Federer: I don’t work on weaknesses

This idea of not working on his weaknesses is not working. Nadal has beaten him 5 times in a row now by picking apart his weaknesses. How many slam finals in a row does Fed have to lose to Nadal before it clicks for him?

Is Federer talented enough to evolve the weaker parts of his game? Id like to see him evolve his net game, play more aggressive returns instead of blocking them always, and make his backhand a weapon. The rivalry with Nadal will get boring unless Fed evolves some other parts of his game.



Federer: I don’t work on weaknesses


By Jaydip Sengupta, Sports Writer - 26 Feb 09

Dubai - Talking of great tennis obsessions, you need not look beyond Ivan Lendl’s laboured attempts at trying to win on the treacherous Wimbledon grass or Pete Sampras’s failed forays on the ridiculously slow clay of Roland Garros.

At 13 Grand Slam titles and with arguments still raging about his status of being the greatest player of all time, World No 2 Roger Federer has his own goals to achieve and for the moment, the French Open isn’t one of them.

Talking to XPRESS on the sidelines of the Jura Coffee Cocktail Launch event, Federer said: “It’s difficult to judge who is the greatest of all time. Winning the French Open would of course round off what has already been an incredible career for me but right now my priority is getting past Sampras’s record of 14 titles.

I believe it’s important to chase your dreams and one of them is also to win the Olympic singles gold on the grass courts of Wimbledon in 2012. I am still young in tennis terms and still have some bit to go. And I know I have many more slams and another seven to eight years left in me.”

That recent Australian Open final defeat still hurts, but being the champion that he is, Federer has managed to get over it.

“You can’t win everything. The idea is to take positives from those setbacks and work at getting better. “I have never believed in working on my weaknesses. My serve and my forehand are my strengths and I work on them to get better,” he said.

And despite having to sit out one of his favourite tournaments, the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, with a recurring back injury, the Swiss maestro believes he has made the right call to take it easy.

“I am disappointed about not playing in Dubai, but unlike last year when I chose to play on despite not being fully fit, I have decided to recover completely before taking the court again in a few weeks’ time. I am feeling much better this year physically, but I need to be 100 per cent fit to play again,” he said. And the reason for that, according to Federer, is his desire to play on for as long as he can. “Look at Agassi and Connors, they are my inspiration.

I have already played three generations of tennis stars. I started with Sampras and Agassi, then moved on to the likes of Roddick, Hewitt and Safin and now I am playing against Nadal, Djokovic and Murray,” he said.

Federer’s feats

Federer is second in the all-time men’s singles Grand Slam titles list with 13 He trails American Pete Sampras who has won 14 titles.

He won Wimbledon five consecutive times from 2003-2007, the US Open five consecutive times from 2004-2008 and the Australian Open three times – 2004, 2006 and 2007.

The only Grand Slam to elude the Swiss so far is the French Open in which he has been a finalist for the past three years.

That's why he's just gonna cry more when he loses the next GS final.

I admire Federer's longevity. He is willing to play for eight or seven more years and that just shows the commitment to this sport.

You don't always see that kind of thing in tennis - Clijsters retired early and Sharapova even claims she would like to retire when she's young.

fascinating statement...i posted the 100% comment earlier but didn't know he said something even more or at least as interesting in the same article...tt psychologists begin

Of course, there is not much weaknesses anyways. Makes sense, to just keep doing what he has since it has given him exceptionally great achievements, maybe some minor strategy and planning changes.

that's not a good idea, or maybe he really like slice backhand so no need top spin...??!!? LOL

lol at olympics gold in 2012

I have reservations on the credibility of this report.

I just don't believe Roger actually said those things.

oh dear fed. With that attitude, your goal of breaking sampras's record is going to be harder to achieve.

"I have never believed in working on my weaknesses". At least he realized he HAS weaknesses, that's a start I guess :???:

koalakoala said:

I have reservations on the credibility of this report.

I just don't believe Roger actually said those things.

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Do you believe he said that from now on he will only play when he is feeling 100%? Because that sounded equally weird to me.

veroniquem said:

"I have never believed in working on my weaknesses". At least he realized he HAS weaknesses, that's a start I guess :???:

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Wait. Hold on. Federer has weaknesses? *stands shocked*

lol

i don't know why we put so much stock in what players say at press conferences or interviews. as if they are 100% candid, 100% of the time. for the most part, these are opportunities for soundbites, nothing more.

in every sport i can think of, players, coaches, etc. reveal only what they want to reveal. most of the real info, they keep to themselves, and the people in their camps.

no offense to "Jaydip Sengupta, Sports Writer" . . . but i doubt he's in fed's inner circle.

skip1969 said:

i don't know why we put so much stock in what players say at press conferences or interviews. as if they are 100% candid, 100% of the time. for the most part, these are opportunities for soundbites, nothing more.

in every sport i can think of, players, coaches, etc. reveal only what they want to reveal. most of the real info, they keep to themselves, and the people in their camps.

no offense to "Jaydip Sengupta, Sports Writer" . . . but i doubt he's in fed's inner circle.

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I bet this report is fabric.

Yes Fed has weaknesses. High backhand is pretty obvious. Has he been working on that particular shot? I remember him practicing with a lefty just for Nadal in RG 2007.

Nadal_Freak said:

Yes Fed has weaknesses. High backhand is pretty obvious. Has he been working on that particular shot? I remember him practicing with a lefty just for Nadal in RG 2007.

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so much for not working on weaknesses.

forehand volley needs work, relatively speaking

Interesting article, only time will tell if he will uphold his own promises, this is beginning to look like Obama's promises...

icedevil0289 said:

did roger ever say he did not have weaknesses or he was a perfect player?Don't confuse his statements for the statements of *******s. Anways, this article seems wierd to me, but its most likely that I'm biased. I just think the "never" part of it is a very extreme thing to say, even for him.

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He said he created a monster

Does everyone believe that Federer doesn't work on his weaknesses? Come on...

samster said:

Does everyone believe that Federer doesn't work on his weaknesses? Come on...

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Why? You see him improving on them?

veroniquem said:

Why? You see him improving on them?

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Good point. But you could also say hasn't improved his strengths. He has stayed closes to what they were a few years ago but a little less aggressive and not quite as fast.

I don't even know how Fed would TRAIN to hit high backhands against Rafa's massive topspin. Nadal hits with more spin than any other player, let alone any lefty Fed could find to train with. Fed's backhand isn't even really a weakness unless he's playing Rafa.

Rafa's honed his physical, functional, never-gonna-give-up juggernaut tennis to the point that Fed can't awesome him off the court like he does to everyone else--even when he's playing WELL. Rafa's improved his weaknesses visibly over the years (to the point where he basically has NONE), but maybe Fed doesn't really know WHAT to work on anymore.

To me, Fed just doesn't have the fire that GOT him to where he's at anymore. He's not old, just not young enough to hang with the younger and hungrier. He can want the hell out of that 14th+ Slam, but he's gonna have to come up with something better than fixing his high topspin backhand.

veroniquem said:

He said he created a monster

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he did create a monster in the sense that he produced really great results and along with that came high expections. That doesn't mean he thinks he's a perfect player or has weaknesses. I've read interviews in which he aknowledges that his backhand is weakness.

tony roche: let's work on your weaknesses.
roger federer: i don't work on weaknesses and you're fired

ThA_Azn_DeViL said:

Interesting article, only time will tell if he will uphold his own promises, this is beginning to look like Obama's promises...

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what, did obama promise to play davis cup this year?

Mick said:

tony roche: let's work on your weaknesses.
roger federer: i don't work on weaknesses and you're fired

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:lol::lol:
10 chars

Mick said:

tony roche: let's work on your weaknesses.
roger federer: i don't work on weaknesses and you're fired

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haha, nice

It's interesting how Nadal is the exact opposite of Federer. He constantly makes adjustments. All the time. On the go.

Federer is stereotypically Swiss. So much so that it is funny. He simply refuses to believe that he could possibly be wrong, even when the evidence to the contrary stares him right in the face.

^^^^^^^
So true. Maybe Mirka needs to set up an intervention: "Roger, honey, you know I love you, but we could use some more millions in the bank and your signature fragrance just isn't gonna do it."

if fed said any of this in 2006, people would be like Wow fed is the greatest.
now that he's said it and isn't winning 3 slams a year, he suddenly sucks?

jeeze

IMO He cannot be obsessed with his weaknesses.There are things he can't change in his game.Its always wise to prioritise on working on your strengths.I knew this comment was going to be ripped apart by the usual suspects.Its his choice,no? He's been there,done that.Geez Nadal fans just want to pick him apart for anything and everything . Whatever he's done its worked so far.He cant be like Nadal-they're different individuals with different priorities.Besides I think his was an overstatement-Surely,he must've worked on something thats why he has been on top for so long.

Hes been there done that versus weaker competition. It was good enough not to work on his weaknesses much when Hewitt and Roddick were Fed's main competition, but not any more.

I remember when Roche had plans to improve Feds net game to use net play a lot more in his play and Fed resisted saying that he was only interested in results not improvement. He Sacrificed long term improvement by not taking a few risks and developing other parts of his game more and perhaps risking a few more losses in minor competitions along the way. Now hes paying for it.

mandy01 said:

IMO He cannot be obsessed with his weaknesses.There are things he can't change in his game.Its always wise to prioritise on working on your strengths.I knew this comment was going to be ripped apart by the usual suspects.Its his choice,no? He's been there,done that.Geez Nadal fans just want to pick him apart for anything and everything . Whatever he's done its worked so far.He cant be like Nadal-they're different individuals with different priorities.Besides I think his was an overstatement-Surely,he must've worked on something thats why he has been on top for so long.

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he fired Roche because Roche had big plans to improve his net game, while Fed wanted to continue winning in the same way forever.

Mick said:

tony roche: let's work on your weaknesses.
roger federer: i don't work on weaknesses and you're fired

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To add insult to injury Giles Simon doesn't think Federer can improve:


Roger Federer becomes the world's most vulnerable tennis ace

"I don't think (Federer) can improve his game now, but I think he's a very good player - maybe the best player of history," Simon said.

you're posting old stories.. .I see he has also joined in the 'patronize Roger club'

samster said:

Does everyone believe that Federer doesn't work on his weaknesses? Come on...

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I do. He's been struggling against Nadal for nearly 5 years, and never did anything to find a way of opposing him. Since Nadal's mentality and approach are dramatically different, and he is working at his weaknesses and improving his game, their latest H2H is 5:0. Some time ago I thought that Federer should hire a coach who could do analytical work for him, generate strategies for beating Nadal, outline the areas of concern. Now I think that there's something wrong with Federer's intelligence. He is either completely overtaken by megalomania, or just commonly stupid.

The original article was written on the 26th of Feb it's new. Simon's comment was quoted in a recent article i referenced and is relevant now unless Simon has suddenly changed his mind and now thinks he can improve.

Besides I want Nadal to have some competition in the slam finals they play - I want Fed to try to improve. It's getting boring. It would be sad if Fed loses to Nadal for the 4th slam final they play in a row by losing the French open final while playing in the same predictable way.

mandy01 said:

you're posting old stories.. .I see he has also joined in the 'patronize Roger club'

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icedevil0289 said:

oh dear fed. With that attitude, your goal of breaking sampras's record is going to be harder to achieve.

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There may be some advantages in working on strength instead of worrying about weaknesses. Working on one's strength can defuse the need to worry about weakness.

Gen said:

I do. He's been struggling against Nadal for nearly 5 years, and never did anything to find a way of opposing him. Since Nadal's mentality and approach are dramatically different, and he is working at his weaknesses and improving his game, their latest H2H is 5:0. Some time ago I thought that Federer should hire a coach who could do analytical work for him, generate strategies for beating Nadal, outline the areas of concern. Now I think that there's something wrong with Federer's intelligence. He is either completely overtaken by megalomania, or just commonly stupid.

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for a guy who has achieved what he has both in his career and his charity work.... he's stupid??? You have such high standards... wonder if YOU can keep up with the standards you set for other people.

Mick said:

tony roche: let's work on your weaknesses.
roger federer: i don't work on weaknesses and you're fired

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Nicely done.

Mkie7 said:

There may be some advantages in working on strength instead of worrying about weaknesses. Working on one's strength can defuse the need to worry about weakness.

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the problem is that when someone like nadal abuses on his weakness, he's being kept away from his strengths.

Am I the only one who actually read the whole article?

Fed said:

“I have never believed in working on my weaknesses. My serve and my forehand are my strengths and I work on them to get better,”

Focusing on further improving your strengths so you can impose your game on your opponent is a pretty common approach in ANY sport not just tennis.

But obviously I'm wasting my time as this thread has degenarated into another Fed bash contest,how surprising(not).

Bash the man all you want(not that opinions of keyboard "experts" matter that much)but he won 13 slams and is still reaching slam finals and contending for them at the age of 27(will turn 28 this year)so I'm sure he must be doing something right.

Mkie7 said:

for a guy who has achieved what he has both in his career and his charity work.... he's stupid??? You have such high standards... wonder if YOU can keep up with the standards you set for other people.

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Ridiculous I know but that is the way of fanatics.From the amount of bashing that Fed receives on this forum you'd think he's a top 30 player at best yet the guy won 13 slams.

Federer's biggest weakness is his mind and it overrides all his strengths when he plays Rafa so:
Why
Improve
The
Strengths?

Well I disagree here with Federer. You're meant to work on your weaknesses to turn them into strengths. Logical isn't it?

The reasonable, logical, sensible strive of any person is to improve. In most cases improvement means "eliminate your weak spots". Universally applicable (job, sports, bodies, etc.). If I know that my backhand is lousy (it is NOT about Federer), I jump out of my pants to work at my backhand, so that I am not bashed by the whole club which will hit all the shots to my backhand, and make me a continuous loser. What is wrong with this rationale?

I recall a Mats Wilander interview in Tennis Australia back in the mid nineties. Mats' favourite player was, naturally, McEnroe. He loved just watching Mac. Lendl's particular game bored him in the sense that Lendl set him problems which were tough but not necessarily interesting. But Mats had the greatest admiration for Lendl and his ability to overcome his weaknesses. Remember that Lendl started with a big forehand, no backhand, no volleys, no physique, no endurance and no mental game; yet Lendl fixed everything one at a time until he became a machine. According to Mats, Lendl used to give away sets once it got to 4-4 and things got tight. Every single time. Lendl would just cave in. Then couple of years later, they would get to the same point in a set and Mats recalled thinking that there was no possible way he was going to take it away from him......

Well, I see where he's coming from. I mean, he can't change his backhand to work better against Nadal (He can't switch to 2HBH all of the sudden or find some magical way to deal with all the constant spinny forehands coming to his backhand), so he's working on things he can improve, like his forehand and serve. Personally, I don't think his backhand is a weakness, and I believe it played a major part (not less than the FH or serve) in his success. I do think he needs to get a bit more depth with it to actually draw errors (maybe flatten it a bit?) and use the slice more effectively against Nadal.

Federer's only weakness is that he's too perfect - and his opponents exploit this!