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Tennis ace Roger Federer has revealed his three simple secrets to success as he tries to regain the World No 1 spot at the ATP World Tour Finals in London this week.
Despite not winning a Grand Slam title this season, the World No 2 is in a position to challenge Novak Djokovic for the No 1 spot because he has won more matches than anyone in 2014.
And now the Swiss tennis ace has revealed the secret behind his success in open, News.com.au reported.
‘Stay on the attack’
The 33-year-old, who reached the final of Wimbledon this year and semifinals of Australia and US Open, revealed that the first secret to success is to stay on the attack.
Federer admitted that he does believe that when one is playing offensive one has to do less reacting, whereas if one is always reacting to what their opponent gives, it's very hard.
The Swiss revealed that eventually throughout the week or throughout the year or throughout ones career, if a player is always compensating and running after the ball, it's going to catch up with them.
But he also revealed that one can work on everything and the best players can play both offensive and defensive.
‘Not to take things too seriously’
The second secret Federer says is not to take things too seriously. He admits that he has always said criticism can be used as fuel, but revealed that he is not like that.
For Federer just being on the court is enough. He said that let's say he loses in the finals, he still gets together with his team and friends and he is like, 'It was a good week'.
The father of four admitted that it's true that the generation of Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal has made him a better player, in particular Nadal has challenged him on many fronts, because the way he plays the Spaniard is so unlike anyone else.
But, the Swiss also admitted that he wouldn't say he needed that generation to keep him going; adding that he is just there because he loves playing the game.
‘Keep the momentum going’
And finally Federer's third secret is to keep the momentum going. He said that his coach Stefan Edberg wanted him more to play more matches and play tournaments more consistently.
He admitted that he used to go in spells, but his coach doesn't believe in taking too long of a break. Federer said that Edberg says it's fine to do that when one is younger, but when one is older, maybe it's easier for ones body to keep on playing.
The Swiss said that they took a similar approach in training, adding that Edberg reminded him to keep on playing points, whereas before he would only do that when the next tournament was close. He admitted that it actually helped him to remain in a good rhythm.
Djokovic unconditionally crowns Federer 'Dad No 1'
Novak Djokovic has unconditionally crowned 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer as the best 'dad', as the two are seeded to meet in the final of the ATP World Tour Finals in London.
Djokovic might be the top seed and favourite in the season-ending classic as he shoots for a third straight title, but when it comes to juggling tennis and fatherhood, this new dad accepts father-of-four Federer is still the undisputed champion.
Djokovic said that he is still far off from Federer, adding that four kids and it's pretty amazing to still play at such a high level as the Swiss does.
The Serb marveled at how Federer seems to have rediscovered his most ethereal form in the months following the birth of his and wife Mirka's second set of twins in May.
He said that he can understand what an effort it is with one kid, adding that with four he can't imagine.
Maybe, but Djokovic has made a fairly extraordinary start to life as a racket-wielding dad, winning the Masters title in Paris last weekend in his first tournament since he and wife Jelena celebrated the birth of Stefan in October.