from ESPN.com
by Peter Bodo

It has been a terrific year for the tennis coaching industry. It isn’t just that so many coaches found gainful employment; it's also because the dignity of the profession -- never a guaranteed thing -- was greatly enhanced by the dramatic increase in what is now being called the “supercoach” category.

The presence of former greats -- among others, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg, Goran Ivanisevic, Amelie Mauresmo and newest addition Martina Navratilova -- in the player guest boxes of the world has brought increased attention not just to the profession but to the game itself. Supercoaches have created a thousand new storylines because their names are so resonant -- and irresistible.

With that in mind, and with this being the holiday season, let’s imagine what the celebrity coaches and their players might produce when it comes time to exchange gifts.

from Tennis Head

Tim Henman described Roger Federer as the best player he ever faced in his career and paid tribute to Stefan Edberg for helping to evolve Federer’s game.

"When you reflect on the early part of his career the courts were a little bit faster and certainly on grass he was serving and volleying a lot more," said Henman, who was speaking at a Give it Your Max coaching masterclass as part of Statoil’s ‘Heroes of Tomorrow’ programme, which supports young people in sport, education and culture. "However, on the baseline he used to play a little more consistently and not quite as aggressive. I think now the courts have got slower he serves and volleys less but has got a lot more aggressive from the baseline."

Despite the baseline prominence, Federer was more attacking this year and Henman argues Edberg has made his net game better now than it was when he was still on tour.

"I think Edberg’s had a positive effect, he’s looking to finish the points earlier at the net and it looks like his net game has improved. Before he never volleyed particularly well and now he’s understanding the net a little bit more and volleying a little bit better and that’s a good sign for him."

from Tennis Head (issue of January 2015)
by Paul Newman
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With the Davis Cup added to the list of honours won by Roger Federer, Paul Newman reflects on a remarkable come back year for the Swiss and assesses the impact Stefan Edberg has had on the latest chapter of a unique career.

As Roger Federer reflects on a memorable 2014 he will surely regard a phone call that he made just over 12 months ago as one of the major turning points in his career. When Federer parted company with Paul Annacone, his coach of the previous three years, in October 2013, you would have got long odds on the Swiss replacing him with Stefan Edberg, who had never previously coached a top player and had spent 12 years out of the sport following his retirement.

One phone conversation, however, was enough to ignite Edberg's interest in coaching the seven-times Wimbledon champion - and the two men have not looked back. A campaign which began with many wondering whether Federer could ever scale the peaks again ended with the 33-year-old Swiss back at No.2 in the world rankings and securing one of the jewels that had been missing from his crown as he led his country to victory in the Davis Cup.

from The New York Times
by Christopher Clarey

PARIS — The last point of the official 2014 season was fitting. Not only because Roger Federer won it to cap a resurgent year by securing the Davis Cup for Switzerland but also because Federer won it on his way to the net.

His wickedly sliced backhand drop-shot winner left the Frenchman Richard Gasquet no chance and was the last and one of the best reminders of the big impact that the new wave of stars-turned-coaches had on the year.

After a downbeat 2013, Federer brought in Stefan Edberg, who rushed the net all the way to No. 1, in order to hear a fresh voice and hone his attacking game. Though Paul Annacone, Federer’s former coach, also knew plenty about net play, Federer took his skills and confidence to a new level in the forecourt with Edberg in his camp.

from L'Équipe
by Mats Wilander
translated into English by Mauro Cappiello

In his analysis for L'Équipe this morning, Mats Wilander wrote about the transformations in Roger Federer's game style after the start of his partnership with Stefan Edberg that allowed him to get back to his top and take, at the age of 33, his first Davis Cup title.

Yesterday, Roger Federer was amazing. It's hard to say that he is a better player than between 2004 and 2007 because he is thirty-three. But in terms of technical options and tactical understanding, he never played tennis this well.

He always plays the right shot at the right time. He goes to the net exactly when he needs it, he plays drop shots with the perfect timing during the rally, etc. You can feel a systematic will to move forward and not to be dragged into a long exchange.

by Mauro Cappiello

Roger Federer lost his first match in a Davis Cup final in straight sets against Gael Monfils. The Swiss was clearly struggling on court, limited by the back injury he suffered in his ATP World Tour Finals semifinal against team mate Stan Wawrinka.

Today's images brought many to compare Federer's bad luck to the one happened to his coach Stefan Edberg in 1996, when he played his last official match in the Davis Cup final in Malmö right against France. Serving on 2-3 in the first set of the opening rubber, Stefan twisted his right ankle at the net.

He took a long injury time-out and had his foot treated and taped, but that wasn't enough to allow him to get back to the court at his top. He lost that match in straight sets, too, and was unable to compete again in the following two days of the final, that Sweden eventually lost in a dramatic decisive match.

from AS.com
by Alejandro Delmás 
translated into English by Mauro Cappiello

Stefan Edberg was the coach behind Federer's renaissance. If the back injury allows him, he can complete his record of trophies with a Davis Cup title.

When the relationship between you and Roger began, almost a year ago, did you expect these results?

For me, almost everything was a surprise from the first call I received from Roger, yes, almost exactly one year ago. During the first few months I tried to get used to the idea that I was his coach or technical advisor, in the sense that I became part of his team. We had to find the right feeling. During practice, Federer has also surprised me with the amount of things that he can assimilate and execute. He can actually grasp and do anything you say.

Have you been able to develop the technical ideas that you had since the beginning of this 2014 season?

Yes I had a clear idea that he could no longer try to win matches from the baseline. He had to attack more. We started from the basis that he has all the potential shots for an offensive game: his shots are actually perfect. We changed his mentality in some aspects of the game and then he even changed his racquet. We get along quite well. So we just had to expect these results that have arrived.

Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic reached the final at the ATP World Tour Finals in London, both winning in three sets against Stan Wawrinka and Kei Nishikori.

It will be a re-match of the Wimbledon final (today at 6.00 pm, London time) and another act of the classic rivalry between super coaches Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker, who played their only final against each other at the Masters in New York 25 years ago.

After the Serb had dominated Nishikori in the afternoon semifinal, losing his first set of the tournament mainly due to a drop of concentration, Federer managed to escape defeat in the all Swiss semifinal against Wawrinka, saving four match points in what has been by far the most thrilling and technically enjoyable match of the event.

In the video below, you can relive the four match points saved by the world number two and the one that gave him the chance to play his ninth final (chasing his seventh title) at the year-end Championship. With Stefan Edberg's final standing ovation. (mc)

After Roger Federer's last Round Robin match at the ATP World Tour Finals in London, a 6-0 6-1 demolition of local favourite Andy Murray, Stefan Edberg was interviewed by BBC's broadcast Sunday's 5 live sport.

The Swede talked about his pupil's performance that he described as "the best tennis he has seen all year by far". "I don't think he can play much better than that, to be honest. He's playing some of his best tennis after the US Open and, if he can maintain what he has at the moment, he has got a big chance for next year as well".

Hear the complete interview below.

from La Gazzetta dello Sport
by Vincenzo Martucci
translated into English by Mauro Cappiello

The Swede from his rivalry with Becker to his relationship with his "pupil". «We had stronger personalities. Federer goes beyond. And he'll win more.»

Stefan Edberg is expecting an interview on his famous pupil, Roger Federer. That's why, knowing his famous understatement, that he refined during his long stay in London as a player and during his relationship with coach Tony Pickard, we started from the past that rolls back. Which means from Boris Becker, yesterday his rival on court - also 6 times at the Masters, now played in London, - today as coach of Novak Djokovic.

Last July, in the Wimbledon final, Becker beat Edberg.
"We are no longer rivals like back at the time, we are more friends: we know that, with the desire we had to win against each other, we pushed each other to give our best. Now we are helping two champions. It's more relaxed, at least for me."