Roger Federer "borrows" fitness coach Pierre Paganini to Stan Wawrinka

• Tennis News
• Roger Federer

Roger Federer will miss the rest of the 2020 season after two knee surgeries in February and May. While working on his comeback, the rest of Federer's team are trying to keep themselves involved, with Severin Luthi practicing promising Swiss juniors and Piere Paganini who has been busy as well.

The three-time Major champion Stan Wawrinka has shared a picture with the famous fitness coach, training hard in Nyon and preparing a comeback in Prague Challenger in two weeks. The former champion has decided to skip the US Open, opting to stay in Europe and compete on the Challenger Tour for the first time in a decade.

After a couple of loose months following the coronavirus outbreak, Stan is back on the practice court, shaping up his game and hoping to build form ahead of Rome and Roland Garros. World no. 17 had to skip the US Open three years ago, undergoing two knee surgeries in August and dropping out from the top-250 in June 2018.

Giving his everything to perform a comeback, Stan returned into the top-30 in May last year, hitting the top-20 in October and settling there. Wawrinka has scored eight wins in 11 encounters in 2020, losing in the semi-final in Doha to Corentin Moutet and Alexander Zverev in the quarters at the Australian Open.

The Swiss competed in his last tournament before the coronavirus in Acapulco, losing to Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets. In Prague, Stan should face Jiri Vesely, Pierre-Hugues Herbert, Philipp Kohlschreiber and Marton Fucsovics, seeking the third straight Challenger crown after conquering Lugano at home in 2009 ad 2010.

Pierre Paganini will undoubtedly bring the most out from Wawrinka after a long break, working with him during those hard times in 2017 and bringing the best from a player who had conquered Major crowns in the past three years.

Pierre Paganini has been working with Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka for years.

Showing interest in working with soccer stars, Pierre Paganini ended up in tennis, guiding Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka towards the top of men's tennis, and 23 Major titles combined.

Paganini met the 14-year-old Roger Federer in Ecublens near Lausanne, becoming a part of his team in 2000 and staying in the chosen group for two decades. Making him one of the best-prepared athletes in the world, Paganini had the opportunity to follow Roger's every step during the recovery time or pre-season, sharing the joy of winning with the Swiss at Roland Garros 2009 and Wimbledon 2017.

"We always benefit from the experience, and as we plan with Stan, it's useful to have just gone through this with Roger," Paganini said in 2017. "What is comparable is the duration. Roger stopped in July 2016 and started in January. Stan stopped in July 2017, and the goal is to start in January 2018."