Federer Stuff
- The Giants of the Game - A concise look at tennis history
- Celebration of Champions: An Essay
- Roger Federer vs Rod Laver
- Roger Federer vs Bjorn Borg
- Roger Federer vs Pete Sampras
- In Pictures: Rog
- Fed's Serve - An analysis
- Federer's Playing Style Guide
- Early Days Pics & Family
- Fed's Coaches Timeline
- Video of Roger in ultra-slow motion
- Introducing Ninja - a biography
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A Guide to Federer's Playing Style
Federermagic reader Arnab Zaheen writes a well-researched article on Federer's genuine shotmaking ability.
Summary
Federer possesses outstanding control over his racket speed, angle and topspin. Aided further by superior anticipation and unusually quick movement, he can subtly dictate the momentum and the direction of the game. He also shows rare mental adaptability and stroke-making versatility as he is known to switch his playing style in the middle of a match or tweak a few things in his game to outsmart and outplay his opponents. He displays unusual calm and an uncommon lack of visible frustration when he makes errors, perhaps a result of his confidence in his unmatched abilties.
Service
Federer's serves are relatively fast, hovering around 120mph. More important than the speed of his serve is his deceptive ability to produce them accurately at different angles and bounces using the same serving motion, a skill that was perfected by Pete Sampras. The Guardian points out that "[Federer's] brightest jewels [are] slow-motion aces, objects of beauty because the rare combination of insidious accuracy and slick disguise [makes] great speed redundant."1
Service Return
Federer is also exceptional at reading fast serves and returning them. He doesn't punish services with his returns like Andre Agassi does, and seems to prefer the steadier slice or bunt that neutralizes the server's advantage, but his anticipation and ability to read the service appears equal to or superior to Agassi's. During Wimbledon 2003, Sports Illustrated magazine noted the following about Federer's return game against Andy Roddick, the fastest server in the history of tennis: "Federer has a knack for reading Roddick's serve, getting enough of his racket on them to cut down on aces. Roddick had only a pair of aces in each of the first two sets and none in the third. He had 64 aces in his five matches on the way to the semis." 2
Forehand and Backhand
Federer has technically flawless forehand and backhand shots that he can unleash with great power, often at speeds near 100mph, anywhere on the court, prompting many commentators to exclaim that he makes the court look smaller or that he reduces tennis to mere ping-pong. He is one of the few top players who play with a one-handed backhand. Rod Laver is especially fond of the Federer backhand and says that it "is the best shot he plays, as he can roll his racket over the top of the ball, or hit it straight. I don't know how he manages to hit the ball so cleanly all the time."3
Shotmaking in Exceptional Circumstances
Federer usually plays with moderate aggression and doesn't go for the dominant shots all the time. Like all great players, he has a knack for creating all kinds of spectacular shots when pushed into compromising positions, usually when an opponent approaches the net expecting easy putaways. But Federer's responses are probably far more varied then any other player in the history of the game: looping crosscourt backhand passes, wristy and instinctive backhand pickups from the midcourt placed at very acute angles, exceptionally accurate down-the-line backhand passing shots while on the run, a heavily-topspinned forehand crosscourt pull from the baseline that, upon bounce, spins and fades away from lunging opponents, crushing forehand shots from the baseline that land inside the service box and speed away, and more.
Defense
Federer has great defense at the back of the court and is exceptionally good at returning deep, close-to-the-baseline shots from his opponents with effortless, Andre Agassi-like but even better, instinctive half-volleys and John McEnroe-like behind-the-body backhand flick returns. He is among the best in the world - one might say on par with Lleyton Hewitt, but without the gritty terrier-like tenacity and with nonchalant grace at chasing down his opponents' dominant baseline shots and keeping balls in play. Federer is, however, not entirely invincible at the baseline and shows vulnerability (and incidentally, a rare room for improvement) at his backhand side. There are times, though seldom, when an opponent can force errors from Federer's backhand defensive shots either by pounding relentless, accurate, flat and deep shots at his backhand corner (exposed against Marat Safin on hardcourt at the Australian Open 2005 semi-final) or by employing high-bouncing topsin shots at the same corner (exposed against Rafael Nadal on clay at the French Open 2005 semi-final).
Deliberative Shotmaking
In addition to these, he deliberately "mixes up" his game to keep his opponents guessing all the time. One of his more creative shots while not under pressure is a beautifully executed, both feet on the air, inside-out forehand from his backhand side generated using a unique, almost-complete lateral rotation of his torso --- a shot that he uses selectively for more power and angle instead of using the stock backhand. He has also reintroduced the backhand slice in fast courts to deliberately slow down the tempo of the game, and it serves well for the seemingly "cat-and-mouse" games he plays with his opponents. He is also adept at unexpectantly producing dying, back-spinning dropshots at the foot of the net, both forehand and backhand, and often employs them successfully from the back of the court against the fastest runners and anticipators in the game. Furthermore, his flexibility and quickness allow him to hit clean winners with perfect racket preparation and positioning - even when he is facing low-bouncing balls at the midcourt.
At the Net
Federer's playing style at the net, like the rest of his game, rarely seems rushed or fidgety. He almost always makes sure-footed steps at the net. At times his flexibility allows him to make galloping strides to his left or right and help himself in positions to make seemingly effortless volleys from well below the net level. And the volleys themselves are exquisitely executed, especially the stop-volleys. Federer often employs the right amount of backspin on his stop-volleys so that after the ball barely clears the net and lands on the other side, it either stops dead with minimal bounce or, to the further frustration of his opponent, backspins. This explains why Federer doesn't usually have prolonged net enounters with his opponents. He likes to finish off his net points early. The lack of such encounters, however, may prove to be his Achilles' Heel during crucial points against an opponent who is extremely quick to reach the net and who thrives at the prospect of making agile, instinctive counterpunch in such situations. Federer's sure-footedness and effortless pickups at the net reminds one of Sampras, whereas the crisp, timely execution of volleys are reminiscent of Stefan Edberg, who is incidentally one of Federer's childhood idols. Federer's net game is most suited for grass, and it has helped him capture three back-to-back Wimbledon titles.
The Feel and other Intangibles
Federer also demonstrates uncanny disguise in his ability to hold the point of contact with the ball (and consequentially his opponent) a split second longer. In the absence of anticipatory cues, Federer's opponents cannot readily get a jump on his shots. He can play down the line or crosscourt off the identical stance and seemingly identical swing - directing the ball either left or right by a subtle change in timing. As his ATP peer Tim Henman points out: "I can watch when I'm playing him and there are certain times where I will hit a shot, I will be at the net and it almost looks he's got a split second longer than most other players...Sometimes he comes across to hit a backhand pass when you feel like you've hit a good approach and it's like he has got a bit longer to hit it." 4
Summary
Federer possesses outstanding control over his racket speed, angle and topspin. Aided further by superior anticipation and unusually quick movement, he can subtly dictate the momentum and the direction of the game. He also shows rare mental adaptability and stroke-making versatility as he is known to switch his playing style in the middle of a match or tweak a few things in his game to outsmart and outplay his opponents. He displays unusual calm and an uncommon lack of visible frustration when he makes errors, perhaps a result of his confidence in his unmatched abilties.
Service
Federer's serves are relatively fast, hovering around 120mph. More important than the speed of his serve is his deceptive ability to produce them accurately at different angles and bounces using the same serving motion, a skill that was perfected by Pete Sampras. The Guardian points out that "[Federer's] brightest jewels [are] slow-motion aces, objects of beauty because the rare combination of insidious accuracy and slick disguise [makes] great speed redundant."1
Service Return
Federer is also exceptional at reading fast serves and returning them. He doesn't punish services with his returns like Andre Agassi does, and seems to prefer the steadier slice or bunt that neutralizes the server's advantage, but his anticipation and ability to read the service appears equal to or superior to Agassi's. During Wimbledon 2003, Sports Illustrated magazine noted the following about Federer's return game against Andy Roddick, the fastest server in the history of tennis: "Federer has a knack for reading Roddick's serve, getting enough of his racket on them to cut down on aces. Roddick had only a pair of aces in each of the first two sets and none in the third. He had 64 aces in his five matches on the way to the semis." 2
Forehand and Backhand
Federer has technically flawless forehand and backhand shots that he can unleash with great power, often at speeds near 100mph, anywhere on the court, prompting many commentators to exclaim that he makes the court look smaller or that he reduces tennis to mere ping-pong. He is one of the few top players who play with a one-handed backhand. Rod Laver is especially fond of the Federer backhand and says that it "is the best shot he plays, as he can roll his racket over the top of the ball, or hit it straight. I don't know how he manages to hit the ball so cleanly all the time."3
Shotmaking in Exceptional Circumstances
Federer usually plays with moderate aggression and doesn't go for the dominant shots all the time. Like all great players, he has a knack for creating all kinds of spectacular shots when pushed into compromising positions, usually when an opponent approaches the net expecting easy putaways. But Federer's responses are probably far more varied then any other player in the history of the game: looping crosscourt backhand passes, wristy and instinctive backhand pickups from the midcourt placed at very acute angles, exceptionally accurate down-the-line backhand passing shots while on the run, a heavily-topspinned forehand crosscourt pull from the baseline that, upon bounce, spins and fades away from lunging opponents, crushing forehand shots from the baseline that land inside the service box and speed away, and more.
Defense
Federer has great defense at the back of the court and is exceptionally good at returning deep, close-to-the-baseline shots from his opponents with effortless, Andre Agassi-like but even better, instinctive half-volleys and John McEnroe-like behind-the-body backhand flick returns. He is among the best in the world - one might say on par with Lleyton Hewitt, but without the gritty terrier-like tenacity and with nonchalant grace at chasing down his opponents' dominant baseline shots and keeping balls in play. Federer is, however, not entirely invincible at the baseline and shows vulnerability (and incidentally, a rare room for improvement) at his backhand side. There are times, though seldom, when an opponent can force errors from Federer's backhand defensive shots either by pounding relentless, accurate, flat and deep shots at his backhand corner (exposed against Marat Safin on hardcourt at the Australian Open 2005 semi-final) or by employing high-bouncing topsin shots at the same corner (exposed against Rafael Nadal on clay at the French Open 2005 semi-final).
Deliberative Shotmaking
In addition to these, he deliberately "mixes up" his game to keep his opponents guessing all the time. One of his more creative shots while not under pressure is a beautifully executed, both feet on the air, inside-out forehand from his backhand side generated using a unique, almost-complete lateral rotation of his torso --- a shot that he uses selectively for more power and angle instead of using the stock backhand. He has also reintroduced the backhand slice in fast courts to deliberately slow down the tempo of the game, and it serves well for the seemingly "cat-and-mouse" games he plays with his opponents. He is also adept at unexpectantly producing dying, back-spinning dropshots at the foot of the net, both forehand and backhand, and often employs them successfully from the back of the court against the fastest runners and anticipators in the game. Furthermore, his flexibility and quickness allow him to hit clean winners with perfect racket preparation and positioning - even when he is facing low-bouncing balls at the midcourt.
At the Net
Federer's playing style at the net, like the rest of his game, rarely seems rushed or fidgety. He almost always makes sure-footed steps at the net. At times his flexibility allows him to make galloping strides to his left or right and help himself in positions to make seemingly effortless volleys from well below the net level. And the volleys themselves are exquisitely executed, especially the stop-volleys. Federer often employs the right amount of backspin on his stop-volleys so that after the ball barely clears the net and lands on the other side, it either stops dead with minimal bounce or, to the further frustration of his opponent, backspins. This explains why Federer doesn't usually have prolonged net enounters with his opponents. He likes to finish off his net points early. The lack of such encounters, however, may prove to be his Achilles' Heel during crucial points against an opponent who is extremely quick to reach the net and who thrives at the prospect of making agile, instinctive counterpunch in such situations. Federer's sure-footedness and effortless pickups at the net reminds one of Sampras, whereas the crisp, timely execution of volleys are reminiscent of Stefan Edberg, who is incidentally one of Federer's childhood idols. Federer's net game is most suited for grass, and it has helped him capture three back-to-back Wimbledon titles.
The Feel and other Intangibles
Federer also demonstrates uncanny disguise in his ability to hold the point of contact with the ball (and consequentially his opponent) a split second longer. In the absence of anticipatory cues, Federer's opponents cannot readily get a jump on his shots. He can play down the line or crosscourt off the identical stance and seemingly identical swing - directing the ball either left or right by a subtle change in timing. As his ATP peer Tim Henman points out: "I can watch when I'm playing him and there are certain times where I will hit a shot, I will be at the net and it almost looks he's got a split second longer than most other players...Sometimes he comes across to hit a backhand pass when you feel like you've hit a good approach and it's like he has got a bit longer to hit it." 4
Federer's mastery, beyond being able to hit all shots and angles, combines a number of intangible factors, including fluid strokes with little mental interference, genius in constructing points, seamless transitions from defense to offense, an intuitive understanding of his opponent's options and likely responses, and a clear, calm mind that executes instantly. As he commented after the Australian Open 2004 final win against Safin: "I feel when a guy is going to hit the ball, I know exactly with the angles and the spins, I just feel that I've got that figured out. And that is just a huge advantage."5 Fellow ATP player Ivan Ljubicic also points out that "[Federer] usually tries to hit winner[sic] at the beginning of game which causes panic in his opponent. After that, he patiently waits for his opportunity or hits winner[sic] when needed."6
Note 1: Jago, Richard (Jan 8, 2005). Cool Federer forges ahead
Note 2: Sports Illustrated (Jul 4, 2003) Switzerland's Federer exposes holes in Roddick's game
Note 3: Hodgkinson, Mark (Nov 13, 2004). "Federer can be the greatest" - Laver
Note 4: Tennis News (Jan 15, 2005). Henman in Awe of "Incredible" Federer
Note 5: Transcribed Interview (Feb 1, 2004). An interview with Roger Federer
Note 6: Ljubicic, Ivan (Jan 8, 2005) Tough without the serve
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All about the swiss tennis super-star Roger Federer, an amazing person who shines beyond tennis. Get the latest word about the magic he does with his strings.
For example quoting back from your article "Federer has a knack for reading Roddick's serve, getting enough of his racket on them to cut down on aces. Roddick had only a pair of aces in each of the first two sets and none in the third. He had 64 aces in his five matches on the way to the semis." You just cannot use this phrase from Sports Illustrated (Jul 4, 2003) and conclude that " but his (Federer's) anticipation and ability to read the service appears equal to or superior to Agassi's." Its totally wrong. I am your old tennis fan friend(the one who taught u to watch tennis) and please don't deceive everyone and use the internet to practice writing english, I mean come on man, grow up, just no need to write because your mom told you to do so. Please watch more tennis but overall thanks for the presentation. Its worth a try.
Well its ok, definitely federer is very different and a great player. I just know Arnab Zaheen from long time back and I know why he wrote this article(his mom wants him to write on the net), he doesn't watch that much of tennis and he just used this as a practice essay for his GRE probably... not really a true tennis fan, but then writing as if -he is. He chose to write about federer to be in the first page of a federer search list on google. Shame on you zaheen...its time that u have a mind of your own and stop following everything your mom says...u r 23 and now going to rochester...so please be yourself.
Federer is too great and whether you write about him or not, it doesn't matter, obviously he is the king of tennis for the last 2/3 years. (This is not your debating class in asia ok?)
Contrary to your made-up conjecture (behind which I, or any reader with some brain, can sense some jealousy) that I wrote this piece to make a name of myself, the intent behind my piece was to collect in one place definite and elaborate information about Federer's multi-dimensional skills, information that was scattered all over the net. I took care not to include anything that is not substantially supported by either statistic or visual observation by well-known experts. I also injected some of my own opinions about Federer's game that I think are right (duh! :-) ) and, more importatly, right for good reasons and can be included in a piece like this. The reasons should be pretty clear to any observer who has followed his game regularly and intently. The particular opinion that you seem to have objected to is my comment in the piece about Federer's aniticipation in his return of serve against fast servers "appearing equal or superior to Andre Agassi's". All I can say is that I have made that opinion after watching his game closely and this is an opinion that I think can be backed up by statistics pretty easily, even though my opinion is based on countless visual observations that I cannot really reproduce on the Net. I wish I had video clips that compared Agassi and Federer's anticipation during service returns, but for now, statistics will have to do as they are the next best things at our disposal.
Needless to say we are talking about Federer's return on his opponents' first serves, which would be significantly faster than their second serves. Let’s take a big server against whom Federer has fared exceedingly well: Marat Safin. The match: Aus Open Semifinals 2005. Before Safin met Federer in the semis, he has been firing 3.82 aces per set. Even against a noticably sub-par Federer in the Semis, that stat went down to only 3 aces per set (taking into account the elongated fifth set that ended in 9-7). More telling is the reduction in the percentage of points won by Safin on his first serve. Before he met Federer, Safin won 207 of the 252 points where he made a clean first serve (82%). Against Federer, who was playing through blisters on both his feet and made uncharacteristic errors, Safin’s first serve win percentage went down to 73%. Of all the seven players that Safin played against in AO, Federer was the most punishing on Safin’s second serve as well, as he won almost half the points on Safin’s second serve.
Let's take another example: this year's (2005) Wimbledon final. Andy Roddick had 97 aces in 23 sets before his final with Federer, averaging 4.23 aces a set against his opponents. Against Federer, however, he averaged only 2.33 aces a set (7 in 3 sets). Before the final, Roddick made 458 clean first serves and won 371 points out of them. That's a whopping 81% of first serve points won. Roddick was winning 4 out of 5 of his first serves, no doubt a testament of the strength his lethal serve. Against Federer, this was whittled down to only 66%. Roddick was winning only 2 out of 3 of his first serves. If we take into account that Roddick is the fastest server in the game and that these matches were played on grass, which gave Roddick even more advantage on his serve due to the skiddy nature of the surface, we can see that these statistics support very strongly my naked-eye claim that Federer is an outstanding, and thoroughly underrated, returner of service and the comparison with Agassi is, in my opinion, entirely justified, as only Agassi in his prime, again in my humble opinion, could produce this kind of return statistics against a top-form Roddick on grass.
Thanks for reading.
The only blemish on the site is that raving mad lunatic's attack on your knowledge of tennis. It comes across as so petty and childish that they should be deleted... or preserved to reinforce this person's stupidity.
Perhaps you can summarize some of the statistics... to discuss the past, but in a tennis match, ( while you are fooling around in BRAC,) your statistics can't predict how Fed will play in future.
By the way Fed is surreal, awesome and a man well ahead of his peers. I would say this article is very informative and analytic but not a very good projection of Federer for people who really plays and watches tennis. Anyway atleast we got something Arnab Zaheen.
Thank you so much.
--- The Boy who Loves Tennis
Re: Nadal, yes, for the first half of the last year (2006), it looked like Nadal had a stranglehold on Federer, winning 4 matches in a row (1 on hard court, 3 on clay). But since then, Federer has won his last two meetings with Nadal (both on hard court), so maybe he is finally learning how to handle Nadal's game as well. I think the reasons behind Federer's recent success against Nadal are the following:
1. By playing Nadal so many times, Federer has learned how to play Nadal's high-bouncing, viciously topspinning shots on his backhand side. Instead of letting the ball bounce too high, Federer now takes the ball early, which takes care of the bounce and also lets him handle the Nadal topspin better.
Furthermore, Nadal's kicking balls on Federer's backhand have less effect on hard courts than on clay, which has probably helped Federer in these recent matches, both of which were on hard courts.
2. Federer nowadays seems to be much more tempered against Nadal in terms of ending points. Before, he would try to force the issue and try to end points quickly, a tactic that didn't serve well for him because Nadal is such a great defender. Nowadays, he shows a lot of patience against Nadal, constructs his points with a lot of thought and mixes up his game much more in terms of switching between offensive and not-so-offensive shots, staying back and coming to the net, etc. In other words, Federer has started to eliminate his own weaknesses against Nadal.
3. We should also remember that Nadal's confidence in the latter half of last year (2006) took a beating as he was handed a series of defeats by lesser-ranked players on hard courts. He did not reach a single final after Wimbledon 2006. This has surely helped Federer in their last two encounters.
4. Another important thing to mention is Federer's overall improvement in two areas of his game by the end of the 2006 season. One was his backhand. His backhand was in a relative mess in 2005, with lots of shanks and sprays on that side. Since Wimbledon 2006, he has been hitting his backhands with a lot more consistency and authority.
The other improvement Federer made in the latter half of 2006 was increasing his advances to the net. He comes to the net and volleys more often these days. This was clearly the case in the most recent Grand Slam he played, the Australian Open 2007.
I think the potential clay encounters between Federer and Nadal in the coming 2007 clay season will be very interesting to watch. The nail-biting five-setter Rome Masters final of 2006 (where Federer held two matchpoints but failed to convert any) was a great treat for tennis fans, and I hope we get a few such engrossing matches this clay season as well.
I understand that you like Federer's tennis as much as we all do, but for some reason don't like *my* write-up of Federer's playing style (I wonder what that reason might be). Fair enough. I can't please everyone. Keep enjoying the tennis. That's what matters.
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