“It’s like riding a bike” – Federer reveals he can still crush forehands

It’s been two years now since Roger Federer retired from tennis, and many of the headlines regarding the Swiss maestro have been to do with his activity off the court. From fashion to documentaries, Federer is making the most of his post-tennis era.

But every now and then, the 20-time Grand Slam champion jumps back on the tennis court and as he revealed recently to GQ, he’s still got it.

“It’s so funny. I was just at Stanford a couple of days back and I went to watch their team play tennis because Tony’s son is a freshman at Stanford,” Federer shared this week, speaking about Tony Godsick, his long-time manager.

“I saw them doing something and I told Tony’s son, “Look, on the forehand return, I think you should be doing this.” And I explained quickly, I took a racket, I was dressed like this [jacket, jeans, and a sweater] and I’m clocking forehand returns, and it’s just there. 

“It doesn’t go away. It’s like riding a bike. And then we did another exercise and then I’m trying to explain how there’s different versions of forehands. There is the loopy one, the fast one, the angle-y one, whatever. And every one I hit was perfect. 

“I’m just thinking, My God, it’s still there.”

Spare a thought for the university students who were training that afternoon, and suddenly had to handle forehand returns from one of the best tennis players of all time.