The strategy I would tell Federer to employ vs. Nadal

[Federer20042006]

I never want to see another Federer/Nadal match again, but if I were Federer's coach and he must play the match, here's what I would tell him to do:

First, see what the conditions are like. If the ball is bouncing low, you can attempt your regular game and hope it's like the 10 times you've beaten him. At least there's a chance.

If the conditions favor him (which has consistently been the case at the AO, Miami, and on non-Madrid clay), it's Desperation Time from the beginning:

1. Go for broke on every single serve return. Every. Single. One. Never engage Nadal in a rally. If Nadal's going to beat you, and he probably will, he's going to beat you WEIRD. Make him go, "you're playing strange today Roga, no?" Run around backhand returns and go for broke, come over backhand returns as hard as you can, and if he makes you hit a second shot, hit out and come in (you probably missed the shot, but in case you made it, you'll be prepared to actually win the point). Never, ever have a rally on Nadal's serve that lasts more than 3 strokes.

2. On your own serve, if he gets it back, you've got to hit out on the second shot. If it's a wide serve, don't EVER come in - you'll get passed 99% of the time. Wait for the return, hit it down the line and hope you make it. If he lands a moonball return at your feet at the baseline, swing wildly and hope for a prayer.

Never, ever engage Nadal in a rally. Don't give the moonball bully what he wants. If for some reason you find yourself in a rally with Nadal, "accidentally" shank as soon as possible.

If you're gonna lose, at least conserve energy for the future. Your back is priority #1, and if Moonball Bully is on the other side of the net, don't waste your back's health on trying to find a way to beat him at his own game.

 

[90's Clay]

There is really no other tactic fed can do that he hasn't already tried to employ.

1. His serve breaks down to easily. Its good but not good enough

2. He tried to attack. His Net Game is good but not good enough

3. Hes tried to rally from the baseline. His baseline game is good but not good enough

Hes just not good enough at the thing hes needed to be good in to beat Nadal

Then you got all these racket/coaching changes. too late for that. He should have done those things 5-6 years ago when he noticed his game was slipping. Not NOW when hes in his early 30s

But what about all the things the commentators said before the match? What about the longer racket, the healed back for the first time in ages, and the Fedberg combo? Was that just hot air to delude the gullible into watching?

Yes, yes it was.

 

[monfed]

I never want to see another Federer/Nadal match again, but if I were Federer's coach and he must play the match, here's what I would tell him to do:

First, see what the conditions are like. If the ball is bouncing low, you can attempt your regular game and hope it's like the 10 times you've beaten him. At least there's a chance.

If the conditions favor him (which has consistently been the case at the AO, Miami, and on non-Madrid clay), it's Desperation Time from the beginning:

1. Go for broke on every single serve return. Every. Single. One. Never engage Nadal in a rally. If Nadal's going to beat you, and he probably will, he's going to beat you WEIRD. Make him go, "you're playing strange today Roga, no?" Run around backhand returns and go for broke, come over backhand returns as hard as you can, and if he makes you hit a second shot, hit out and come in (you probably missed the shot, but in case you made it, you'll be prepared to actually win the point). Never, ever have a rally on Nadal's serve that lasts more than 3 strokes.

2. On your own serve, if he gets it back, you've got to hit out on the second shot. If it's a wide serve, don't EVER come in - you'll get passed 99% of the time. Wait for the return, hit it down the line and hope you make it. If he lands a moonball return at your feet at the baseline, swing wildly and hope for a prayer.

Never, ever engage Nadal in a rally. Don't give the moonball bully what he wants. If for some reason you find yourself in a rally with Nadal, "accidentally" shank as soon as possible.

If you're gonna lose, at least conserve energy for the future. Your back is priority #1, and if Moonball Bully is on the other side of the net, don't waste your back's health on trying to find a way to beat him at his own game.

What you've suggested is certainly out of the box and worth trying, what does Fed have to lose? Besides losing ie.

I mean Rosol went for broke on pretty much every stroke in that 5th set didn't he? Nadal was looking shell shocked and had no answers. :lol:

 

[insideguy]

I would tell Fed to hit him psycologically. Come out in a ball colored outfit from head to toe. Tape all his fingers and wear a knee brace for half the match then take it off cause his knee got better. Kick over his water bottles by accident. Begin picking his butt before every serve. And argue with the umpire in spanish. Nadal will be confused and weirded out.

 

[AF2493]

I would tell Fed to hit him psycologically. Come out in a ball colored outfit from head to toe. Tape all his fingers and wear a knee brace for half the match then take it off cause his knee got better. Kick over his water bottles by accident. Begin picking his butt before every serve. And argue with the umpire in spanish. Nadal will be confused and weirded out.

Nadal would have a nervous breakdown, guaranteed. Easiest win for Fed over Nadal ever.

 

[Murrayfan31]

Return serve more aggressively. Take the ball early on both sides. Be like Djokovic in other words.

 

[AF2493]

I never want to see another Federer/Nadal match again, but if I were Federer's coach and he must play the match, here's what I would tell him to do:

First, see what the conditions are like. If the ball is bouncing low, you can attempt your regular game and hope it's like the 10 times you've beaten him. At least there's a chance.

If the conditions favor him (which has consistently been the case at the AO, Miami, and on non-Madrid clay), it's Desperation Time from the beginning:

1. Go for broke on every single serve return. Every. Single. One. Never engage Nadal in a rally. If Nadal's going to beat you, and he probably will, he's going to beat you WEIRD. Make him go, "you're playing strange today Roga, no?" Run around backhand returns and go for broke, come over backhand returns as hard as you can, and if he makes you hit a second shot, hit out and come in (you probably missed the shot, but in case you made it, you'll be prepared to actually win the point). Never, ever have a rally on Nadal's serve that lasts more than 3 strokes.

2. On your own serve, if he gets it back, you've got to hit out on the second shot. If it's a wide serve, don't EVER come in - you'll get passed 99% of the time. Wait for the return, hit it down the line and hope you make it. If he lands a moonball return at your feet at the baseline, swing wildly and hope for a prayer.

Never, ever engage Nadal in a rally. Don't give the moonball bully what he wants. If for some reason you find yourself in a rally with Nadal, "accidentally" shank as soon as possible.

If you're gonna lose, at least conserve energy for the future. Your back is priority #1, and if Moonball Bully is on the other side of the net, don't waste your back's health on trying to find a way to beat him at his own game.

Honestly, the issue isn't really strategy. He can come in with whatever plan he wants, but he almost never executes. He becomes an unforced error machine.

 

[ctoth666]

People keep bringing up strategy. What should Federer actually do? What can he do differently? I mean seriously. He can't do anything short of not make any unforced errors. And he can't do that. Everytime Federer has beaten Nadal. two conditions have been met: 1) Nadal is playing sub-par and 2) Federer is in GOAT-mode. Federer hasn't GOATED in almost two years. I mean, have you revisited highlights of past Federer victories? He can't play any better than that, and the reality is that he doesn't play as well as he used to, hence it's a losing proposition. There's nothing he can do. The only reliable strategy for being Nadal is that which Djokovic has employed and that is not something Federer is capable of doing.

 

[Raz11]

Federer needs a consistent strategy that can work for 5 sets which I'm afraid doesn't exist. He can be aggressive on return and attack his backhand but that just won't last throughout the match and will result in a lot of errors which is what generally happens.

 

[Murrayfan31]

Federer needs a consistent strategy that can work for 5 sets which I'm afraid doesn't exist. He can be aggressive on return and attack his backhand but that just won't last throughout the match and will result in a lot of errors which is what generally happens.

Yeah Nadal was just on fire. Not much Fed can do. But it was kind of pathetic how poor Fed returned serve. Without punishing Nadal's serve, you have basically no chance of beating him.

 

[Federer20042006]

Well, here's why he lost yesterday:

Federer was unable to hit through Nadal. Nothing Federer threw at Nadal had enough pace to cause him problems. Nadal hit the heavy forehand to Federer's backhand, and Federer was just unable to get much on his backhands most of the time. When he did, Nadal still handled it just fine with both his quickness and his ability to improvise a moonball to back Federer up and re-start the point.

Federer's forehand also didn't have enough pace to trouble Nadal. The conditions were slow and heavy, and Nadal made them much slower and heavier than they would otherwise be.

Nadal also continues to have the ability to make so many balls into a forehand and do whatever he wants with his forehand that he's constantly in control of the rallies.

Federer's UEs weren't the reason he lost the match. Federer could hit 100 consecutive clean balls on every point and he still wouldn't have won. Nadal was just in control of every rally and could go on for years. He attacks the backhand relentlessly and patiently waits for the moment where Federer is pinned to his backhand corner to unleash the forehand down the line. Federer's backhand is good, but in conditions like that he just can't be offensive enough with it to give a defender like Nadal any problems. Nadal has all the time in the world.

The only way to beat Nadal in rallies is to relentlessly hit with depth, and it also helps to be able to cover the court as well as he does. Federer can't hit with depth against Nadal unless the conditions are much more favorable.

 

[Manus Domini]

Well, here's why he lost yesterday:

Federer was unable to hit through Nadal. Nothing Federer threw at Nadal had enough pace to cause him problems. Nadal hit the heavy forehand to Federer's backhand, and Federer was just unable to get much on his backhands most of the time. When he did, Nadal still handled it just fine with both his quickness and his ability to improvise a moonball to back Federer up and re-start the point.

Federer's forehand also didn't have enough pace to trouble Nadal. The conditions were slow and heavy, and Nadal made them much slower and heavier than they would otherwise be.

Right, OK, so you're advice would be, hit harder? That hardly seems reasonable. Federer ain't no Gonzalez.

Nadal also continues to have the ability to make so many balls into a forehand and do whatever he wants with his forehand that he's constantly in control of the rallies.

Federer's UEs weren't the reason he lost the match. Federer could hit 100 consecutive clean balls on every point and he still wouldn't have won. Nadal was just in control of every rally and could go on for years. He attacks the backhand relentlessly and patiently waits for the moment where Federer is pinned to his backhand corner to unleash the forehand down the line. Federer's backhand is good, but in conditions like that he just can't be offensive enough with it to give a defender like Nadal any problems. Nadal has all the time in the world.

Not every rally, no. Federer just didn't work Nadal enough. He couldn't have won, he was outmatched. He's gotten too old.

The only way to beat Nadal in rallies is to relentlessly hit with depth, and it also helps to be able to cover the court as well as he does. Federer can't hit with depth against Nadal unless the conditions are much more favorable.

No duh. It is really hard to do that, though. It's not as easy as you say.

 

[Federer20042006]

Right, OK, so you're advice would be, hit harder? That hardly seems reasonable. Federer ain't no Gonzalez.

Federer can hit as hard as he wants if it's early. Once Nadal is kicking moonballs up to his shoulder, he's trapped.

Not every rally, no. Federer just didn't work Nadal enough. He couldn't have won, he was outmatched. He's gotten too old.

Give me a break. He's never played Nadal in these types of conditions any better than he did last night. It was the same thing we've been seeing since 2004 in Miami. It has nothing to do with age.

No duh. It is really hard to do that, though. It's not as easy as you say.

I didn't say it was easy, idiot.

 

[Raz11]

I always thought Federer should drag Nadal out wide and deep with his backhand and slice it low and down the line to get a short return for his forehand.

 

[tennis_pro]

Unfortunately, there is nothing Fed can do now, you just can't turn the tide when you're 32. Fed should've done all the changes in 2008-2010 when he still wasn't that disadvanateged against Nadal, not a chance now.

You can diss Federer all you like now, I don't care. Fed SHOULD'VE DONE MORE in 2004-2009, though, and can be blamed for some of the losses he had then cause he was smack in his prime.

 

[Jay_The_Nomad]

I thought federer looked really competitive in that match. Even more so than any of his matches against nadal in recent years.

I really liked the first set strategy where federer was either attacking the net himself or forcing nadal to approach the net on his own terms using drop shots and awkward short angled slices. Anything to avoid an extended baseline exchange.

If he keeps at it, Wimbledon is a very real possibility.

 

[Manus Domini]

Federer can hit as hard as he wants if it's early. Once Nadal is kicking moonballs up to his shoulder, he's trapped.

If Federer could just hit the ball early, he would. Case in point, the fact that he did hit far more in his comfort zone this time 'round.

Give me a break. He's never played Nadal in these types of conditions any better than he did last night. It was the same thing we've been seeing since 2004 in Miami. It has nothing to do with age.

Really? Nothing to do with age? Because Nadal's dominance spiked after 2009.

I didn't say it was easy, idiot.

Let's hold off on the name-calling.

 

[fluffyyelloballz]

But what about the fact that it is not all about Roger? Nadal is doing things too: the angles to get Roger on the run, the mixing it up of deep and short balls, the topspin to the backhand. These 'things' actually negate whatever Roger intends to do. It is not all about Roger and what he wants to do. It is more about what Nadal does and how damned effectively he does it.

 

[tipsa...don'tlikehim!]

Only one thing I can think of, is to play smart very short cross court FH, on Nadal's BH and finish at the net or finish by hitting a forehand down the line (or a cross court BH).

I remember a match in Montreal.
Frenchman Paul Henri Mathieu gave a lot of troubles to Nadal by playing like this, very shot cross court FH.

Also Andy Murray was doing this the 1st time they played in Australia, he nearly won.

 

[tipsa...don'tlikehim!]

What you've suggested is certainly out of the box and worth trying, what does Fed have to lose? Besides losing ie.

I mean Rosol went for broke on pretty much every stroke in that 5th set didn't he? Nadal was looking shell shocked and had no answers. :lol:

That's indeed what Rosol did, difference is Rosol got a 2H BH, he is much taller than Roger, and it was on grass. And Rosol serve was wicked compared to Roger's.

I still believe Roger can maybe beat Nadal at Wimbledon if he is in God mode and Nadal not at his best.

 

[tipsa...don'tlikehim!]

I always thought Federer should drag Nadal out wide and deep with his backhand and slice it low and down the line to get a short return for his forehand.

Never noticed when Roger is doing that, Nadal 80% of the time is quick enough to run to his right side and play the ball with his FH ?

 

[OTMPut]

Here is what I would do:
1. I will walk in to the court and take my chair. I will pull out a news paper and ask the ball boy to get me a cup of tea.
2. I will sip tea and read the paper as Rafael sucks his energy gel and waits for me to get to the net. I won't.
3. After waiting enough Rafael will go to the net and start jumping up and down. I will continue to read my news paper.
4. The chair umpire will lose patience and will call me out.
5. I will say, I give up the toss he wins. LMAO. Rafael will be quit confused by now.
6. I will refuse to warm up. Rafael can do more of jumping up and down and practice serves. I will read my paper. (Btw are there warm up regulations? What if a player does not want to warm up?)
7. I will take it from there...

 

[torpantennis]

Best strategy vs. Nadal? Don't ever back up and don't hit on the dropping ball. Either hit on the rise (Davydenko), or hit at the highest point (Djoker).

Fed hits on the rise against everybody else. Davydenko hits on the rise against Nadal and leads H2H 6-1 on HC. Guess what the GOAT HESITANT does?

 

[mawashi]

I never want to see another Federer/Nadal match again, but if I were Federer's coach and he must play the match, here's what I would tell him to do:

First, see what the conditions are like. If the ball is bouncing low, you can attempt your regular game and hope it's like the 10 times you've beaten him. At least there's a chance.

If the conditions favor him (which has consistently been the case at the AO, Miami, and on non-Madrid clay), it's Desperation Time from the beginning:

1. Go for broke on every single serve return. Every. Single. One. Never engage Nadal in a rally. If Nadal's going to beat you, and he probably will, he's going to beat you WEIRD. Make him go, "you're playing strange today Roga, no?" Run around backhand returns and go for broke, come over backhand returns as hard as you can, and if he makes you hit a second shot, hit out and come in (you probably missed the shot, but in case you made it, you'll be prepared to actually win the point). Never, ever have a rally on Nadal's serve that lasts more than 3 strokes.

2. On your own serve, if he gets it back, you've got to hit out on the second shot. If it's a wide serve, don't EVER come in - you'll get passed 99% of the time. Wait for the return, hit it down the line and hope you make it. If he lands a moonball return at your feet at the baseline, swing wildly and hope for a prayer.

Never, ever engage Nadal in a rally. Don't give the moonball bully what he wants. If for some reason you find yourself in a rally with Nadal, "accidentally" shank as soon as possible.

If you're gonna lose, at least conserve energy for the future. Your back is priority #1, and if Moonball Bully is on the other side of the net, don't waste your back's health on trying to find a way to beat him at his own game.

Ok go tweet Fed and post the reply.

 

[Maximagq]

Federer needs to tree and attack. Just go big or go home against anyone. That's what Sampras would do, that's what Edberg would do. He needs to attack, attack, attack.

 

[Federer20042006]

But what about the fact that it is not all about Roger? Nadal is doing things too: the angles to get Roger on the run, the mixing it up of deep and short balls, the topspin to the backhand. These 'things' actually negate whatever Roger intends to do. It is not all about Roger and what he wants to do. It is more about what Nadal does and how damned effectively he does it.

Which is exactly why Federer can't play Nadal's game. If it's a rally, Nadal is doing stuff and Federer can't do anything about it.

If Federer's just going for broke on returns and when his serve comes back, it takes Nadal's unbeatable (unless you're Djokovic) baseline game out of the equation.

When you see a stat line that Nadal only has 1 ace, yet he thoroughly dominated the match and was broken only once, you know something is wrong with Federer's approach.

I'd rather see a match where Nadal hits 15 aces by Federer because he's guessing wrong in trying to smack returns. At least I won't have to watch him being pummeled on the baseline.

Nadal's not going to start playing Federer's go-for-broke game in reaction, and if he does, then Federer has taken him away from what he does well, at least.

 

[tipsa...don'tlikehim!]

The match is on Nadal's racquet everytime they play.

 

[The Dark Knight]

Federer should use the Tanya Harding strategy and just have someone break Nadals legs

 

[Luminaire]

Federer should use the Tanya Harding strategy and just have someone break Nadals legs

But you would be so upset.

 

[JustBob]

Here is what I would do:
1. I will walk in to the court and take my chair. I will pull out a news paper and ask the ball boy to get me a cup of tea.
2. I will sip tea and read the paper as Rafael sucks his energy gel and waits for me to get to the net. I won't.
3. After waiting enough Rafael will go to the net and start jumping up and down. I will continue to read my news paper.
4. The chair umpire will lose patience and will call me out.
5. I will say, I give up the toss he wins. LMAO. Rafael will be quit confused by now.
6. I will refuse to warm up. Rafael can do more of jumping up and down and practice serves. I will read my paper. (Btw are there warm up regulations? What if a player does not want to warm up?)
7. I will take it from there...

Not to that extreme, but not getting out of my chair before he does for the coin toss is the first thing I would do. He's a creature of habit, he doesn't like it when his routines are disrupted, so I would do everything I can within the rules to disrupt them, including complaining to the ref every time I feel he goes over the time limit on serve, and every time Uncle Toni opens his yap. Then there's gamesmanship: shouting "come on!" on every key point I win whether it's on a winner or a Nadal UE or a double fault, pumping up the crowd every chance I get, ,etc...

 

[Egoista]

I think what FED should do is (before the match) rip off his shirt and start screaming the way Nole does after he wins a match.....then start jumping up and down like rafa

flex the famous bicep

and then go up to the chair umpire with a stop watch and say clock him every time

then say to rafa the following:

Estoy dispuesto rafa no

 

[aldeayeah]

My plan: become a fully committed ball basher. Put on weight. Lift. Screw movement. Switch to a rocket launcher racquet. Let's Rosol/Soderling/Delpo that *******.

 

[Messarger]

I never want to see another Federer/Nadal match again, but if I were Federer's coach and he must play the match, here's what I would tell him to do:

First, see what the conditions are like. If the ball is bouncing low, you can attempt your regular game and hope it's like the 10 times you've beaten him. At least there's a chance.

If the conditions favor him (which has consistently been the case at the AO, Miami, and on non-Madrid clay), it's Desperation Time from the beginning:

1. Go for broke on every single serve return. Every. Single. One. Never engage Nadal in a rally. If Nadal's going to beat you, and he probably will, he's going to beat you WEIRD. Make him go, "you're playing strange today Roga, no?" Run around backhand returns and go for broke, come over backhand returns as hard as you can, and if he makes you hit a second shot, hit out and come in (you probably missed the shot, but in case you made it, you'll be prepared to actually win the point). Never, ever have a rally on Nadal's serve that lasts more than 3 strokes.

2. On your own serve, if he gets it back, you've got to hit out on the second shot. If it's a wide serve, don't EVER come in - you'll get passed 99% of the time. Wait for the return, hit it down the line and hope you make it. If he lands a moonball return at your feet at the baseline, swing wildly and hope for a prayer.

Never, ever engage Nadal in a rally. Don't give the moonball bully what he wants. If for some reason you find yourself in a rally with Nadal, "accidentally" shank as soon as possible.

If you're gonna lose, at least conserve energy for the future. Your back is priority #1, and if Moonball Bully is on the other side of the net, don't waste your back's health on trying to find a way to beat him at his own game.

Lol. Absolutely hilarious. It's like Roddick fans calling Fed a passing shot bully. Or Agassi fans calling Sampras an atomic second serve bully.

 

[Povl Carstensen]

I thought federer looked really competitive in that match. Even more so than any of his matches against nadal in recent years.

I really liked the first set strategy where federer was either attacking the net himself or forcing nadal to approach the net on his own terms using drop shots and awkward short angled slices. Anything to avoid an extended baseline exchange.

If he keeps at it, Wimbledon is a very real possibility.

Not so far off. I still feel Federer should use the slice more, when the agressive bh shot is not on. And kudos to Nadal.

 

[janm]

He must get one of these machines and program it to hit target his backhand with a nadal style loopy forehand...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9P--g2h7OSs

 

[Messarger]

Not so far off. I still feel Federer should use the slice more, when the agressive bh shot is not on. And kudos to Nadal.

He tried slicing yesterday. Nadal just directed the ball to his backhand until he hit a short ball and Rafa was all over it.

 

[Federer20042006]

Lol. Absolutely hilarious. It's like Roddick fans calling Fed a passing shot bully. Or Agassi fans calling Sampras an atomic second serve bully.

Passing shots and atomic serves are cool. They're offensive shots.

Nadal's moonballing is a "force the opponent to play like crap" shot.

 

[Federer20042006]

Think I would revise my "accidental shank" tactic into "play a drop shot." Any time it looks like it's about to become a rally and you are not in position to hit out, play an ill-advised drop shot.

 

[Povl Carstensen]

He tried slicing yesterday. Nadal just directed the ball to his backhand until he hit a short ball and Rafa was all over it.

Imo not many slices. I am just talking about a few times when the agressive topspin bh shot is not on.

 

[Chanwan]

Imo not many slices. I am just talking about a few times when the agressive topspin bh shot is not on.

+ yesterday he only hit slices when strectched on the backhand side, not offensively - not as an approach shot or anything. then again, Nadal tends to eat up his slice with his topspin

 

[jelle v]

I would tell Fed to hit him psycologically. Come out in a ball colored outfit from head to toe. Tape all his fingers and wear a knee brace for half the match then take it off cause his knee got better. Kick over his water bottles by accident. Begin picking his butt before every serve. And argue with the umpire in spanish. Nadal will be confused and weirded out.

Some posts in this thread really had my laughing out loud in a positive way.. :mrgreen:

 

[Backspin1183]

Moonballs expose you if you're not that good at tennis.

 

[Thriller]

The idea that Federer has all the tools to beat Nadal but is just using them wrong is false and actually insulting to Federer. If it was just a question of strategy, that would have been sorted out years ago.

Federer has a technical problem on the backhand side. Nadal has the technique to exploit that weakness over and over again and has been doing so since 2004 in Miami. It is instructive to look back at that match and see how many points, especially the match point would prove to be the rally pattern that would be repeated over and over again in their matches.

My feeling is that a certain amount of arrogance and belief in his own press and fanatics was his undoing. With everyone telling him that he has the most complete game .. blah, blah ... he didn't feel the need to change to add to his game to beat Nadal, just tweaking the strategy would be enough.

Compare that with Nadal who was getting his butt kicked by Djokovic in 2011. Nadal hasn't hit back and regained dominance by changing his strategy. He has done so by visibly improving his technique down the line on both backhand and forehand, improving his second serve in particular and even improving his already outstanding movement.

Only once you have improved the tools can you realistically hope to make headway against a better opponent.

The last word should go to the great man himself who said something very significant in his press conference yesterday:

Q. Did you feel a bit slower today than the other days? Was the reason because of your backhand didn't work today very well on the return maybe?

ROGER FEDERER: It's a totally different match. I don't know how to explain you guys. It's totally different playing Rafa over anybody else. Playing Murray or Rafa is day and night.

It's not because of the level necessarily, but it's just every point is played in a completely different fashion and I have to totally change my game.

For Federer it has been totally different playing Nadal and he does have to totally change his game, get out of his comfort zone. Why?

Because their matches, outdoors at least, are totally on Rafa's racquet, he has the tools to force Federer to dance to his tune, because Nadal is the better player.

This is always true in tennis. The inferior player is the one who ends up playing the opponents game and not the game they would prefer to play. It is the inferior player who is dictated to and not allowed to dictate. It is the inferior player who has to step outside his comfort zone and find solutions to the problems the superior player is setting.

Unless Federer can improve his technique on the backhand side until it can be as aggressive and reliable as Nadal's, I don't see a strategy that is going to work long term.

Hit and hope, as described in the OP will work once in a while but is it very likely that Nadal will lose to Rosol or Darcis ever again?

 

[tipsa...don'tlikehim!]

The idea that Federer has all the tools to beat Nadal but is just using them wrong is false and actually insulting to Federer. If it was just a question of strategy, that would have been sorted out years ago.

Exactly.
Unless all his previous coaches + the current one, are really crap in doing their job they get paid $$$$$$$ for.

 

[Chanwan]

The last word should go to the great man himself who said something very significant in his press conference yesterday:

Quote:
"""Q. Did you feel a bit slower today than the other days? Was the reason because of your backhand didn't work today very well on the return maybe?

ROGER FEDERER: It's a totally different match. I don't know how to explain you guys. It's totally different playing Rafa over anybody else. Playing Murray or Rafa is day and night.

It's not because of the level necessarily, but it's just every point is played in a completely different fashion and I have to totally change my game.""""

For Federer it has been totally different playing Nadal and he does have to totally change his game, get out of his comfort zone. Why?

Because their matches, outdoors at least, are totally on Rafa's racquet, he has the tools to force Federer to dance to his tune, because Nadal is the better player.

I think you - and many others - misunderstand, what he said yesterday. He dwelved on the subject at the WTF as well and there he went into more detail. Basically, it's mainly Rafa leftyness that makes it completely different:

http://www.asapsports.com/show_interview.php?id=94475

Q. You seem to really hit over on your backhand a lot in the returns, also hit it down the line. Do you feel you were hitting it well? Was that part of the plan? Can you also talk about what it is about Nadal that makes it so difficult to slice effectively against him.
ROGER FEDERER: Well, he's a lefty, number one. That makes everything different. If you compare to yesterday's match and today's match, it's like I have to play two different ways. So for me it's much more of a change. It's not an excuse. But I definitely have to play totally different.
He can play pretty much the same like he plays against Berdych and Stan, so forth. It's definitely more up to me to getting used to the lefty spin quicker. Coming over the return very often instead of chipping it, which I've been doing it all week.
There's always going to be a bit of an up and down from that standpoint. But I thought it was okay at times, you know. But just my court positioning, getting used to knowing exactly the dimension, how things are going to work out is sometimes a bit tricky. That's why I either chose the wrong side or I can't get the read I usually get like you get with del Potro, Gasquet or Djokovic for that matter.
That's why it really changes everything around. He does a good job picking up the slice. He does a good job staying on the baseline when he needs to. He can also play from the back. He has multiple options. That's what makes him so difficult to play against.

 

[torpantennis]

Just quoting myself. Hitting on the rise has always been the way to go! Even commenters thought so in 2006!

I just re-watched the 1st set of Wimbledon 06 final. Oh boy, did he TRY to hit each and every ball so early off the bounce. That's the way to beat moonballers!

Here, he half-volleys a shot from the baseline:

http://youtu.be/rBr_QwIsbjw?t=27m0s

Then after the next point, the commenter says: "Going back to that half-volley that Federer hit: He's just proven Nadal, that I'm not gonna let you back me up! This is what you've been trying to do, tell your other opponents, you're not gonna buy that with me!"

That's exactly what I've been saying here. The guy can hit anything on the rise, and used to dictate the game by hitting everything so early off the bounce. He shanked a lot, all right, but still dictated the play even against Nadal. Then he changed his game, nowadays he backs up and as a consequence, he let's Nadal dictate with the huge topspin. He'll never win Nadal by hitting on the dropping ball!

Why doesn't he at least TRY to play like he did in his prime against Nadal, like he still does against everybody else? What is it? Does he WANT TO LOSE?

 

[Thriller]

I think you - and many others - misunderstand, what he said yesterday. He dwelved on the subject at the WTF as well and there he went into more detail. Basically, it's mainly Rafa leftyness that makes it completely different:

http://www.asapsports.com/show_interview.php?id=94475

Q. You seem to really hit over on your backhand a lot in the returns, also hit it down the line. Do you feel you were hitting it well? Was that part of the plan? Can you also talk about what it is about Nadal that makes it so difficult to slice effectively against him.
ROGER FEDERER: Well, he's a lefty, number one. That makes everything different. If you compare to yesterday's match and today's match, it's like I have to play two different ways. So for me it's much more of a change. It's not an excuse. But I definitely have to play totally different.
He can play pretty much the same like he plays against Berdych and Stan, so forth. It's definitely more up to me to getting used to the lefty spin quicker. Coming over the return very often instead of chipping it, which I've been doing it all week.
There's always going to be a bit of an up and down from that standpoint. But I thought it was okay at times, you know. But just my court positioning, getting used to knowing exactly the dimension, how things are going to work out is sometimes a bit tricky. That's why I either chose the wrong side or I can't get the read I usually get like you get with del Potro, Gasquet or Djokovic for that matter.
That's why it really changes everything around. He does a good job picking up the slice. He does a good job staying on the baseline when he needs to. He can also play from the back. He has multiple options. That's what makes him so difficult to play against.

Again, I think he is delusional. If left-handedness was the root of the problem, you would expect Federer to have a poor record against left handers in general. Without Nadal, Federer is a career 98 wins to 12 losses which would put him second on the all time list in matches against left handers.

So Nadal being a lefty isn't the problem. Nadal being Nadal is the problem. He can do what other lefties cannot because he is a better tennis player than all the lefties and all the righties too for that matter.

Ironically the one bit of text about left-handedness that you didn't highlight is the most important IMO:

"It's not an excuse"

 

[jelle v]

Again, I think he is delusional. If left-handedness was the root of the problem, you would expect Federer to have a poor record against left handers in general. Without Nadal, Federer is a career 98 wins to 12 losses which would put him second on the all time list in matches against left handers.

So Nadal being a lefty isn't the problem. Nadal being Nadal is the problem. He can do what other lefties cannot because he is a better tennis player than all the lefties and all the righties too for that matter.

Ironically the one bit of text about left-handedness that you didn't highlight is the most important IMO:

"It's not an excuse"

You are kidding right? Do you think that Federer would have the same trouble with Nadal if Nadal was right handed..?

If Nadal was right handed he wouldn't be half the player he is now..

 

[Thriller]

You are kidding right? Do you think that Federer would have the same trouble with Nadal if Nadal was right handed?.

Yes. I do.

I repeat left handedness is not the problem. If that were true Federer would struggle against all left handers and he doesn't. If Nadal didn't exist, Federer would have the best record of all time against left handers.

Nadal's game is the problem. He is too fast, too powerful, hits with too much spin, too accurately and in addition he is mentally too strong for Roger Federer.

I see no EVIDENCE that suggests that Federer would fare any better against a righthanded Nadal; just a lot of wishful thinking from his bewildered fanatics.

 

[chjtennis]

The right strategy to beat Nadal is to prepare for a marathon and play defensive game. That's just not Federer's style, meaning he will always be on the losing side against Nadal most of the times.