What should Federer focus on improving this year?

[tennispro492]

I would say go for the backhand down the line more often when in backhand to backhand rallies with murray; if he makes the BHDTL, it will force murray to play to his forehand and he can go for a winner.

Also his serve is on and off these days so would be good to see him bring that back up.

What do you think?

[RajFederer]

he should not push anymore and go for his strokes.. he should believe in him.. hez not having ny belief n his shots when he plays andy or novak !!

If he tries to be dominant and play his game like he did 6 years back.. i cant see anyone stopping him !!

Unfortunately.. his age is a factor.. which doesnt allow him to do so.. and his FH getting weaker n weaker

[Desertman]

Finding a way to turn back time.

He should speak to Cher.

[Hood_Man]

His trophy cabinet. There's always room for more.

[joeri888]

Get his serve and forehand back on track.

Being hyperaggressive on the return.

Get better draws.

[3fees]

Stamina and concentration

[raging]

Originally Posted by tennispro492

I would say go for the backhand down the line more often when in backhand to backhand rallies with murray; if he makes the BHDTL, it will force murray to play to his forehand and he can go for a winner.

Also his serve is on and off these days so would be good to see him bring that back up.

What do you think?

Problem with backhand down the line is Murray can now hit a winner or very strong shot to his forehand. Rogers FH is good but he still has to get there & under it to hit it. Roger got burnt several times last night doing this but he has to do this sometimes.

It has got harder for him because the other guys have got so strong physically & mentally. They are ripping it against him.
I thought he looked pretty good when he varied his game with slice, changed directions, varied his plays.I didn't like it so much when he hit topspin BH crosscourt to Murray's two hander as it sat up a bit but he has to vary it so that there is a slice next time. This is unbelievably difficult as you have no rhythm yourself, difficult to play a whole match like that.
It is a lot easier mentally to keep smacking that backhand crosscourt!

It will be harder for him to bring that serve up, that will imply more upper body work & his lower back is starting to get fragile. it is possible though, depends if he wants to do this..don't know when he will get another training block in.

[Warmaster]

He'll need to pick his battles, play a reduced schedule in the first half of the season and then strike at Wimbledon, USO and indoor season (WTF). If he's well rested he still has a shot at those.

[TheNatural]

His offensive return of serve.

[ultradr]

Originally Posted by TheNatural

His offensive return of serve.

This has been always his style thru out his career.

Publically known problem of Federer is that he plays touch too conservative
on break points.

Kahill worked on it. Now Annaconne supposedly working on it.
But I think it's his nature. Same goes with Nadal.

New thins about Djokovic is that he plays break points aggressively on top of
Federer Nadal's defensive games. Murray return game has been always his forte.

Thats how Djokovic raised the game and dominates.

[Peters]

I don't think Federer can/will improve. It's at the point now where he has to extend his current skills as long as possible.

His forehand and backhand won't magically get better. But don't forget he's still superior to anybody ranked outside the top 3 (apart from Nadal if/when he comes back). So he'll still win the majority of his matches this year.

[dpg]

take even more early, go into the court and finish at the net. He should try to reduce long rallies at baseline.

[mightyrick]

Federer needs improved fitness and stamina.

He should be looking at Agassi as an example. Agassi competed strongly with a prime Fed well into his 30s. Agassi had stamina, fitness, and strength. Agassi won the AO when he was what... 33?

I sincerely hope Federer works on it, but I doubt he will. When you get to be that age... after having accomplished so much... I think it is tough for any of those guys to try to achieve a resurgence like Agassi did.

[Goosehead]

Originally Posted by mightyrick

Federer needs improved fitness and stamina.

He should be looking at Agassi as an example. Agassi competed strongly with a prime Fed well into his 30s. Agassi had stamina, fitness, and strength. Agassi won the AO when he was what... 33?

I sincerely hope Federer works on it, but I doubt he will. When you get to be that age... after having accomplished so much... I think it is tough for any of those guys to try to achieve a resurgence like Agassi did.

agassi was 32yrs when he won last aust open..

he was amazing in his 30s but also he had a 'mid career break' .

[The Meat]

There really isn't anything that he could improve on. His backhand is consistent enough to hang around with the 2 handers, his forehand still has some sting when he doesn't pull the trigger too late or early, and his stamina is good because he played a total of 7.5 hours in 3 days. I'm surprised he actually made it past Tsonga and made it to 5 sets against Murray.

All he can really do is get more match experience in, he really needs to improve on his strategies.

[firefox]

buy an egg!

[underground]

Get aggressive on BPs, and get that FH back on track, it's gone AWOL this season so far.

[TroutSc]

Agree on fitness/stamina. Murray was a beast and has definitely upped his physical level and it seems to be working well for him.

[veroniquem]

I think he's past the expiration date in terms of improving. He should just hope for some events with weak competition. It happens sometimes even at slams/masters. Watch for upsets, favorable draws.

[Metalica]

His serve and forehand should be the best in the top 4. He was out-performed in both department by Murray in the semi. He can't afford to face so much pressure on his serve.