My point is that while 2014/15 Fed no longer had the consistency of 2004/08 Fed he did show, on some tournaments, similar results, at least until he met Nole. In W14, W15, and USO15 Fed’s results in the first six matches were as good, or even better, than anything he accomplished in those same tournaments back in 04-08. The big difference was, of course, the results in the final. And always against the same player.
I think this tells you that there is strong evidence that the big difference at the USO and W in 2014/15 for Fed compared with 04/08 was not so much his own level but rather the player he met at the final.
@GabeT
Sorry, the post is going to be long so bear with me,please have the patience to read it all .
Federer of 2015 had almost no stylistic relation with his 2004-12 counterpart.His style of play was effective but limited this is from other thread:
2015 : The transition to complete aggression:
Federer had brought in extra aggression and serve reliance in 2014
,Which had led to substantial improvement in results.It was only logical to follow that path.Fred,being,a purist and a fan of 90s playstyle,employed even more net play in his matches.He began to take more risks on return and started trying to rush his opponents even more.This basically included trying to take the initiative at any possible instant and rushing the net or trying to hit a winner.
This style was extremely difficult to pull of and the execution had to be perfect.But Federer is crazy talented.He not only executed his style of play perfectly,he exposed the current players unease against constant and intelligent aggression.He was a delight to watch,bringing back the nostalgic memories of the 80s and 90s.
But the problem was this was not 90s.Even an outrageous volley winner after exceptional net coverage won you just one point and the question was no matter how talented you were,the difficulty level meant you were not going to keep doing it.
The major flaw in his game was that even though he was applying several tactics,his overall game plan was limited and lacked substance, it was too focused on shortening the points.His aggressive play meant that many times he was going for meaningless net exploits,ignoring percentage play and on the whole having a very low margin for error.His style was superficial and suicidal ,this spelt disaster in best of 5 sets where it was hard to blitz a good opponent.Avoiding baseline in the era of baseliners was a huge mistake.An aggressive player without a stable baseline weapon was not going to win a Grand Slam in 2010s.Somebody with enough balance in his game and patience with ability to make Federer play on his own terms, was going to figure this out.Admittedly such a player had to be an all time great himself.Unfortunately there was a certain ATG around then: Novak Djokovic.
Now, to make another point,please watch 2011 US open semifinals Highlights and then watch the 2015 final the difference in playing style,potency of forehand,movement,overall stability of both wings,baseline effectiveness is evident.
Now,let us ask ourselves simple questions:
1.Was Federer's forehand the central element in his game in 2015?
No. It was his serve.
2.Why is that a negative against Djokovic?
Because Djokovic is the greatest returner,and probably the greatest baseline ever, Not only that,he is one of the best passing shots ever.At that particular point(2015) this made Djokovic a bad match up for Federer
3.Did Roger have similar game type in the past?
NO NOT AT ALL,His game was much more power baseline based back in 2004-06 serve dependency started around 2007.W while I might not consider his Forehand greatest ever,it was one of the best ever to grace the game and Federer could do anything with it.
4.Did Federer have as much variety as before?
No.
5.Why is variety(especially slices off both wings) a crucial factor?
Watch 2011 FO SF and USO 2011 SF his slices kept Djokovic contained.2015 Djokovic was better at dealing with such play but still it would be great to have such elements again.(Federer has gone on record saying his Backhand slice has become worse with his new racquet.)
6.Did Federer have better movement in 2015?
No and yes: efficiency of his movement especially forecourt transition was outstanding.But his speed was less than before.Case in point in up any of his matches at 2009 USO.In 2015 he had more tendency to get out of position than ever before
7.Why is that a problem against Djokovic?
Because Nole was hitting 60% of his shots with incredible depth and pace even best version of Federer would have had trouble.Nothing to say of 2015 one.
CONCLUSION: The style employed in 2004-07 is a better approach for Federer against Novak.
You are in the wrong here,I respect your views but you can see how caught up you are in seeing 2015 Federer's virtues that you aren't even seeing what basic tennis logic would tell you: 2015 Federer lacked substance,a lot.Previous versions were maybe not more effective but had several options to hurt opponents with and a much better match up with Nole.
If you think I am wrong please watch :
1.Highlights of Federer vs Djokovic at 2009 and 2011USO
2.Highlights of Federer vs Djokovic at USO final.
And I believe you would see where I am coming from.
I am not saying Federer was invincible at all I am saying that it is disrespectful to what he did in his best years when his overall ability gets undermined.Let us Not lose ourselves in either mythmaking or legend killing.
"You need to shift focus from results of matches before the final or at Wimbledon or whatever, to the performance in the final itsef." At this point you've got to be trolling, and not particularly well.
