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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.
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.