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Former world No 6 Nicolas Lapentti admitted it was "very difficult to find a weak spot" in Roger Federer's game during their matches. Lapentti, 46, retired from professional tennis in 2010. During his career, Lapentti clashed against Federer four times in singles.
In those four meetings, Lapentti didn't win a single set as Federer earned four straight-set wins over the Ecuadorian. In late September, 41-year-old Federer ended his pro tennis career at the Laver Cup. Reflecting on Federer's farewell, Lapentti said it was the best example of how loved and respected Federer was in the tennis community.
Lapentti: You hit a good shot, Federer responds with a better shot
"He was that kind of a player where you would play a good shot and a better shot would come back. It was very difficult to find a weak spot. Roger was awesome in all aspects.
He was great on the court, he was great off the court, he was unbelievable in the locker room, he used to hang out and be funny and do jokes. He loved soccer so we talked about soccer. He was all class. Of course, what he did to the tennis world was so amazing.
I think no one will ever match what he did. That was huge (Federer's Laver Cup send-off). I have a couple of friends who were in the stadium and they were texting me and saying, 'I have never seen in my whole life the whole stadium crying.'
It was crazy but that's what Roger did to the tennis world. We played doubles in Halle in 2000, when I was still better than him. He was still coming up. In 2000, I was up there, and he was probably no. 30 in the world and he was coming up, he was this young kid from Switzerland playing great tennis," Lapentti said on the Craig Shapiro podcast, per Sportskeeda.
In 2002, Federer defeated Lapentti in Hamburg and Madrid. Two years later, Federer and Lapentti met again in Hamburg - the Swiss again won in two sets. Their fourth and last meeting came in 2010, when Federer defeated Lapentti in Miami.