Federer had called Edberg in 2013, his darkest year on courts. A back injury had shoved him off the pedestal and he was plotting his comeback, dabbling with a new racket -the RF 97 – when he requested his hero Edberg to coach him. Edberg would coach Federer for two years. Between them they won 10 Wimbledons, 8 Australian Opens, 7 US Opens, and one French Open. A guru and shishya pairing for ages: two backhands for gods to drool, one the great tennis star with the most classiest smile in the 80’s and the other, the greatest tennis player ever with the beatific smile in this century.

What was Edberg’s thoughts about Federer’s game at that stage?

“Roger had back problems, somehow lost his way and was completely out of his shoes. He needed new inspiration. Maybe he was thinking about how to develop his game,” Edberg would say later.

Edberg also identified the issue immediately. “There was no way to win games from the baseline. The older you get, the more difficult it gets. The racket change that Federer made in 2013 was also a decisive factor. He wanted to be a more offensive player like me.”

What was the racket change that Edberg mentions?

Roger had finally moved out of the older Wilson Pro Staff that year. He had tinkered with the new model that would come to be called RF 97, with a bigger head size, in early ’13 but got cold feet. In his off season, he again began to dabble. It also coincided with Edberg’s arrival.

Edberg would fly out to Dubai to spend a week and connect with Federer. By his own admission, Federer was still a touch reticent about the new racket and needed confidence. It would come from Edberg. “There were so many things going on with my game that time, I got cold feet and went back to my old racket. Stefan was the first one to tell me – when somebody Stefan says its’ a good switch, it’s a big thing,” Federer told Wilson Tennis. “The confidence to switch rackets was very important that time.”

What issues did Edberg think that racket helped?

“You [Federer] got more speed with it. Especially the back hand. It made the biggest change. Made it a lot easier to hit .. That’s where you needed it,” Edberg tells Federer in that Wilson Tennis chat. “I do believe you need power in backhand, volley and serve and other tactical things.”

So backhand was the one of the key skills that these two focussed on?

Yes, as it dovetailed nicely with Edberg’s assessment that Federer needed to be more offensive.

And to take the ball early. “To help play more offensive and taking the ball a little earlier which does make a difference,” Edberg says. “I think the last little thing that was crucial which made him win the last few Slams was the improvement of his backhand. He already had a good backhand but now it is even better and that sort of made a difference.”

So did the freaky SABR come from Edberg, where Roger would suddenly rush forward on return of serve?

No it didn’t, but Edberg was there with Roger when it came about and encouraged him. But first a bit about SABR or Sneak Attack By Roger.

Watch the video above to see the ballsiness of it. On return of serve, Roger Federer would almost run into the court and get close to the box to return. It’s ballsy, impish, foolhardy, brave, and a thrilling move.

In 2015, Federer had arrived at Cincinnati, tired from Switzerland. Remember, even during Edberg’s time as coach, Federer’s old coach Severin Lüthi had continued to be in the team as a very important member.

During the first training session, Severin called out to Roger “why don’t you take the serve early?” ‘How early do you want me to take it? I can’t take it earlier than how I am taking it,’ Federer went. ‘Severin wanted me to take it much earlier’. Like this? And I did the SABR!

Well, not like that,’ went Severin. Federer had begun to play around with the new toy in the sessions to come and suddenly produced a winner. “I could not believe I could do it!” Severin and the coaches go, ‘Are you kidding me, what happened here?!’

Watching it was Edberg. “I was semi-shocked! I have never done anything like that, maybe a semi-SABR. It was really exciting to bring something new into the game. It’s so difficult, most people won’t be able to do it even if you practice for life. It’s about timing, power. Quite a shot.”

In Federer’s words, “It looks ridiculous, you can throw away the point but it leaves an impact on the next point; now he knows I have something up the sleeve.”

Did Edberg play a hand in Federer’s retirement?

It does appear so as Edberg has previously advised Federer not to commit his mistake. In 1996, Edberg had announced ahead of the tennis season that he was going to retire and it took a toll on him.

Edberg was raved everywhere in his final year, the farewell celebrations kept on coming and he failed to win a title. The closest was a final at the Queens Club Championships, where he lost to Boris Becker. Days later, he would bow out after a second-round loss to a fellow Swede Tillstrom at Wimbledon.

“It’s not the end of the world,” Edberg would say then. “I wasn’t crying or anything like that,” he said after Tillstrom left him alone on the court to soak up the standing ovation. “Once you’ve been a champion here, I think you should leave like one.”

To my tennis family and beyond,

With Love,
Roger pic.twitter.com/1UISwK1NIN

— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) September 15, 2022

Decades later, Edberg would advise Roger Federer to announce his retirement more carefully.

“We actually talked a little bit about it and I would not recommend it to anybody actually, even if it’s a nice thing to do, because it does put too much pressure on yourself and there will be too many things going on in your mind,” Edberg had told The Tennis Podcast.

“So, if you’re going to announce it, I would do it just before my last tournament…or have it in my mind but not for anybody else to know. It’s just very tough to handle but at the same time, it was a memorable year. But, I would not recommend it.”

What does Federer say about Edberg’s contribution to his game?

“It really unfused me with some new energy, 13 was a tough year. Having a new racket and my hero alongside me, having breakfast, lunch, dinner, and looking at the players box and watching Stefan fist pumping and saying, “let’s go Roger’ – that was truly inspiring to me.”

Edberg smiles, as he hears Federer share his gratitude to Wilson Tennis chat, and says ‘Thanks! you are my hero now!’ And Roger Federer, who has hundreds of fan pages on Pinterest, Instagram and FaceBook just on his smile, crackles up with, “Yeah right!”.