Mens Tennis Forums banner

Is this the best strategy of Federer?

1K views 17 replies 14 participants last post by  LightsoutLuz 
#1 ·
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
 
See less See more
#8 ·
The best return strategy for Federer would be flat on the line off backhand winners.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Floki
#9 ·
It's a good tactic. Federer doesn't use this tactic much these days for whatever reason. He should use it more often.
 
#10 ·
He doesn't use it because if his ball doesn't have lots of bite on it as well as disguise, players can attack either side of him - whereby his poorer agility would likely kill him. Let's not pretend as if Federer is as accurate these days to hit passes, anyway.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top