Once blessed with computer-like recall, memories fading for Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and others
Now that the intensity and need is no longer there, it seems the likes of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are letting go much of their past.
Roger Federer – Australian Open 2026 © Psnews / Psnewz
The world’s best tennis players have a superpower; the ability to shake off bad losses almost as if they never happened. With four Grand Slam events per year and a packed schedule, short-term memory loss can be a gift.
Take Roger Federer, who might easily have been a broken man after he failed to take one of his two match points against Novak Djokovic in the 2019 Wimbledon final, missing out on a record eighth men’s singles title at the grand old age of 37.
But when he rocked up at the US Open a couple of months later, Federer said it had not been that difficult to get over. Other losses, like the 2009 final in New York when he lost to Juan Martin Del Potro, hurt more, he claimed.
Or take Iga Swiatek, who claimed on Monday that she had not played Coco Gauff since Madrid last May, conveniently overlooking the fact that she had lost to the American earlier this month at the United Cup. Maybe that’s because she’s lost to Gauff now four times in a row.
Zverev remembers junior opponent
Many top players have memories like an elephant, though. Federer used to remember virtually every match he had ever played. Andre Agassi was famous for being able to recall not only his matches but many of the exact scores, his forensic mind also able to dismantle an opponent’s game plan in seconds.
Some even remember their junior days as if they were yesterday. Alexander Zverev played in the 1 Point Slam, which was held at Melbourne Park during qualifying week, and found himself alongside the amateur player, Jordan Smith, who brilliantly ended up winning the AUD $1 million prize, life-changing money.
Smith was a good young player and it turns out Zverev knew him and remembered when they played as kids. “I played Alex Zverev in Germany and I spoke to him when we were courtside saying: ‘I played you when I was 14’ and he remembered me,” Smith told tennis.com.au. “He was like, ‘it was a three-setter, wasn’t it?’, which I ended up losing, but that was really cool. He even congratulated me afterwards.”
Federer: “I don’t remember the details any more”
But it seems that once players retire, their memories start to fade.
Speaking on court with Jim Courier after taking part in the opening ceremony at the Australian Open, when he played with Andre Agassi (and substitute Ash Barty) against Pat Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt, Federer said he could barely remember some matches.
“I don’t remember those details anymore,” he said, admitting he barely recalled anything about playing Novak Djokovic in the fourth round in 2007 or another match against Agassi. “Remember how I used to remember everything? I think since I stepped away and I’m not in touch with the highlights and the records, and I don’t get asked all the time, it doesn’t trigger me as much.
“2007 is an example, I remember the final against Fernando Gonzalez, who I think has one of the best forehands ever, and other than that, there’s maybe occasional moments, but here, when you’re asking about Novak and Andre, nothing.
Maybe it’s because the intensity has gone from their lives and that part of their brain that constantly computed everything it needed to in order to be the best player possible, simply doesn’t need to do it anymore.
Nadal: “It’s probably because I closed that chapter of my life”
Rafael Nadal is another one whose brain has switched off, when it comes to recalling moments in his career.
“I tell you one funny thing,” Nadal said at Roland-Garros last summer. “I was this kind of guy that I remembered every single point almost, but I lost that privilege years ago. It’s true.
“I don’t remember most of the things. I used to remember a lot, every tournament, every game. Now not anymore. It’s true, probably because I closed that chapter of my life.
Among current players, Daniil Medvedev has as sharp a mind as any and the Russian’s memory is clearly in tact.
“I remember a lot of them,” he said at Melbourne Park. “For sure, some you forget. I believe I have a good memory. I can remember a lot of matches, and maybe I’m going to, see someone, and I’m going to be, like, OK, I know you. Juniors, OK, this match and this. Then sometimes it happened that one guy was, like, we played there and there. I’m like, I have no idea.
“It depends. I have a good memory and I like remembering my matches, but I also like thinking about what’s the next match and about this moment.”
So while players are still on Tour, always focused on the job of winning, their minds are trained to remember every detail. When they retire, the need has gone. They can relax, focus on something else. And if they want to remember what they did, well that’s what the internet is for.
