You have some very good points, but I only partially agree with you. Unlike most, I agree that Federer is being too aggressive and not playing patient enough. There is no doubt he is making too many unforced errors and this only reinforces Nadal's current tactics. I think taking a few steps back on returns (ala Murray) and waiting for better opportunities in the neutral rallies will be beneficial. I agree that this is not what Nadal wants - he would rather see Federer playing out of his comfort zone and going for broke than playing more patient. I also think there is a fine line between "patient" and "passive". I believe we are both against the "passive" mentality, where Roger seemingly waits for Rafa to miss. "Patient" to me means structuring points to develop or create opportunities rather then going for winners. Furthermore, "patient" play will depend on the form that day. If Roger is hitting his groundies well and feeling confident, then it's a probably a higher percentage play to go for more. If not, then he probably needs to back off a little. Unfortunately, Roger only seems to make these adjustments when he's behind in the score.
I disagree about the the current results in neutral points, however. I feel this is what has drastically changed in the last year. Nadal is winning the majority of the points that begin or become neutral, where in the past this was not the case (except perhaps on clay). Federer needs to make less errors and create more opportunities in these points. I also disagree that Nadal has nothing to hurt Federer. From neutral, Nadal has been able to consistently do damage off both sides, particularly when Roger is playing too passive. This is a big reason why he is not winning the majority of these points anymore.
Patient was what I meant, not passive or defensive. Yeah, Federer is just damned too stubborn sometimes, he doesn't want to make adjustment for anyone.
It is true that Nadal is able to win majority of this type of point from the neutral position lately, because Federer doesn't do the above and allows Nadal to dictate the play.
Federer allows Nadal to pin him down on his BH by hitting back cross court to Nadal's FH (Nadal doesn't have to move much), like I said before, this favors Nadal's FH almost everytime; eventually, one of Federer's BH lands short in the middle of the court, and Nadal jumps all over it.
You guys keep misinterpreting what I stated before: when Nadal tries to break Federer's BH down systemically (pin Federer to his BH to avoid his stronger FH side), in that case it is Nadal's bread &butter loopy FH to Federer's BH, Federer could simply just topspin or
slice down the line to Nadal's BH to get out of that kind of rally which favors Nadal.
Nadal's tendency is always going cross court from his both wings (but down the line on passing shots), so Nadal's next reply should go to Federer's FH, at that point, Federer can go down the line or pin Nadal's to his weaker BH side (like Andy Murray did to him in the ABN Amro final, Murray exploits Nadal's BH better than anyone) with his stronger FH and let Nadal taste a dose of his own medicine. If Nadal doesn't go cross court, that is fine for Federer too, because he can shuffle a few feet to cover the down the line from Nadal, and flicks the topspin BH cross court or runs around to hit the inside out FH, in any case, Nadal would have to run. It is hard for anyone includes Nadal to pin someone down if he/she needs to move to the next shot. Like I said it before, Federer needs to make Nadal run, shot by shot, if Nadal stays that far behind, he expends more energy because he has more court to cover during this kind of exchange. The tactic is quite simple actually, just patiently keep hitting to the open court to make Nadal run, take out Nadal's legs in the process, and get ready to pound the weak replies from Nadal to make him run even more. Sometimes you don't want to finish the point right away when your opponent is on the run defensively, jerk him side to side to wear him down.
Now you know what I meant by "If starts from a neutral position in the rally and going side to side that each player has to dance around to get to ball each time and the ball is not landed short in the service line or weak, there is really nothing Nadal can do to hurt Federer because Nadal can never get the his feet set to able to pound the ball to make Federer defensive. Shot by shot, Nadal spends more energy with that exaggerated swing of his and has more court to cover given that he stays that far behind the baseline."
Make Nadal run all over the court, because of his style, exaggerated loopy swing from both wings and play from that far behind the court, he legs should be very tired by the time he gets to the semi and final in the majors.
If Federer wants to draw Nadal to the net, he shouldn't slice cross court to Nadal when Nadal stands on the ad court,
slice down the line is better, on the run, Nadal's FH is better than his BH, whereas Nadal's BH is more steady/control and powerful with 2H when he doesn't have to move. Plus by geometry, Nadal has to run less to get to Federer's short cross court slice, and cross court slice take more time to pass the net than the down the line slice. Moreover, 2HBH requires more effort to scoop up the slice than the 1HFH especially on the run. Federer should get ready for the cross court 2HBH reply from Nadal, cross court goes thru the lower part of the net with more space to work with diagonally, whereas his 2HBH has to pass the higher part of the net and less space for down the line.
