Is the wide serve on the deuce side an especially effective play against Fed?

[Holmes]

Been rewatching some Fed classics and something I note, even going way back to the Sampras Wimbledon match is how the heavy slice out wide serve on the deuce side seems to be against him when well executed. The reason I notice it anymore than any other player is because of the play pattern that Novak developed against Roger of going hard and confident forehand to forehand with Roger that was so effective at winning key points and lowering his confidence in the match-up. It seems to me like Federer's forehand on the forehand side is "just" outstanding, as opposed to top 5 in history, unlike the inside out which is definitely in the top 5.

Anyways, back to the serve - do you think a heavy, well executed slice serve out wide to the forehand on the deuce court is more effective against Federer than the other right handed ATGs?

 

[Kemitak]

I don’t know about that, but I do notice that at 30-30, Federer always slices out wide. You would think he’d be wise to his own tactic.

 

[Angrybirdstar]

match charting suggests that over their careers, Djokovic and Federer were equally effective against wide deuce serves (winning 33% of points). maybe you can read something into the slight difference when narrowing in on grass (advantage of 32% for Djokovic vs Federer's 30%), but it's nothing like Courier's struggles (only winning 29% of wide deuce return points in a 44 match sample).

 

[socallefty]

Never noticed anything like that. Seems like another puny attempt by the OP to denigrate Federer by claiming the reason for this non-issue is that Federer’s FH is ‘just’ outstanding and not top 5 in history.

 

[mental midget]

i think for a righty thats the most effective serve against anyone when you catch it right.

 

[Holmes]

Never noticed anything like that. Seems like another puny attempt by the OP to denigrate Federer by claiming the reason for this non-issue is that Federer’s FH is ‘just’ outstanding and not top 5 in history.

Please read the OP before you hate on it. The claim was that the forehand on the forehand side is "just" outstanding rather than top 5 in history, and although unrelated, I praised his inside out as one of the top 5 ever.

 

[Holmes]

match charting suggests that over their careers, Djokovic and Federer were equally effective against wide deuce serves (winning 33% of points). maybe you can read something into the slight difference when narrowing in on grass (advantage of 32% for Djokovic vs Federer's 30%), but it's nothing like Courier's struggles (only winning 29% of wide deuce return points in a 44 match sample).

Where did you find this data? UTS? I wonder if data on big points against rivals might reveal anything different.