The Pusher Terminator
Banned
Federer may be one of the greatest players of all time, but the reason he looks so dominating against the rest of the tour is simply because the rest of the tour only has a one dimensional game.
In the old days there were many varying styles but today the tour is filled with a bunch of clones.
Hank Pfister , former #9 in the world agrees. Here are some of his thoughts:
"In the past you would see players who had complete games, groundstrokes, service, approach shots, volleys, topspin and slice shots, and the ability to change strategy as needed using any or all of the aforementioned skills. But players have become more one-dimensional seemingly with no capacity to change tactics or styles.
This is mostly due to lack of developed techniques and several basic tennis skills: volleying, transition or approach shots, and the slice backhand, to name a few. Players are smashing the ball hard from deep in the court trying to out-hit their opponents. Statistically, unforced errors are up, first-serve percentages are down and winners are the same as, sometimes less than 15 to 20 years ago. How can this be? We are seeing women's pro tennis matches in which the first-serve percentages are at or below 50% and unforced errors are commonly in the range of 12 to 20%!
Last year in the U.S. Open women's semifinals, a Elena Dementiava made 24 unforced errors in the third set alone. She did not hit a single first or second serve to Jennifer Capriati's backhand and served at the slowest speeds imaginable, while still winning the set and the match! Capriati did not have the confidence or the ability to step up in the court, make a simple forehand approach off a short slow serve, go to the net and finish with a volleyer overhead. But Capriati was not the only player lacking the ability or confidence to do it; no other player did either until the final.
This is not an isolated example. This type of match is commonplace on the women's tour. The men aren't much better. Errors versus winner percentages for them and are only slightly better than the women, and the men also have an average first-serve percentage that hovers around 50%, which is 10% to 15% lower than in the 1970s and 1980s.
Even with the speed of the ball increasing, there are examples of players who still play the "whole game," and they are oddly enough, the best players in the world. Sampras, before retiring, dominated tennis with his all court style, while playing against predominantly hard-hitting backcourt players. He could alternate from all court to serve and volley as the the surface and his opponent dictated. Federer is doing the same thing with the same style and skills."
In the old days there were many varying styles but today the tour is filled with a bunch of clones.
Hank Pfister , former #9 in the world agrees. Here are some of his thoughts:
"In the past you would see players who had complete games, groundstrokes, service, approach shots, volleys, topspin and slice shots, and the ability to change strategy as needed using any or all of the aforementioned skills. But players have become more one-dimensional seemingly with no capacity to change tactics or styles.
This is mostly due to lack of developed techniques and several basic tennis skills: volleying, transition or approach shots, and the slice backhand, to name a few. Players are smashing the ball hard from deep in the court trying to out-hit their opponents. Statistically, unforced errors are up, first-serve percentages are down and winners are the same as, sometimes less than 15 to 20 years ago. How can this be? We are seeing women's pro tennis matches in which the first-serve percentages are at or below 50% and unforced errors are commonly in the range of 12 to 20%!
Last year in the U.S. Open women's semifinals, a Elena Dementiava made 24 unforced errors in the third set alone. She did not hit a single first or second serve to Jennifer Capriati's backhand and served at the slowest speeds imaginable, while still winning the set and the match! Capriati did not have the confidence or the ability to step up in the court, make a simple forehand approach off a short slow serve, go to the net and finish with a volleyer overhead. But Capriati was not the only player lacking the ability or confidence to do it; no other player did either until the final.
This is not an isolated example. This type of match is commonplace on the women's tour. The men aren't much better. Errors versus winner percentages for them and are only slightly better than the women, and the men also have an average first-serve percentage that hovers around 50%, which is 10% to 15% lower than in the 1970s and 1980s.
Even with the speed of the ball increasing, there are examples of players who still play the "whole game," and they are oddly enough, the best players in the world. Sampras, before retiring, dominated tennis with his all court style, while playing against predominantly hard-hitting backcourt players. He could alternate from all court to serve and volley as the the surface and his opponent dictated. Federer is doing the same thing with the same style and skills."