[jacobhiggins]

Federer has a tremendous learning curve, he lost his first junior match I believe 06 06, baggeld twice! He can accomplish anything in tennis, it's all up to him!

 

[oneandonlyhsn]

``We were almost laughing at him, and now he's laughing at us,'' Rochus said. ``He's No.1, easy. And really, when he was young, at the beginning, he was really bad.''

Rogi how times have changed

 

[ae wowww]

What a legend ! Inspiration for every one Almost...

 

[nermo]

It wasn't always so. Rochus, who is from Belgium, and Federer, who is from Switzerland, were teenage doubles partners. They won the Wimbledon junior doubles title in 1998.
Before that, Rochus beat him regularly.
``I remember him when we were 13 years old. He was always losing 6-0, 6-1 against everybody in the under-14 tournament,'' Rochus said.
But that was then. Federer, who just turned 24, has been No.1 in the world for 81 weeks, the seventh-longest period ever.
``We were almost laughing at him, and now he's laughing at us,'' Rochus said. ``He's No.1, easy. And really, when he was young, at the beginning, he was really bad.'' posted by onewoman74

nice post , it's amazing how a person can change all through his life,must have taken him so much work and determination..

 

[BD006]

I guess that's why he said he would get really angry when he lost as a youngster. It was cos he sucked.

 

[Angle Queen]

Yeah, what goes around comes around. I heard every flat chested joke growing up. But at almost 40 and still barely 100 lbs, I can eat, drink and be merry all I want. And what I got, still ain't much...but it ain't gone south either.

As part of the comment last night, Roger mentioned that they were about the same size...and he just grew, got bigger and stronger secret: and better too). Keep laughin' Rog...all the way to the bank...and immortality.

 

[Castafiore]

As part of the comment last night, Roger mentioned that they were about the same size...and he just grew, got bigger and stronger ( and better too). Keep laughin' Rog...all the way to the bank...and immortality.

For such a small guy, Olivier is doing fantastically well! Let's see some of the big guys get his results if they would be by miracle reduced to that heigth.

 

[Angle Queen]

For such a small guy, Olivier is doing fantastically well! Let's see some of the big guys get his results if they would be by miracle reduced to that heigth.

Oh agreed, Casta. Olivier's game is much bigger than his size and he verily impressed me last night.

 

[disturb3d]

What a legend ! Inspiration for every one Almost...

If you say so.... Pretty suspicious, actually.

 

[ExpectedWinner]

No surprise. One handers bloom later.

 

[Rex]

it good how he improved quickly, he must have worked really hard, all the hours on and off court- i suppose thats where the point can be made that he is not arrogent but just appreciative of all the work he has done.

 

[Pea]

Under 14s. Not under 18s.

 

[NYCtennisfan]

Hmmmm....this sounds strange. We have all heard of Federer's prodigious talents so it is hard to imagine him losing to everyone in the under 14 tournies so easily, even if he wasn't mentall tough.

In any case, an interesting story.

 

[jacobhiggins]

Federer was different then the young prodigies Mac, Borg, and Conners, that's why I'm so impressed about him. Federer wasn't that good, he BECAME good through practice. He was not born with this talent like a lot of people claim.

 

[NYCtennisfan]

^I don't know jacobhiggins. I watched the BBC telecast of the Roddick/Federer final and before the match, they had this segment on Federer and showed clips of him as a youngster. One of the things that they showed amazed me. They showed a 10 or 11 year old Federer pouting and getting upset. He takes a ball out of his pocket and sends it over the net with a perfect BH, basically the same stroke that he has now.

He has worked hard on his game, even since 2003 he has improved.

 

[1sun]

Federer was different then the young prodigies Mac, Borg, and Conners, that's why I'm so impressed about him. Federer wasn't that good, he BECAME good through practice. He was not born with this talent like a lot of people claim.

he was definately born with talent. it just needed more time to develop because it was such a raw talent. and remember roger was a nutcase when he was younger so that would have slowed down the development, and since hes controlled his mentality the results and talent has just poured out. and still is.

 

[mitalidas]

Earlier this year, roddick said in an interview that "even as a junior, no one liked to play Roger" (he was referring to the under-18's junior tour)

 

[Beforehand]

I guess that's why he said he would get really angry when he lost as a youngster. It was cos he sucked.

I almost spit my drink out while reading that.

 

[Havok]

:lol: Cute little piece there. We can't judge everything on junior tennis results, though they're usually a pretty good indicator.