Roger Federer hires coach
The Swiss tennis star, Roger Federer, has taken on the services of a former top-ten player, José Higueras.
The world number one practised for the first time under the guidance of Higueras on Saturday at Portugal’s Estoril Open.
Higueras is expected to stay by Federer’s side at least until the French Open in Paris which begins in the last week of May.
The French Open is the only Grand Slam title to have eluded Federer so far.
Higueras, a native of Spain, won 15 titles during his career, when he was considered one of the best sand specialists.
As coach, he helped Michael Chang win the French Open title when the American was only 17, and he has also worked with Pete Sampras, Jim Courier and Carlos Moya.
Federer parted from his last coach, Australian Tony Roche, nearly a year ago.
The Swiss star has yet to win a title this year, but still has a nearly 700-point lead in the rankings on number two Rafael Nadal, and almost 2,000 more than Novak Djokovic who beat him in the semi-finals of the Australian Open.
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