Roger Federer is funnier than most people think, says Severin Luthi

Roger Federer's long-time coach Severin Luthi caught up with the Swiss legend's former coach Paul Annacone yesterday, as part of Tennis Channel's 'Coaching in the Bigs' series.

Severin Luthi has been an integral part of Roger Federer's coaching team since 2007. Paul Annacone, meanwhile, used to be a part of the Swiss player's coaching team a few years ago; he worked together with Luthi from 2010 to 2013.

The team is back together.On an all-new Coaching in the Bigs, @Paul_Annacone chats with @LuethiSeverin. The two coached @RogerFederer together for four years. pic.twitter.com/1qNkM5ypIz

— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) May 25, 2020

Severin Luthi talks about tennis and Roger Federer during his interaction with Paul Annacone

Roger Federer (left) and Severin Luthi

During his freewheeling interaction with Annacone, Severin Luthi was asked how Roger Federer was doing during the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown.

"As a member of his coaching staff, are you in touch with Roger to ensure if he's OK? Is he doing some physical training or hitting the balls?" Annacone asked.

The Swiss Davis Cup captain replied that Roger Federer is still taking it easy on the practice court, considering he has just come off a knee surgery. Moreover, with no tennis tournaments on the immediate horizon, the 20-time Slam champion isn't putting a lot of pressure on himself.

In this respect, Luthi also noted that Federer's volley challenge that went viral on social media was nothing serious.

"For Roger, it is not necessary to be hitting balls too much," Luthi said. "The volley challenge that he put up on social media was more for fun. He is coming back from knee surgery. At the moment, there is no stress on him to practice a lot as there is time for tournaments to start."

Here’s a helpful solo drill. Let’s see what you got! Reply back with a video and I’ll provide some tips. Choose your hat wisely 🎩😉👊 #tennisathome pic.twitter.com/05lliIqh1h

— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) April 7, 2020

Luthi was then asked whether there was anything about Roger Federer that most fans don't know. He replied that there are many such things, including his sense of humor.

"Roger is a funny and nice guy," Luthi said. "He is funnier than most people might think. Not too many people know that. Most people only know how good he is in tennis."

Paul Annacone then added that while Roger Federer makes things on the court look 'easy', a lot of sweat and toil go into making him the player he is.

"It's almost unfair that Roger makes things look so easy," Annacone said. "What you see is what you get from him. Most people don't know how hard and smart he works so that we get to watch his magical stuff on the court."

Severin Luthi concurred and noted how Roger Federer is still doing 'that stuff' at 38 - when he could have easily retired a few years ago.

"What's fascinating for me is that he is still doing that stuff at 38. He is asking himself those questions."

Luthi then went on to analyse how Roger Federer seems to get over wins and defeats with the same equanimity.

"You need to analyse and ask yourself the right questions," Luthi said. "And then you need to look forward again. Step up for the next game and next practice. I have learnt a lot of things from him."

On being asked about 'that' painful defeat against Novak Djokovic in the 2019 Wimbledon final, where Roger Federer had multiple championship points on serve, Luthi provided a sneak peek into the 20-time Grand Slam winner's mindset.

"Sometimes you win matches you shouldn't. And sometimes you lose matches you shouldn't. It is all about not getting too negative on yourself. You would soon get a second chance."