Federer Opens Up on Why Practicing With Agassi Was So Tough
Roger Federer and Andre Agassi will forever be remembered as two of the greatest names in tennis, but Federer has now admitted something that many fans may not have expected. Despite sharing the court 11 times in official matches—and winning eight of those encounters—Federer confessed that he never enjoyed practicing with Agassi.
The reason wasn’t personal; it was all about style. Agassi, nicknamed “The Punisher,” was famous for his relentless baseline hitting. Every ball was struck with maximum force, leaving no time for easing into rallies or experimenting with variety. Federer described it vividly during a live conversation with Andy Roddick, saying that training with Agassi felt like “bang, bang, bang,” followed by a rocket of a shot that flew past him before he could even settle into rhythm.
For Federer, whose game was built on elegance, variety, and controlled intensity, this approach simply didn’t work. He explained that he preferred to mix things up in practice—rolling a few shots, slicing, building points in different ways. Agassi, by contrast, gave no breathing room. It wasn’t Federer’s style of preparation, and he admitted plainly, “That’s not how I train.”
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What makes this reflection so fascinating is how it highlights the evolution of tennis itself. Federer observed that the sport has grown more physical and more about constant heavy hitting. Players today, he noted, return serves with remarkable ease and push each other into long baseline battles with explosive forehands and backhands. In many ways, he credited Agassi as one of the pioneers of that approach—an early adopter of all-out intensity in both practice and competition.
Federer also compared Agassi’s relentless style to Rafael Nadal’s. Nadal, like Agassi, is another player Federer admitted you wouldn’t necessarily want to practice with because every ball comes back with full power. For Federer, training had always been about balance—working at high intensity, yes, but also maintaining variety to keep his rhythm and creativity alive.
The honesty of Federer’s remarks gives fans a behind-the-scenes glimpse of what it was like to face such a punishing opponent even off the match court. It also serves as a reminder of why Federer’s own game looked so effortless to spectators. That fluid elegance was not accidental; it was the product of carefully structured training that suited his style and personality.
Beyond the practice stories, Federer also touched on the possibility of playing again, perhaps in exhibitions or alongside fellow legends like Nadal. While he admitted neither he nor Nadal is quite ready, the desire to share the court again is clearly still alive. His longtime agent even hinted that Federer might be gently pushed toward a return, at least in some capacity.
So while fans may still have to wait, what remains clear is this: Federer’s love for tennis hasn’t faded, and his reflections on Agassi show just how much the sport has been shaped by contrasting styles—elegant precision on one side, relentless power on the other. Both men, in their own way, defined an era of greatness.
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