couple questions on Federer and Roddick

[ZhuangCorp]

1) Can Roger Federer improve his serve? His serve right now is good, but doens't have the power of Sampras. Is it possible for Federer to increase the pace on his serve?

2) Can/Will other tour players eventually learn how to return Roddick's serve? Right now, Roddick looks virtually unbeatable. He wins so many games where his opponent doesn't get a single return in play.

[James Brown]

federer's serve wont imrpove much, might get a bit more on it if he beefs up a bit, but i doubt it.

as for roddick, doubt it. federer returns well so he doesnt have that much trouble, but other people just arent used to it. itll take a while, but i figure theyll get better as more big servers emerge.

[VictorS.]

I don't think Federer will improve much on his service speed unless he changes his technique maybe, which would truly be foolish since his serve is pretty darn good already.

As for Roddick, man he's putting on a power display against Robredo. I think the likelihood of us seeing a roddick-federer final is looking pretty good right about now.

[zenmaster]

i think the main thing federer needs to do is to jump a lil bit less on the serve, higher jump gives him better angles but takes off power, and you can see his serves are usually only 120 mph and tops at about 135. You see roddick he really can propel himself with his lower toss and smaller hop.

[jings]

He's said that he's not that bothered about how fast he serves. He can go faster but it takes more out of him than is worth. He far prefers accuracy and point construction, which over the longer term is more sustainable. It's a metaphor for his entire game. If you look at Fed's overall game he's not big into power, it's much more heavy spin, and controlling points to where he can kill them off - sometimes with power. He can do the power rally baseline thing if required, but his game is primarily about using the court and ALL of the space in front of him. It is why he is so good to watch.

[perfmode]

Just like people adapted to the hard hitting style of the Williams' and learned how to beat them, then next generation of stars will learn how to beat Roddick.

[devila]

Roddick isn't as playing as great as you think.
He's too mentally weak to win when he has to break serves after losing his serves.
I prefer his power style when he serves under 140 mph and still volleys and use angles.
The problem is the coach wants him to play like the Williams sisters. That's why he's not winning many titles.

[AAAA]

Federer can improve the consistency, accuracy and disguise of his serve. He has enough serve mph. In the Wimbledon final he played alot of loose service games. Complacency is a danger for any very naturally gifted person.

Regarding Roddick's serve I suspect the majority of players are putting their egos before common sense and trying to show Roddick they can (attempt to) rip his serve back. Federer and Henman use some sense and block the ball back because they know trying to rip a return off a 140+mph serve is low percentage play.