How Federer Fell

For all the so-called “experts” out there who continue to write about the end of Roger Federer’s reign at the top of men’s tennis (although to be fair, the general direction of this particular article is interesting, in that it suggests none other than Andre Agassi to come to Federer’s aid), here’s a little brain food for ya’ll to think about right here:

After five years and four weeks, it finally happened. … [He] woke up to find he was no longer ranked as the best in the world. …

The standards by which he is judged are as unique as his talent. … The man who has won six of the 10 majors … has now not won one of the big four in his last 10 attempts.

… he has lost the aura of invincibility that once intimidated his rivals so much that many were beaten before a shot had been played. … It was once the case that, if you were paired with [him] on a final round, your challenge was effectively neutered. … Not any more.

In case you haven’t guessed by now, the above was from an article written about Tiger Woods nearly FOUR YEARS AGO. Since that time, Tiger returned as dominant as ever, if not more so, and today he rests comfortably atop the men’s game yet again.

In other words, just calm down and enjoy the show. Rafa and Novak are good for the game, if for no other reason than they serve as wonderful foils. After all, to be The Man…you gotta BEAT The Man.

And until proven otherwise, Roger Federer is still The Man.

Pacific Life Open 2008 — Federer v. Haas, Nalbandian v. Fish Quarterfinal

The Pacific Life Open is shaping up for a fantastic finish with two quality quarterfinal matches slated for Friday in Federer v. Haas and Fish v. Nalbandian, as well as the expected titanic meeting in the lower half of the draw between second-seeded and defending champion Rafael Nadal and third-seeded Novak Djokovic. The final four if seedings hold will be Federer v. Nalbandian and Nadal v. Djokovic, which has the look of a preview of a quality clay-court quartet in the coming months.

(1) Roger Federer v. Tommy Haas
Image Credit: AP Photo/Mark Avery
Do NOT let the lack of seeding next to Haas’s name fool you: the German is a fantastic player, one whose game bears similar flourishes and stylistic marks to his opponent, the world No. 1. Haas has always been a phenomenal talent and when healthy a perennial top-15 player, and now that he’s hooked up with Dean Goldfine, he’s been razor-sharp here in the desert. Just look at the guys Haas has taken out in order: Benneteau, Roddick, Verdasco, Murray.

Image Credit: AP Photo/Mark Avery
Haas is no joke, and the surface here in Indian Wells suits his playing style — heavy topspin off both wings, an excellent down-the-line backhand to give the opponent’s inside-out forehand something to think about, and comfort from all parts of the court. If Federer’s serve is off, he will be in for a dogfight in this one, and given Haas’s string of strong performances and penchant for going deep into sets, it wouldn’t be surprising to see this go three. Ultimately, there’s no upset special here, as Federer does everything Haas does, but slightly better, and I just don’t see how Haas at this point has any new tricks to reveal. It’s simply going to be a matter of executing gameplans here, and as well as Haas has played, I see Federer moving on to the semifinal. Prediction: FEDERER, tight but straight sets.

(7) David Nalbandian v. Mardy Fish

Image Credit: Harvey Rubin
Nalbandian is a very tough guy to figure out because, as most tennis fans are aware, he is a world-beater whose game goes toe-to-toe with anyone’s on tour, even Roger Federer’s. He can blow through the top three players in the world with relative ease, and he can just as easily post confounding losses, and in some cases drop love sets, to lesser players (as he did in his match against Stepanek earlier this tournament). On point Nalbandian should be able to overwhelm Fish because Fish’s game just does not match up well with Nalbandian’s.

Image Credit: AP Photo/Mark Avery
But don’t discount the veteran American out completely, at least not yet. Fish has been relying all tournament on huge serves (frequently in the 130+ mile range), his world-class backhand, and a surprisingly penetrating, if somewhat erratic, forehand to carry him so far. Against Hewitt, Fish played three close sets and repeatedly served his way into strong positions, only to make occasional costly mistakes on his forehand side. That will not be enough against Nalbandian. For Fish to win he will have to have a very good serving day, and he will have to take on risk by going line-to-line frequently. He will not be able to hang with Nalbandian off the ground so he’s got to look to damage Nalbandian early by going up the line off Nalbandian’s cross-court forehand, and then go back up the line with his backhand on the reply, and then look to close out the point off Nalbandian’s forehand pass. This combination is going to be essential to Fish’s success. If Fish can press Nalbandian and avoid getting engaged in those brutal groundstroke exchanges in which Nalbandian thrives, and if Fish can continue to be aggressive on his serve and put Nalbandian under a lot of heat, then he’ll have space to move Nalbandian around and follow up with his best shot, the down-the-line backhand. Again, as above, it’s all about execution. These two are veterans and Fish knows that to survive against a premier player like Nalbandian, he’s got to stick with a solid gameplan and see it through. Otherwise, Nalbandian is just too tough a customer. Prediction: NALBANDIAN, straight sets (possibly close, likely fairly routine)

All in all, this looks to be a Federer/Nalbandian + Nadal/Djokovic final four, which is a mouthwatering proposition.

Roger Federer Magic MV — Heavenly

If God played tennis, this is kinda what it would look like.

How to Serve Like a King

One of the things about Roger Federer’s serve is that it’s one of the best in the game without being the fastest. Federer’s serve is a potent mixture of placement, variation, and deception. The question is, how exactly is Federer able to serve so precisely and so deceptively? Taking into account the countless hours of practice he and all professionals have put into refining the serve, the key lies in the utter simplicity of his service motion.

One thing that Federer does remarkably well during his service motion is hold his head up through the point of contact. Many servers, even good ones at the professional level, in their quest to extract every last ounce of power from their deliveries, will jerk down into the point of contact. While this may cause the arm to accelerate through the hitting zone, it is disadvantageous for two major reasons:

1) It’s hard to reproduce.
The erratic nature of jerking a part of the body quickly (in this case, the head) makes it hard to reproduce a consistent delivery, which is a key component to having an accurate, directable serve. A fluid, simple delivery is easier to reproduce than a herky-jerky, complicated one. When you’re serving break point down, do you need that extra moving part breaking down on you?

2) You have a narrower service window.
Pulling the head down quickly has a tendency to cause the rest of the body to come down, which rules out making contact with the ball at optimal height, which in turn decreases the angles to which the server has access within the service box. In essence, what you think you “gain” in pace, you give up in terms of angle and, as a result, how far you can move the returner off his base. Pulling the head down early effectively makes you “shorter,” and your serve will be less effective. Roger Federer’s serve is incredibly effective in doing what he use it to do — pull the opponent wide off the court on both sides so that he can set up a penetrating forehand. This is why Federer much prefers primarily to ‘V-serve’ (serve wide to both sides, in the manner of the letter ‘V’) — his basic service game plan is structured in this manner. This is possible because Federer is very good and consistent with making contact while retaining an optimal angle above the net for his height, and he is able to optimize this due to his simple yet effective technique, which includes keeping the head up and creating that ‘extension.’

So there you have it. These are two major, major disadvantages to not keeping your head up as you serve. Aside from speculation of injury-causing attributes for which this site is not qualified to make, these two reasons alone are more than enough to drive home the point of how crucial it is to keep the head up when serving. After all, any tennis professional worth his or her salt will tell you it’s important to keep your head up, but they may not articulate for you why it’s so important other than, that’s what’s in the textbook. No! The major advantages you will gain from keeping the head up, aside from the “extension” to which Mary Carillo alludes, are that doing so will aid the consistency of the serve and the ability to reach all parts of the service box, which combined will have a dramatic effect on the effectiveness of anyone’s serve.

So remember: resist the temptation to artificially force the creation of power. Remember that power lies in the nexus of proper articulation of two things: timing and leverage. Keep the head up and finish high, and let gravity do the rest.