Alright, armchair critics, have your say.
We all know Fed is a massive underdog vs. Rafa in a slam final at the AO. Nevertheless, what kind of tactics would give Fed the greatest chance of success come Sunday and why?
Be specific and the floor is yours.
Very nuanced question, but my 3 biggest points:
1) Serve extremely well. Without this, his chance of winning is as good as ZERO. High first serve percentage, 70 is a minimum imo. Mix it up obviusly, but use the slice out wide on the deuce as effectively as possible. Rafa usually stands waaaaay back. Serve and volley every now and then, but don't overdo it.
2) Return as aggressively as possible, and generally end the points quickly if possible. No point in giving Rafa what he wants(long, grueling rallies to grind Fed down). Better to lose the point right away than wasting energy, only to give it away 20 shots later(consistently long points will kill him). This also won't give Bull a whole lot of rythm, and, if executed well, take him out of his comfort zone.
3) Commit to the gameplan, and don't lose faith in it when going gets tough. I've seen this way too often with Roger. He plays increadible, and seems to be in full flight. Then, Rafa comes up with a few super passing shots and out of nowhere Fed fades like dust in the wind. Starts trying too much, and seems to lose all belief in his abilities.
But at the end of the day, I don't think this match is on Fed's racquet. If the Rafa of today shows up on Sunday he'll beat Roger no matter how well he plays.
I think a combination of these 2 would be great - i.e. he needs to play with a free mind. And end points as quickly as possibly, play the match on his terms and accept that Rafa will pass him and make incredible gets.Play with nothing to lose. Just tell yourself you had no business being in the final coming from a 6 month layoff.
Tell yourself that the losses prior to 2014 bears no relevance today. You have won the most recent match and that is all that matters.
Go for aggressive second serves. Don't rally at all. Just tank games where Rafa is 40-0 on his serve.
sadly, you're rightI feel like we have heard all of these ideas before.
Fed really has no answer to the heavy topspin to his BH. His return of serve is weaker than Dimitrov's and he is a mental midget on break points against Nadal.
We'll be lucky to see the final go to four sets honestly.
The only hope Fed really has is that Nadal overdoses on Rogaine before the match or something.
Alright, armchair critics, have your say.
We all know Fed is a massive underdog vs. Rafa in a slam final at the AO. Nevertheless, what kind of tactics would give Fed the greatest chance of success come Sunday and why?
Be specific and the floor is yours.
Federer needs to be aggressive and go for his shots. If he approaches the net he needs to aim closer to the lines. I would tell him to attack the Nadal forehand in the early stages, if pulled wide on the backhand try and use the slice to reset the point etc...TBH I just hope Federer serves amazing and has enough off the ground to steal the vital games. He needs to be aggressive, he doesn't have the movement of Dimitrov to play those intense rallies at this stage.
An INDOOR court plays very differently obviously. Nadal has always been a crappy indoor player. How many titles does he even have indoors?
was that the "study" showing Fedal a full 10 km/h slower than Murrovic and comparable to Halep? If so, I cry BS.I agree that he lacks Dimitrov's athleticism. I was extremely impressed by by Dimitrov's defense in the SF. A recent and admittedly unscientific examination of speed on court ranked Dimitrov in the top 5 of the men's game, behind Djokovic and Murray. Fed was well behind them (but so was Nadal in that same study).
An INDOOR court plays very differently obviously. Nadal has always been a crappy indoor player. How many titles does he even have indoors?
Basically, I'd give Fed about a 35% chance in this match at best. That's about what I'd give Nadal of beating Djokovic btw.
Again, we'd all love to see the unveiling of some new secret weapon or tennis Wunderwaffe, but Fed has exhausted his options basically and will have his BH pounded into submission again.
One thing that Fed has done better than normally, most of this tournament, is to take the 2nd serves with a topspin backhand and attack on it. Needless to say, Rafa will give him plenty of serves to the backhand and if that shot is on, that could help Fed quite a bit (wasn't on as much vs. Wawa however)An INDOOR court plays very differently obviously. Nadal has always been a crappy indoor player. How many titles does he even have indoors?
Basically, I'd give Fed about a 35% chance in this match at best. That's about what I'd give Nadal of beating Djokovic btw.
Again, we'd all love to see the unveiling of some new secret weapon or tennis Wunderwaffe, but Fed has exhausted his options basically and will have his BH pounded into submission again.
was that the "study" showing Fedal a full 10 km/h slower than Murrovic and comparable to Halep? If so, I cry BS.
That said, Dimi is fast and had some great gets that Fed can't even dream of.
@NatF - agree, he needs to trust himself to attack the Rafa forehand more. The backhand of Rafa has been incredible stable, only gave a handful of unforced errors until the middle of the 4th set today. And then he ABSOLUTELY needs to win the first set and take his chances on BPs/in TB's
"Tactical or strategic support" is not something that I, a random 4.0 player, can offer the GOAT!Nadalgagger, I'd like to hear you back your claims with some tactical or strategic support. Either way, the last final they played in Australia went five, so I'd say with the ball/court conditions and Federer's serving trends, it's a 60/40 advantage to Rafa.
Strongly disagree.His BH has to be of the highest quality. If you watched Dimi today, that is how fed has to play on sunday. High quality tennis with high intensity over 5 sets.
Strongly disagree.
1) Little to no hope of Fed's BH behaving like Dimi's did today
2) No hope of Fed's legs being up for a long 5-setter vs. Rafa.
3) No hope for Fed in long rallies (Rafa and Dimi played more points above 4 shots than below if I heard the commentators right), that's a death sentence for Fed.
Fed needs to keep the rallies as short as possible and move forward as soon as possible and accept he'll get burned up there every now and then. And then full on attack on Rafa's 2nd serves, including a few SABR's to through him off. And very few slices in general and if he plays them, then play them deep.
Who are you cheering for? Your old favorite or Rafa?
Actually Roger may pee in his pants thinking that this is the LAST chance to win a major and add to his legacy...........and he will likely choke thinking about it..Play with nothing to lose. Just tell yourself you had no business being in the final coming from a 6 month layoff.
Tell yourself that the losses prior to 2014 bears no relevance today. You have won the most recent match and that is all that matters.
Go for aggressive second serves. Don't rally at all. Just tank games where Rafa is 40-0 on his serve.
Yes but fed doesn't have to stay on the baseline,, he is much better at attacking the net than Dimi. and also much better server than Dimi. so if you combine these two factors on super fast court then Roger may have a chance afterall.........Strongly disagree.
1) Little to no hope of Fed's BH behaving like Dimi's did today
2) No hope of Fed's legs being up for a long 5-setter vs. Rafa.
3) No hope for Fed in long rallies (Rafa and Dimi played more points above 4 shots than below if I heard the commentators right), that's a death sentence for Fed.
Fed needs to keep the rallies as short as possible and move forward as soon as possible and accept he'll get burned up there every now and then. And then full on attack on Rafa's 2nd serves, including a few SABR's to through him off. And very few slices in general and if he plays them, then play them deep.
Who are you cheering for? Your old favorite or Rafa?
Alright, armchair critics, have your say.
We all know Fed is a massive underdog vs. Rafa in a slam final at the AO. Nevertheless, what kind of tactics would give Fed the greatest chance of success come Sunday and why?
Be specific and the floor is yours.
The only thing I can come up with is maybe do the Connors thing against Lendl where you hit deep down the middle all day and don't give him any angles.
Line is already fishy from Vegas with Federer as only a SLIGHT underdog not a massive underdog as you say. I think for that reason Federer will win. Vegas knows something.
Anyways, Federer I would like him to serve and volley A LOT. Almost as much as Zverev did against Murray. Don't make this physical.
Aces and return winners only. This is 1st hand info from Lubo.How should Fed play in the final?
"Tactical or strategic support" is not something that I, a random 4.0 player, can offer the GOAT!
That said, I think agree with most of the posters above. The problem is that matches between these two almost always are played on Rafa's terms. He doesn't let Fed play his game, and that's why the H2H is so horribly lopsided.
Fed doesn't possess the BH to handle the Nadal forehand the way that Djokovic can.
The keys to beating Nadal:
1) Serve like a god (like Rosol did)
2) Return like a god (like Djokovic always does)
3) Demonstrate superb mental toughness (like Dimitrov admirably did in his uphill yet unsuccessful battle last night)
Fed, I fear, is really only capable of one of those against Nadal.
Vegas also thought Hillary was a lock to win
Federer god mode on:
it only happened because that surface was Low bouncing Fast court... Indoors...... 2017 Aussie open has Fast low bouncing court, but it is Outdoor unless it rainsFederer god mode on:
Rod Laver Arena has a roof right? Maybe Fed can do a tribal rain dance before the match starts and hope that the indoor conditions speed things up somehow.fed indoors>>>>>>rafa indoors
Yes but fed doesn't have to stay on the baseline,, he is much better at attacking the net than Dimi. and also much better server than Dimi. so if you combine these two factors on super fast court then Roger may have a chance afterall.........
Is the court fast or merely faster ie still slow but just a bit faster than before?Fed's serve is better than Grigor's and so is his forehand. Plus he doesn't have any interest in grinding with Nadal. IMO, the fast court conditions + a grueling 5 setter today with Grigor give Roger a unique advantage.
I'm saying Roger in 4.
god i hope federer keeps his tears in checkIf he's really going to play that final he should play for Rod Laver. And no, not the "Holy ****! Rod came to watch me again!" style. The " Yes, imma do it for you Rod." style. I mean seriously, the ol' man roots for Roger. It's a little too obvious. I think he watched nearly all of Roger's matches this tournament. And Ken Rosewall. Apparently the guy sent him a letter wishing him well for the AO at the start. Do it for those two.
Very nuanced question, but my 3 biggest points:
1) Serve extremely well.
are you sure ? how fast Is the court then ? ALL the players this year are saying this is reallyreally fast and that is why serve and volleyers are doing so welllmao at super fast court