Looking at past few games of Roger, He seems slightly out of form. Focus and concentration also seems problem sometimes, I don't blame him for the focus as he has already achieved so much in tennis. But as flawless and effortless player he is, I still expect more from him. Specially long rallies he is shanking lot of ball on his backhand side and he is also making lot of mistakes on his forehand side to end the points quickly, I think.I think a bigger frame racket will help little bit but mostly it is timing.
If we look at Australian open semis, Novak has hit 89% of his shots towards his backhand and 90% in Dubai Final, so players are start targeting his backhand like Nadal did previously. Also I noticed since Paul
Annacone join him, he is not using his slice backhand effectively.
Another his movement is sluggish sometimes, he is slow like half a step for me sometime and I think part of the reason is as people starting target his backhand , He is standing slightly on his backhand side for inside out forehands on his backhand wings.
As we all know break point conversion is also problem for him these days. First serve percentage is very low also specially on key points. I think it won't take him long to rectify these issues for the player of his calibre. For upcoming clay court season he is one of the threat for Nadal. Novak is playing well but I don't know how he will translate his hard court success on clay.
On Madrid master Nadal is on his half, so may be semifinal encounter, but before semis Federer has lot of players to defeat like likes of Robin soderling. But Madrid master is high altitude clay that suits well for Feeder game as ball not bounce high enough and he can hit through the player unlike French open.
These are my personal observations, but what do I know? All the best Roger.
If we look at Australian open semis, Novak has hit 89% of his shots towards his backhand and 90% in Dubai Final, so players are start targeting his backhand like Nadal did previously. Also I noticed since Paul
Annacone join him, he is not using his slice backhand effectively.
Another his movement is sluggish sometimes, he is slow like half a step for me sometime and I think part of the reason is as people starting target his backhand , He is standing slightly on his backhand side for inside out forehands on his backhand wings.
As we all know break point conversion is also problem for him these days. First serve percentage is very low also specially on key points. I think it won't take him long to rectify these issues for the player of his calibre. For upcoming clay court season he is one of the threat for Nadal. Novak is playing well but I don't know how he will translate his hard court success on clay.
On Madrid master Nadal is on his half, so may be semifinal encounter, but before semis Federer has lot of players to defeat like likes of Robin soderling. But Madrid master is high altitude clay that suits well for Feeder game as ball not bounce high enough and he can hit through the player unlike French open.
These are my personal observations, but what do I know? All the best Roger.
Am a hard core fan of Fed since ages may be after after Sampras, he has the coolest head and temperament. Tennis has changes a lot in last 2 decades and it's become power game which is not perfectly suiting to Fedy at his 30ies. I can still bet on Fedy but not on red clay at frech open but yes ofcourse he is my best bet in Wimbledon on grass where ball still drible and you can expect more skill than power.(Fedy should rest on alps and rethink to come on clay courts)
ReplyDeleteBest of luck to Federer,
Cheers,
VC
I think the power game is not the real issue for Fed. Against power hitters like Roddick and big server Ivo Karlovic and Soderling, he has impressive record. His real issue is with counter puncher and better movers like Novak, Nadal, Murray. These guys are extremely good movers on the court and hit through them is really hard task and in long rallies these guys start attacking Roger backhand, single hand backhand is real issue for high jumping top spin balls and Roger can not real aggressive on these shots, whenever he tries inside out forehand on these balls, the whole court opens up for these guys and Fed is on the run.
ReplyDeleteIn US open semis 2010, against Novak Fed tried two drop shot which Novak reached in no time because of his fluid movement, which actually cost him the game. Post game interview Roger answered, when asked that Novak was so good in movement sideways so I tried to bring him forward and he tracked them down easy unfortunately.
Like power wise Nadal, Novak has pretty much same power like Fed in all aspects of the game. They all have serve around 115-125 k first serve, 85-105k second serve. Power on forehand side pretty much even, Nadal might have slight edge in power on forehand wing. Only weak side of Fed is his backhand side but not that much really probably off by 5-10 k.
What makes Fed a real good player is his movement and effortless shot making. His ability to construct point is superb but against these few players he becomes so defensive sometimes. On a good day he can beat anyone with his supreme talent and superb conditioning.
What Paul Annacone is trying with him to be aggressive on the return and close the point sooner by using his volley skills. He probably needs to sharpen his net game and first serve percentage and he will a real threat even in French open.
Hopefully Madrid Master will salvage his 2011 season and will be turning point going forward.