Roger Federer (Photo : Getty Images)
Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki revealed his admiration of Roger Federer's game and the Swiss Maestro's personality off the court.
Nowitzki spoke about his passion for tennis in an interview with Steve Flink of Tennis Channel, in which the 38-year-old German praised Federer's work as one of the greatest to play the sport. Nowitzki, a two-time NBA MVP, said he is in awe of how Federer play effortlessly, while also praising the Swiss' incredible off-court character.
"He plays so smooth. It looks like it is effortless. He does it all with technique and rhythm and not all the power that Nadal needs to get his forehand going. I have actually met him a couple of times and Roger is a wonderful human being so that was a great honor to me," Nowitzki said.
It is not surprising how fond Nowitzki is in the world of tennis. Nowitzki confessed during a fundraising event for his inaugural Pro Celebrity Tennis Classic at SMU in Dallas earlier this month that tennis was his first love before he began towering over shorter competitors, veering him to shift over to playing basketball.
However, while Nowitzki has the ultimate respect for Federer, the 13-time NBA All-Star forward insisted his favorite player is Rafael Nadal, who, against Federer, has formed one of the richest rivalry in tennis history.
"I'm a Nadal guy. In his prime, nobody has ever seen a forehand like his with that power and amount of spin, and the way he swings it over his head it is like a frikkin lasso. It is just amazing. I am a huge Nadal fan," Nowitzki added.
Nadal has faced Federer in 34 career singles matches and has defeated the latter 23 times. The Mallorcan has won five of their last six meetings, but Federer got the better of Nadal in their most recent face-off in last year's Swiss Indoors in Basel.
Meanwhile, Nowitzki will play his 19th NBA season with the Mavs this year in hopes of winning another NBA title before walking away from the sport. Nowitzki, who has career averages of 22.0 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game, has won one championship with the Mavs back in 2011.
Video courtesy: The Star-Telegram/Dwain Price
