posted Nov 19, 2008

I don't think Federer is listening, but I do wonder if his best chance of beating Sampras' record is....doing a Sampras and playing like Sampras.

By that I mean take the clay court season with ease, just relax and see how it goes. The last few years he has put incredible amounts of energy into clay play....but he couldn't dethrone Nadal and last time (at RG) the gap had become bigger...too big.

So then concentrate on the OZ and his beloved Wimbledon - arriving fresh and ready for both. I think it has been amazing how Federer has lifted himself from the disappointment of RG to win Wimbledon...but again, it seemed he handed too much momentum to Nadal last time around ( where Nadal consistently thrashed him on clay and kept overturning 1-5 deficits to win sets...nice thoughts to have when Wimbledon goes to a 5th set, as it did ).

And finally, rush the net more a la Samp. To be fair, he has started to do this - I don't know if it is tactical or simply if his legs can't handle 30-50 shot baseline rallies.

Win Oz, forget RG, take Wimbledon through focus and energy, waltze the US on the back of re-newed confidence.

All by rushing the net more and beefing up the serve.

How hard can it be????

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posted Nov 19, 2008

You seem to be under the impression that fatigue is Federer's biggest problem. On the contrary, of the top four players he appears to be the one with the least worries there.

He did win the last Grand Slam of the year after all, against a player who'd knackered himself making the final.

Net-rushing is not the answer either, except in a strictly rationed way at the French versus Nadal only.

One semi, three finals, one title... not exactly falling apart was he?

The game Sampras played and the environment he played in were totally different to today's situation.

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posted Nov 19, 2008

I agree with hi vis on this one. Serve volley is just not the option it once was. Part of this is due to string technology and racket improvements and part due to the slowing of many surfaces.

Fed has tried to add some of this to his game and he gets some success from it, but if the approach shot is not perfect he will get passed.

His best bet is to play aggresive from the baseline, thats how he won his 13 slams so far.

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posted Nov 19, 2008

Fair points above.

I would tend to describe Federer as mentally tired rather than physically....and my fear is more 6-1, straight sets thrashings against Nadal will wear him down and just when he does not need it. Early in the season.

Federer has always come across to me as a frontrunner - when in front and feeling good, that's it - game over. (Like Sampras)

That game deserted him almost totally last year and I think it does/did tire him mentally...which then leads to physical tiredness in the form of (for Federer) outrageously high unforced errors.

His aggressive play from the baseline has been inconsistent, at times chaotic.

But yes, I take your points about serve and volley not being as strong an option as before.

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posted Nov 19, 2008

He will be back in 2009. He has another 3 years at least of challenging for Gran Slams.

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posted Nov 19, 2008

Whilst i'd love to agree with you turko the issue is that as Fed gets older so does his body. His back injury isn't a good sign, i just hope as he gets older he doesn't get more injury prone. The advantage of his style of play is that it's less likely. Nadal on the other hand.

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posted Nov 19, 2008

If he'd not had mono, and he'd been able to condition his body at Federer bootcamp for 20 days, pre-season, like normal...he'd not have had that back injury. Physically he's been playing catch up all season. There's no reason why 2009 should be like that all over again.

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posted Nov 22, 2008

Like the man and his tennis his interview just oozes class. I'm so relieved that he feels the pressure is off slightly and whatever happens from now and whether he wins another GS or not I would hazard a very informed guess that he has given more tennis pleasure than any other player in history. I hope he gets back to No 1 and that he wins his next GS at Wimbledon where I'll be cheering loudly to the embarrassment of my more sober friends.

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posted Nov 22, 2008

And by the way why isn't he on the list of the world's 100 sexiest men?

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posted Nov 22, 2008

you sound a bit like you're oozing something fedfan.

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