when facing the second serve on ad court, Federer usually (sometimes) hits a very low, short backhand slice, drawing the opponent to the net
sometimes even on first serve or in the middle of a point when he's comfortable
James Blake
this was a break point resulting in losing the 1st set
Davydenko
Davydenko's net game was below average, it was hard for him to deal with the low-short ball on the backhand side, so Federer always used this play against him, in this case, even on deuce court facing first serve
Roddick
Roddick is the perfect example here
He's confident about his net game and sometimes really didn't have a choice. When Federer asked him to come to the net, he always said "I'd love to"
Ferrer
Ferrer is the kind of guy who reluctantly to get into the net, but Federer still have a way to use the play
Murray
Murray is good at dealing with the low short ball, and he also doesn't want to go to the net, so it has to be really short for Federer to execute effectively
Djokovic
like Murray, Djokovic also has a better backhand than Roddick, he's comfortable with the low ball. This video shows the match point of 07 US final, when he was not that confident and composed
Nadal
this is a totally different story, backhand facing forehand, slice facing topspin, disaster
in fact, during this match, Federer used backhand stroke 99% of the time and got match point from clay-prime Nadal
Berdych
opponent like Berdych, you know you cannot use this as often as facing Roddick. It was break point in this video, Federer's footwork helped
sometimes even on first serve or in the middle of a point when he's comfortable
James Blake
this was a break point resulting in losing the 1st set
Davydenko
Davydenko's net game was below average, it was hard for him to deal with the low-short ball on the backhand side, so Federer always used this play against him, in this case, even on deuce court facing first serve
Roddick
Roddick is the perfect example here
He's confident about his net game and sometimes really didn't have a choice. When Federer asked him to come to the net, he always said "I'd love to"
Ferrer
Ferrer is the kind of guy who reluctantly to get into the net, but Federer still have a way to use the play
Murray
Murray is good at dealing with the low short ball, and he also doesn't want to go to the net, so it has to be really short for Federer to execute effectively
Djokovic
like Murray, Djokovic also has a better backhand than Roddick, he's comfortable with the low ball. This video shows the match point of 07 US final, when he was not that confident and composed
Nadal
this is a totally different story, backhand facing forehand, slice facing topspin, disaster
in fact, during this match, Federer used backhand stroke 99% of the time and got match point from clay-prime Nadal
Berdych
opponent like Berdych, you know you cannot use this as often as facing Roddick. It was break point in this video, Federer's footwork helped