Roger-Novak Semi-Final Game plan

[jigar]

First of all it was a great semi-final. Both players played a great match, specially Roger.

It seemed to me Roger was out there with clear game play if not 100% rigid game plan.
-High 1st server percentage
-Keep ball in middle of the court most of the time.
-Use slice effectively
-Don't overuse drop shot
-Let Novak come up with winners during in long rallies.
-Have some patience

I didn't see anything from Novak that he was trying to do that will help me win points/games consistently.

I could have missed his game plan because I was focusing on Roger's game. What did you see?

 

[joeri888]

First of all it was a great semi-final. Both players played a great match, specially Roger.

It seemed to me Roger was out there with clear game play if not 100% rigid game plan.
-High 1st server percentage
-Keep ball in middle of the court most of the time.
-Use slice effectively
-Don't overuse drop shot
-Let Novak come up with winners during in long rallies.
-Have some patience

I didn't see anything from Novak that he was trying to do that will help me win points/games consistently.

I could have missed his game plan because I was focusing on Roger's game. What did you see?

He had a good game plan. Most of the things you say are through. I don't think Fed kept the ball in the middle of the court though. I mean, he already hit 5 bh dtl winners in the first set alone.

What struck me was the execution of both defence and offense on the backhand side. His raw speed which was ridiculous for a 29 year old with like 900 matches behind him.
Tacticwise, i think Federer looked very willing to get into the forehand crosscourt rally, and like you said, was pretty patient. He didn't go for crazy inside in forehands when he was rallying backhand to backhand, to force the issue.

What was most crucial was his serving. He had a ridiculously good serving day against the best returner in the game. His percentage was high, yet he still won a ton of free points with it. Mixed it up excellent and from 4-3 in the last set tiebreak, he won the match with 3 serves.

It was probably more about execution than just tactics

 

[Sentinel]

My commentator (Mark Woodforde/Fred Stolle) kept mentioning that sometimes Roger gives Novak no pace to play with. And Noel was making errors on those slow balls.

Do you think Roger was chipping back too many serves ??

 

[BobFL]

IMO, 3 things were crucial:

1. off-pace shots
2. slice that landed in nml
3. he took away angles from Novak by hitting in the middle (Fed used the same strategy several times against Davydenko with great success)