Former Sampras’ coach will be working along the Swiss on his comeback atop the ATP ranking.

Loosing the first place in the ATP World Rankings did not suit well to Roger Federer. Considering Rafael Nadal’s is playing at his career’s best, Federer is going to require all of the resources that he has available to get the No. 1 spot back. This is the reason why Federer is adding a new member to his team: Paul Annacone, who happens to be former Pete Sampras’ coach. For now the agreement is just for a test period, and the results and sensations will determine its extension.

After 285 weeks of being ranked as number one, and needing only one more week to tie the all-time record held by Sampras, the Swiss lost the first place and record opportunity when Nadal won Rolando Garros on June 6th. And the fall didn’t stop there, because Serbian Novak Djokovic pushed him to the third place after Wimbledon. This year has not been the best for him, even though he won a Grand Slam title in the Australian Open after defeating Andy Murray, he has not been able to win another title since.

Roger’s present shows that his game is still effective enough to be in the top places, but not sufficient to be in the first one. In the two last Grand Slams (Roland Garros and Wimbledon) he has lost in the quarter-finals, a completely different scenario from what he experienced last year, when he won both.

On the brighter side, the Federer Express is only 28. He still got some good years ahead, and no big changes need to be made to his game. Perhaps just polish some of his techniques to make those shots into winning points again. Annacone has a real clear picture of the situation: “for guys like that, it is daunting but not that daunting. They are so skilled, they can adjust, but a lot of the adjustment is mental”.

“As Paul winds down his responsibilities working for the Lawn Tennis Association, we will explore our relationship through this test period”.

This is not the first time the Federer tries to step up his game with the help of temporary coaches. Names like Tony Roche, Darren Cahill or Jose Higueras have been associated with him in recent years. Now it is Paul Annacone’s time to influence his style, and hopefully bring his winning strike back.

The Big Apple

Meanwhile the Swiss will harm up for the US Open in the Rogers Cup that will be held in Toronto on August 9th, where all the big names like Nadal, Djokovic, Murray, Davydenko, Soderling, Roddick and Del Potro will be present as well on their run for the title. This tournament will not only award 1000 points to the winner, but also help to strengthen his confidence right before the last Grand Slam of the year.

A virtual win in Toronto would not only lead Federer to the second place on the ranking, but it would also be a great sign of recovery just on time for the Big Apple’s challenge, where his supremacy was only interrupted last year by Del Potro after winning the Open 5 times in a row.