Federer20042006
Banned
People who think it helped parts of his game have such short memory. He was in a zone hitting his backhand in 2012 through the AO in 2013 - Darren Cahill even remarked, "I can't even remember the last time Roger's missed a backhand." That was with the OLD RACKET. Then he had back problems throughout 2013 and his entire game fell off.
Federer's serve was awesome in 2012 as well, and had been for many years. He served 50 aces on Roddick in the 09 Wimbledon final with his OLD racket.
The reason Federer has played better this year than last is he is healthy again. Period, the end.
The new racket has hurt his reemergence. He has much less power than before, and both his forehand and backhand have become true pusher shots. He has to hit all out to even make them look solid (as he did after going down a break in the 4th today).
His serve remains unaffected, and his volleys have been better, but it's not worth the sacrifice for having a bit more reach. He needs to throw this piece of crap in the trash and go back to his old standby. He's healthy now, so with some practice maybe he can get back into the groove by the time the USO arrives. He'd have an excellent chance, especially if he gets a bit of help from the draw.
But I know he won't. Once you go bigger, you never go smaller again.
Federer's serve was awesome in 2012 as well, and had been for many years. He served 50 aces on Roddick in the 09 Wimbledon final with his OLD racket.
The reason Federer has played better this year than last is he is healthy again. Period, the end.
The new racket has hurt his reemergence. He has much less power than before, and both his forehand and backhand have become true pusher shots. He has to hit all out to even make them look solid (as he did after going down a break in the 4th today).
His serve remains unaffected, and his volleys have been better, but it's not worth the sacrifice for having a bit more reach. He needs to throw this piece of crap in the trash and go back to his old standby. He's healthy now, so with some practice maybe he can get back into the groove by the time the USO arrives. He'd have an excellent chance, especially if he gets a bit of help from the draw.
But I know he won't. Once you go bigger, you never go smaller again.