why roger federer dosen 't hit many backhand down the line like djokovic agianst nadal in RG ??

[skypadq]

to me , one of mystery is why roger federer dosen 't hit many backhand down the line agianst nadal in french open ?
that 's only way can beat rafa in RG
i always wonder this
roger can 't do this agianst rafa in RG ?
why roger can 't hit like novak djokovic ?

why roger federer dosen 't hit backhand down the line often in RG agianst rafa ??

 

[Dolgopolov85]

to me , one of mystery is why roger federer dosen 't hit many backhand down the line agianst nadal in french open ?
that 's only way can beat rafa in RG
i always wonder this
roger can 't do this agianst rafa in RG ?
why roger can 't hit like novak djokovic ?

why roger federer dosen 't hit backhand down the line often in RG agianst rafa ??

Harder to climb into the backhands with a one hander. The cross court gives you more margin and is just naturally more comfortable on the one hander. Also, Fed's backhand at least in those days wasn't even the best one hander of his era while Djokovic has one of the all time great backhands (single or double). So it's not comparable. Nobody does to Nadal when Djokovic does, period.

 

[Novichok]

If they play again at RG surely we'll see a few pretty backhands.

 

[BeatlesFan]

Try spending 3 hours hitting huge, heavy topspin FH's coming into your one-handed BH when that incoming FH is one of the greatest shots in tennis history. It's much easier to deal with this with a two-hander. As McEnroe said in 2008, "hitting backhands above your shoulder for hours is next to impossible for any one-handed BH player. The fatigue element starts compromising you, little by little and you're just dead after 90 minutes."

 

[skypadq]

Try spending 3 hours hitting huge, heavy topspin FH's coming into your one-handed BH when the FH is one of the greatest shots in tennis history. It's much easier to deal with this with a two-hander. As McEnroe said in 2008, "hitting backhands above your shoulder for hours is next to impossible for any one-handed BH player. The fatigue element starts compromising you, little by little."

even roger federer can 't do that ?

 

[Novichok]

even roger federer can 't do that ?

He would have to hit them early and on the rise, which is very difficult to do on clay.

 

[Deleted member 748597]

Too weak, but beautiful.

 

[Dolgopolov85]

If they play again at RG surely we'll see a few pretty backhands.

Even that backhand would be less effective on clay plus harder to hit off Nadal's forehands on clay. Remember IW played faster than usual that year, which too aided Fed in simply teeing off on the backhand. His backhand was noticeably less impressive at Miami though he still won because by then, Nadal had adjusted and started going at his forehand which suited him just fine.

 

[Dominic & Andrey]

Because generally a two handed backhand is more reliable than a one handed backhand, especially against Nadal on clay, it's not a secret that one of the most famous Nadal's strategies on clay against Federer was murdering his backhand side with his forehand again and again.

And Djokovic has one of the greatest if not the greatest backhand in history, in my opinion better than Federer's at anything expect for the slice. For Federer taking the ball on the rise to attack Nadal on clay is very demanding, it's hard doing it constantly through an entire match

 

[DIMI_D]

He flattened it out AO 17 on wards the tactic isn’t as effective anymore takes it on early to avoid slicing even hard cross court 1 HBH like tsitsi did in Barca can hurt Nadal. Clay is different as Nadal gets that purchase on the high bounce but Fed has pretty much nullified it on any non clay surface now

 

[skypadq]

Because generally a two handed backhand is more reliable than a one handed backhand, especially against Nadal on clay, it's not a secret that one of the most famous Nadal's strategies on clay against Federer was murdering his backhand side with his forehand again and again.

And Djokovic has one of the greatest if not the greatest backhand in history, in my opinion better than Federer at anything expect for the slice. For Federer taking the ball on the rise to attack Nadal on clay is very demanding, it's hard doign it constantly through an entire match

roger federer has better serve and forehand than novak djokovic
you knows that

 

[Dominic & Andrey]

roger federer has better serve and forehand than novak djokovic
you knows that

I am talking about their backhands not their entire game

 

[skypadq]

I am talking about their backhands not their entire game

okay , okay

 

[PilotPete]

He should. He's already making tons of errors going crosscourt, so what's to lose?

 

[BeatlesFan]

even roger federer can 't do that ?

Why should an untalented, weak era POS like Federer be able to do it? It's a miracle someone of his skill set won 20 slams and 103 tournaments. Just pure luck, really.

 

[D.Nalby12]

Technically his backhand is not that good enough.

 

[MadariKatu]

The backhand down the line is Djokovic's best shot, up there with his return.

Federer's backhand is very good, has a lot of variety, but it's his worst shot. His best shot is his forehand, up there with his serve. In a way what you're asking is why can't Nadal serve like Federer? Both are the same height... well, some people can do some things better, some other people will do other things better.

 

[MichaelNadal]

Try spending 3 hours hitting huge, heavy topspin FH's coming into your one-handed BH when that incoming FH is one of the greatest shots in tennis history. It's much easier to deal with this with a two-hander. As McEnroe said in 2008, "hitting backhands above your shoulder for hours is next to impossible for any one-handed BH player. The fatigue element starts compromising you, little by little and you're just dead after 90 minutes."

So epic

 

[mike danny]

Harder to climb into the backhands with a one hander. The cross court gives you more margin and is just naturally more comfortable on the one hander. Also, Fed's backhand at least in those days wasn't even the best one hander of his era while Djokovic has one of the all time great backhands (single or double). So it's not comparable. Nobody does to Nadal when Djokovic does, period.

Djokovic wouldn't do to Nadal what he does if he had a one hander anyway.

Even if Fed had the best OHBH ever, he still wouldn't beat a well-playing Nadal at RG. No one hander would.

 

[MadariKatu]

Djokovic wouldn't do to Nadal what he does if he had a one hander anyway.

Even if Fed had the best OHBH ever, he still wouldn't beat a well-playing Nadal at RG. No one hander would.

Even a well playing but aging Nadal? Thinking about Thiem...

 

[mike danny]

Because generally a two handed backhand is more reliable than a one handed backhand, especially against Nadal on clay, it's not a secret that one of the most famous Nadal's strategies on clay against Federer was murdering his backhand side with his forehand again and again.

And Djokovic has one of the greatest if not the greatest backhand in history, in my opinion better than Federer's at anything expect for the slice. For Federer taking the ball on the rise to attack Nadal on clay is very demanding, it's hard doing it constantly through an entire match

Djokovic and Federer's BHs are incomparable anyway because one is a one hander, while the other is a double-hander.

Always compare similar BHs to one another, not completely technically-different ones, IMO.

 

[mike danny]

Even a well playing but aging Nadal? Thinking about Thiem...

I'd back Fed to do much better against an aging Nadal than Thiem has done anyway. I was talking about younger Nadal.

 

[Sunny014]

Federer could have had a chance if they were aged same or Nadal was like older to Federer, plus if he had a backhand like Henin which was like a rocket. Double Hander would have been perfect, extra power needed to tackle Nadal. At times Nadal's forehand climbs to 7 feet in height, Soderling type fellows can tackle that.

 

[vex]

Try spending 3 hours hitting huge, heavy topspin FH's coming into your one-handed BH when that incoming FH is one of the greatest shots in tennis history. It's much easier to deal with this with a two-hander. As McEnroe said in 2008, "hitting backhands above your shoulder for hours is next to impossible for any one-handed BH player. The fatigue element starts compromising you, little by little and you're just dead after 90 minutes."

/Thread

 

[MichaelNadal]

Federer could have had a chance if they were aged same or Nadal was like older to Federer, plus if he had a backhand like Henin which was like a rocket. Double Hander would have been perfect, extra power needed to tackle Nadal. At times Nadal's forehand climbs to 7 feet in height, Soderling type fellows can tackle that.

Soderling tackled it twice and one of those was 2009 WTF which is Rafas worst form ever.

 

[skaj]

The posters are writing serious comments, while the original post is making fun of Federer(and his fans here?).

 

[duaneeo]

Hitting down the line against Nadal at Roland Garros has benefitted Djokovic?

 

[JaoSousa]

Rafa's forehand popped up too much, and Federer had some confidence issues I think against him on clay. If you see their matches at the WTF, Federer gets loose and punishes Nadal for going wide to his backhand.

 

[Third Serve]

believe it or not, that strategy is actually pretty difficult when you're facing a 1 million rpm FH to your left... on clay

you'd need a very solid BH for that, one that can effectively handle high balls to the left wing. And Djokovic's BH generally does the trick.

 

[Zetty]

You're saying it like it's easy to hit backhand's down the line when a ball is flying at you at 85 mph's and six feet off the ground. Just do it Rogi.

 

[Jason Swerve]

He would have to hit them early and on the rise, which is very difficult to do on clay.

This isn't directed at you, but your point explains it:

The terrible Federer footwork strikes again. Guess who had a wonderful DTL backhand who taught Federer how to move and could've taught Federer to better embrace the DTL backshot?

Yes, you know her name. I went over this in another thread and faced opposition from keyboard-slam champions. Now, look at everyone talking about the Prime Federer's struggles against Nadal. This site is hilariously two-faced, I tell you. Two-faced and lagging painfully behind in all the relevant tennis analysis.

 

[metsman]

1) Ned's ball used to clear the service box crosscourt back then and also had wicked angle
2) Any decent 2HBH is significantly better against high bouncing balls than Fed's.
3) Redirection DTL is easier for a 2HBH than 1HBH period.

 

[Deleted member 771911]

Didn't Federer go stretches without a coach? I think not having a coach was a downside for him if so.

 

[ForehandRF]

Djokovic wouldn't do to Nadal what he does if he had a one hander anyway.

Even if Fed had the best OHBH ever, he still wouldn't beat a well-playing Nadal at RG. No one hander would.

Fedr would have probably beaten Nadal in 2006 had he played like he did in Rome.

 

[FranzS]

Actually, real trouble for Rafa is when Novak finds the confidence to hit cross-court, hard against Rafa's fh

 

[socallefty]

It is easier to hit 2HBHs against high balls with high levels of topspin in general than 1HBHs. Also, Djokovic has a GOAT-level 2HBH especially in terms of his ability to take the ball early and change direction without making errors. Federer‘s BH is not a GOAT-level 1HBH and he made too many errors against Nadal trying to go DTL especially on slower courts when he was playing with a smaller racquet. So, the short answer is that Djokovic is a better player with less weaknesses on slow surfaces than Federer.

The real puzzle for me always is why the main point pattern in so many matches between Nadal-Federer in Federer’s prime always devolved into Nadal hitting his FH into Federer’s BH. Why couldn’t Federer use his great serve and GOAT-level FH to dictate play and make Nadal hit more BHs to the Federer FH? I think Nadal’s 2HBH also is better than Federer’s 1HBH and he could change the point pattern by hitting DTL BHs without making errors more consistently than Federer could. Also, Federer is stubborn and wanted to beat Nadal playing his usual game and refused to change his ways even though his head-to-head was one-sided for a long time.

 

[Poisoned Slice]

1) Ned's ball used to clear the service box crosscourt back then and also had wicked angle
2) Any decent 2HBH is significantly better against high bouncing balls than Fed's.
3) Redirection DTL is easier for a 2HBH than 1HBH period.

The fundamental answers are here.

 

[skaj]

Fedr would have probably beaten Nadal in 2006 had he played like he did in Rome.

But not Federer.

 

[helterskelter]

Djokovic wouldn't do to Nadal what he does if he had a one hander anyway.

Even if Fed had the best OHBH ever, he still wouldn't beat a well-playing Nadal at RG. No one hander would.

What about a lefty with the best OHBH ever, but the forehand of Novak Djokovic?

 

[skaj]

What about a lefty with the best OHBH ever, but the forehand of Novak Djokovic?

That would be Laver.

 

[mike danny]

What about a lefty with the best OHBH ever, but the forehand of Novak Djokovic?

Lefties would probably be a different kettle of fish. Someone like Verdasco, but consistent, could be a threat.

 

[helterskelter]

Lefties would probably be a different kettle of fish. Someone like Verdasco, but consistent, could be a threat.

What about a lefty with the best double-handed forehand ever? A male Monica Seles who was 6'3"?

 

[mike danny]

What about a lefty with the best double-handed forehand ever? A male Monica Seles who was 6'3"?

Don't rate double handed FHs too high. The last thing you need is not having free mobility on the FH side.

 

[TearTheRoofOff]

Don't rate double handed FHs too high. The last thing you need is not having free mobility on the FH side.

Last thing we need is another poor man's Santoro...

 

[SonnyT]

Pardon me, but at '20 RG, did Djokovic hit anything that moved, much less anything down the lines?

 

[helterskelter]

Don't rate double handed FHs too high. The last thing you need is not having free mobility on the FH side.

On a more serious note, I am not sure why there aren't more players who can hit both single and double-handed backhands as attacking shots. It seems that some players can slice a single hander and also hit a drive double hander, but not many can drive through the single hander unless they use single handers exclusively.

 

[Visionary]

one of mystery is why roger federer dosen 't hit many backhand down the line agianst nadal in french open

Fear of slipping on the clay

Pardon me, but at '20 RG, did Djokovic hit anything that moved, much less anything down the lines?

Tough along the line for him too

Longer steps and stretches aren't good enough against fast and short step by step footwork. Seeing Rafa side step or move corner to corner at a lightning speed with his feet like a couple of Ferrari cylinders on a free way is just uncomparable to either of those two above on the slippery surface.