Pierre Paganini took part in track and field in his youth, and when he first decided to become a coach he was interested above all in working with soccer stars.
But it is in tennis, a sport he has never played regularly, where he has made an indelible mark as the key man in the shadows for Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka.
If they have continued to win big into their 30s, it has a great deal to do with Paganini, the 60-year-old Swiss fitness coach who takes a cerebral approach to working up a sweat.
“A big part of the reason that I’m here where I am today is definitely because of Pierre,” Federer told me in a recent interview.
Where Federer finds himself now is back in London at the ATP Finals, the tour championship reserved for the world’s top eight players.
Federer, now 36, is by far the oldest man in the field and in a round-robin group with Alexander Zverev, Marin Cilic and Jack Sock, who will face Federer in the opening singles match on Sunday. Federer has won the prestigious event a record six times and is the understandable favorite to win it again.
Though he skipped the entire clay-court season to preserve his body and his spark, he has swept nearly all else before him, winning seven titles, including the Australian Open and Wimbledon, and losing just four matches all year.
For more read the full of article at The Nytimes.
