[Helicopter4hand]

I have been studying lots and lots of Federers matches from 2004-06 and comparing them to his recent matches.

1) I know people will disagree, but he has only lost a little bit of speed, the main difference is back in 2004-06 when on the stretch he could return the ball a lot better and more aggressively, where as now he tends to hit a weak reply.

2) His forehand............he had a different technique where his racket on the back swing would be higher and he would swing flatter, where as now he has a flatter more compact back swing, but with half his forehands his follow through is up around his head and is less powerful. His 2004-06 had so much more whip and would hit a lot of short angle winners out of no where, it seemed to get so much more topspin compared to now. Back then going to his forehand side was big trouble, where as now players attack it and get him out of position.

3) His serve back in 2004-06 was so much more powerful and would be close to 130mph, now he struggles to get to 120mph. In 2004-06 his second serve had so much more spin and pop

4) his slices in 2004-06 were deadly and low, it used to be so good he would hit a short slice and wait for the weak reply and hit a passing shot. Now his slice is still good, just not as deadly.

I think he can still win more slams, he just needs to make sure his forehand and serve are firing. I hope in the short off season he works on his forehand, because back in 04-06 it was the best shot in tennis, but he decided to change to a lower back swing to stand closer to the baseline, I think this was a huge mistake.

 

[Servebots=GOAT]

I definitely agree with the majority of your post but he chose to stand closer to the baseline since he had to take a more aggressive approach in rallies and stay on top on them due to his loss of speed and defensive ability. His serve hasn’t lost much I don’t think, maybe a few mph but he still can get it to around 125 or so. His forehand definitely declined and I definitely notice the difference between his defensive forehand now vs his prime. I think his slice is still up there since it’s not really a shot that would be affected by a decline in physical ability.

 

[monfed]

There was a reason why opponents avoided Fed's FH in his prime, even his so called nemesis. They were scared of it. That is how deadly Fed's FH was specially in that 04-06 period. And the best part was that he spent optimum energy to unleash that FH. His FH technique is so advanced and sophisticated it defies belief. Crazy talent.

As far as his slice goes, you're right that it has lost it's bite because with a larger racquet he can't quite knife it enough. His dropshots and volleys have lost their accuracy and his serve has lost it's power or "pop" as you call it and even more importantly the accuracy.

Fed in his prime could completely bail himself out of trouble with a good wide serve in the AD court hitting the corner of the serving box.

Fed's last tournament at his peak was AO 07 and last tournament in his prime was AO 10.

 

[The Federest]

What's remarkable is that the trade-off between neo-backhand and loss of his forehand as a weapon, brought about partly by the change of racquet, has been enough to flip the rivalry with Rafa. Now that Rafa can't pummel the backhand, he has nowhere to go. Moreover, the loss of forehand power has forced him to be more accurate in his serving. In his big matches this year, his serving was almost superhuman. This combination of precision serving (the wide one ruthlessly targeting Rafa's backhand on the deuce side) and solid backhand that is also capable of delivering swift, brutal winners, means that Fed can beat anyone on his day. (For two consecutive matches now, Novak has struggled with Fed's serve.)

In 2020, I think inconsistency will be Fed's biggest rival. But interestingly, when he's fired up, he has nothing to fear from anyone.

 

[DjokoKing]

King exposed him for the Fraud he is.

 

[Jack Theripper]

Federer had to shorten the rallies, so the first strikes must be agressive. Only with the larger frame that is possible. What he missed in precision was gained in power, and of course that was the best option. The problem nowadays is focus and will, so hard to get and mantain, as we could see in WTF: destroyed Djoko with 80+% of first services, total focus, and was beaten by Tsitsi :50% first services and lots of UE, much lower % of good returns.

 

[Waz]

The biggest mistake that Federer made was changing his forehand technique. His forehand pre 2007 was the best, afterwards, it became less powerful and more spiny.

 

[Bella&Mirka]

He can still beat anyone but the chances of accumulating successive good performances are declining. The way he played against Tsitsi, even Nadal would have beaten him. The only exception to this is Wimbledon, where he could still win the tournament at 42/43, injuries permitting.

 

[Helicopter4hand]

The biggest mistake that Federer made was changing his forehand technique. His forehand pre 2007 was the best, afterwards, it became less powerful and more spiny.

100% agree. What a stupid move to change such a wonderful shot.

From what I read he did it to stand closer to the baseline and to get more topspin to win the French open, but i bet his 04-06 forehand still had more topspin than his new technique.

He would of won the French anyway in 2009 with the old style easy imo.

Odly Federer vs Goffin at Basil in 2008 or 07 he almost went back to his old forehand, it was beautiful.

 

[Helicopter4hand]

There was a reason why opponents avoided Fed's FH in his prime, even his so called nemesis. They were scared of it. That is how deadly Fed's FH was specially in that 04-06 period. And the best part was that he spent optimum energy to unleash that FH. His FH technique is so advanced and sophisticated it defies belief. Crazy talent.

As far as his slice goes, you're right that it has lost it's bite because with a larger racquet he can't quite knife it enough. His dropshots and volleys have lost their accuracy and his serve has lost it's power or "pop" as you call it and even more importantly the accuracy.

Fed in his prime could completely bail himself out of trouble with a good wide serve in the AD court hitting the corner of the serving box.

Fed's last tournament at his peak was AO 07 and last tournament in his prime was AO 10.

I truly believe he can win the Aussie open or Wimbledon next year. His off season will be crucial

 

[Zverevdadiii]

There was a reason why opponents avoided Fed's FH in his prime, even his so called nemesis. They were scared of it. That is how deadly Fed's FH was specially in that 04-06 period. And the best part was that he spent optimum energy to unleash that FH. His FH technique is so advanced and sophisticated it defies belief. Crazy talent.

As far as his slice goes, you're right that it has lost it's bite because with a larger racquet he can't quite knife it enough. His dropshots and volleys have lost their accuracy and his serve has lost it's power or "pop" as you call it and even more importantly the accuracy.

Fed in his prime could completely bail himself out of trouble with a good wide serve in the AD court hitting the corner of the serving box.

Fed's last tournament at his peak was AO 07 and last tournament in his prime was AO 10.

These statements are disingenous since he has had many tournaments since then which were better than a lot of tournaments from '04-'09, especially '04, '06(the most overrated campaign ever if depicted match-for-match), '08-'09.

 

[NADALalot]

He can still beat anyone but the chances of accumulating successive good performances are declining. The way he played against Tsitsi, even Nadal would have beaten him. The only exception to this is Wimbledon, where he could still win the tournament at 42/43, injuries permitting.

I'm pretty sure Federer would have been in a completely different frame of mind if he played Rafa in the SF.

 

[Waz]

100% agree. What a stupid move to change such a wonderful shot.

From what I read he did it to stand closer to the baseline and to get more topspin to win the French open, but i bet his 04-06 forehand still had more topspin than his new technique.

He would of won the French anyway in 2009 with the old style easy imo.

Odly Federer vs Goffin at Basil in 2008 or 07 he almost went back to his old forehand, it was beautiful.

I read something similar that he changed his forehand to win the French Open and to beat Nadal there, but he would have won it in 2009 with his old forehand. And I believe he would have had a better chance of beating Nadal at RG with his old forehand. That was a dumb move changing his forehand.

Regarding Federer vs Goffin at Basel, did you mean 2018 or 2017 instead of 2008 or 07?

 

[I'm all in]

I read something similar that he changed his forehand to win the French Open and to beat Nadal there, but he would have won it in 2009 with his old forehand. And I believe he would have had a better chance of beating Nadal at RG with his old forehand. That was a dumb move changing his forehand.

In general he wouldn't beat Nadal at Roland Garros in any cases. He couldn't beat Babydal, he couldn't win against him when he was in the first set on fire in 2006. Even in 2011 when he was in a great shape because he won against Djokovic he couldn't take Rafa to 5 sets. And this year for example when he had a winning streak against Rafa he couldn't win against him.

Rafa is just to good for Federer on clay, especially at Roland Garros. Federer had to wait when Rafa has a very bad day and he took his chance in 2009. So good for him.

 

[SetPointDown]

In general he wouldn't beat Nadal at Roland Garros in any cases. He couldn't beat Babydal, he couldn't win against him when he was in the first set on fire in 2006. Even in 2011 when he was in a great shape because he won against Djokovic he couldn't take Rafa to 5 sets. And this year for example when he had a winning streak against Rafa he couldn't win against him.

Rafa is just to good for Federer on clay, especially at Roland Garros. Federer had to wait when Rafa has a very bad day and he took his chance in 2009. So good for him.

Nadals had to wait for Fedovics injuries at USO 2017/19 to vulture those events, "swiss" nadal fanboy.

Nadal is the biggest vulture of this sport

 

[SetPointDown]

I truly believe he can win the Aussie open or Wimbledon next year. His off season will be crucial

I think he has great chances at them now since Djokovic is not a sure bet to block him like in 2015.

 

[I'm all in]

Nadals had to wait for Fedovics injuries at USO 2017/19 to vulture those events, "swiss" nadal fanboy.

Nadal is the biggest vulture of this sport

I always have to laugh about you. You are a very sad person.

 

[SetPointDown]

I always have to laugh about you. You are a very sad person.

Sad is the troll who entered a thread about Federer just to bitch about his luck.

GTFO vulturedal fanboy

 

[I'm all in]

Sad is the troll who entered a thread about Federer just to bitch about his luck.

GTFO vulturedal fanboy

I hope for you someday you will get a better life and you can stop your hate on Nadal. It's sad to see humans like you.

 

[SetPointDown]

I hope for you someday you will get a better life and you can stop your hate on Nadal. It's sad to see humans like you.

Replacement vulturedal with Federer and that's an accurate representation of your existence fanboy