2015 Dubai Duty Free TC…ATP 500…Dubai, U.A.E.

[don_budge]

Slice backhands and First Serves (tactics)...

Roger Federer wins the first set 6-3. Using the slice very intelligently and the serve tactics are overwhelming.

The court appears to be quicker. If this is the case then it will really surprise me if Djokovic can get back into this match. I think that a lot of people will be surprised if the courts quicken how much this will effect the game.

[gzhpcu]

Roger has a much more varied game then Djokovic. Djokovic is one dimensional. Roger wins his 7th Dubai titel...

[klacr]

Awesome stuff. Roger wins 7th Dubai Title. Using the slice wisely. Attacking the net, great overheads. Superb. Only has two break point chances. Won them both. Djokovic had 7, won 0. When Fed can convert on break points, something he doesn't do against Nadal or other matches when he is struggling, he is difficult to handle.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[don_budge]

Roger Federer vs. Novak Djokovic….The Conclusion

Roger has a much more varied game then Djokovic. Djokovic is one dimensional. Roger wins his 7th Dubai titel...

Sunday I changed everything around to make certain I was in front of my computer for this match. It had all of the makings of something special and it certainly lived up to all of my expectations.

Just to reemphasize…Roger Federer has mastered the art of preparation. The first step was changing his equipment which had the immediate effect of levelling the playing field. Especially with regard to Novak Djokovic because of the classic way that they match up. The second step was getting rid of Paul Annacone and getting someone else to fill that role. Because he also had to reprogram his tactical acumen.

The racquet switch was a no-brainer. At least it was for me. It took Roger a couple of years to see the light and I wonder what Annacone's input with regard to equipment was. The coaching selection was a bit of a surprise but it was in keeping with the Federer paradigm. He needed to revive the tactics that he was brought up with in the first place and get back to the basics of playing all court tennis. Both decisions were fundamental decisions. It is no coincidence that I was recommending both a couple of years before they actually happened. You don't have to be a former Grand Slam winner to coach these guys…but it certainly helps to get your foot in the door.

Federer's dissection of Mister Teenage Wasteland, Borna Coric, on Friday was certainly an indication of things to come. This tournament had a similar smell to it as the one down in Brisbane, Australia did. Roger is riding the wave of some incredibly well thought out and conceived preparation. You know the mantra of a tennis player…it's all about preparation. In the Coric match I was so impressed by Roger's demeanour in the end. It reeked of confidence…I remember Coric dancing about and twirling his racquet a million miles an hour right in Federer's during the coin toss as Federer just stood there studying his opponent with his beady eyes. Obviously he saw a flaw. He saw cat food.

Saturday was a little different and he was playing it no less cagey. He and Novak know each other quite well. I imagine that when they are faced off during the coin toss that they can smell each others breath and know what each ate for breakfast. They are in each other's face and then some.

Right from the get go Roger was serving bombs. He was hitting it wide in the deuce court and hard up the middle in the advantage side. His flatter cannonball up the middle in the deuce was finding it's range more often than not and he was banging it outside in the ad court. He had a full range of options and he used them judiciously. Methodically. He never lost his composure and maintained that steely sense of confidence we used to see in him when he was younger. He could run the table at any given point in the match.

The serving game of Federer is the key. If he serves well…then he is left with mop up points. He wins his serve quite handily which enables him to go to work on the other guys serve. If he can establish this pattern in a match then he is going to very tough to beat and that is precisely what he did yesterday. He threw in another wrinkle to this method of operation as he served to save something like seven break points. These were not only break points but on three occasions it may have been double break points. The ability to serve tough when you are behind in the count is doubly important.

This comment from Gladys Heldman regarding the Richard Gonzales serve:

"The strongest part of the Gonzales serve is his ability to put his first serve in when the chips are down. At 0-40, 15-30 and 30-40 his batting average on first serves must be .950. It is incredible to have such a high percentage while still hitting hard and flat. The number of aces on these important points is also astounding. No other player has been able to perform this feat so regularly."

When Roger is not looking so sharp and sometimes perhaps not so motivated…it is his serve that gives him away. Yesterday he was not going away. When the chips were down and he was serving to one great returner in Djokovic he put the pedal to the metal and hammered away. He saved the crucial points when he had to. His face was grim and determined. He wasn't going to let the cat out of the bag.

It was a textbook match in the sense of taking care of the serve aspect of the game…which is what it all used to be about. Once he got into his rhythm and was dominating his own service game…even when he was behind in the count…he went to work on Djokovic and played aggressive. Once he had the break in hand he served it out with a methodical efficiency that gave me pleasure just to watch. This is the way that it used to be done.

This court had to be a little quicker than we are accustomed to seeing and if it was Roger knew it as did Djokovic. Many times that slice backhand of Roger's came in sliding and slithering into the Djokovic backhand and it seemed to fool him many times. It seemed to fool him on the forehand as well. Coming in on the approach the timing felt all wrong to Novak off of the bounce and a number of times he flinched.

The best thing about this match was that it wasn't necessarily a bad match from Djokovic. Were there some murmurings that Novak was less than 100 percent? Well you certainly didn't hear any of that nonsense from Novak in the speech. He played it smart and he played it cool. He came across as you should when you lose. No excuses and nothing but praise for the champion. He kept his sense of humour and managed to smile his way through the ordeal.

The rest of the Federer game was as sharp as a tack. I have said it before…if you are serving well it often has the effect of raising the level of the rest of the game. Particularly so in the Federer game. You might say that as he gets longer in the tooth his game is service dependent. He cannot afford to be wasting energy in holding his serve. The slice backhand was used to perfection and the one thing that I would add here is that he doesn't use it enough. Even the great Djokovic cannot consistently get a bead on it to hit like he would like to and this is especially true on a quicker surface. Roger was very sharp with his drive backhand too and at a very key point in the match he nailed a couple up the line. It didn't win the game for him on Novak's serve but the thought was gnawing at him the whole time…he had to respect the backhand up the line.

Along with the serve the other key to the Federer game is his forehand. This is the foundation of his game. Yesterday you didn't see the mishits or the shanks on the forehand side. Does anybody doubt the advantage of using a bigger racquet still? He doubled down on anything hit to his forehand off of Novak's return of serve and he immediately went on the attack. He went to the net "enough" to make his presence felt but he dominated this match with his serve and forehand using all of the rest of his strokes to complement his attack.

This doesn't make Novak Djokovic a one dimensional player. Novak plays the defence superbly and he is always a threat to attack from the back court. The point is that he isn't a threat in the forecourt and this is a major flaw in the design. He lacks true confidence in the forecourt and at one point he let a ball bounce well inside the baseline that he could have easily volleyed. An accomplished volleyer will almost never do such a thing.

Federer knows this and he can always resort to a short slice backhand to the backhand of Djokovic without getting hurt. In fact he has options in neutralizing the Djokovic attack and it is the Djokovic defence that is the real strength of his game. But bombastic serving and laser precision off of the forehand took care of his impenetrable wall. It had many holes when it was all through.

It was a really fine tennis match. Because it had some interesting and entertaining tempo…it had rhythm. Cadence. Roger was dictating all of it. Maintaining pressure on his opponent. Just as Bill Tilden wrote in his classic…"How to Play Better Tennis…a complete guide to technique and tactics". No apologies.

The most amazing thing about this match was Federer's ability to overcome a six year age difference between him and Djokovic. He hasn't forgotten how to adapt. This is a strong suit for the classic tennis player. The ability to use different tactics against different opponents. Much as gzhpcu suggests.

[don_budge]

Roger Federer vs. Novak Djokovic….After taco thoughts

Awesome stuff. Roger wins 7th Dubai Title. Using the slice wisely. Attacking the net, great overheads. Superb. Only has two break point chances. Won them both. Djokovic had 7, won 0. When Fed can convert on break points, something he doesn't do against Nadal or other matches when he is struggling, he is difficult to handle.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Yes it was awesome. Really awesome. The match was so riveting. There was actually a player that had some serious offence in mind. Not just reacting to what his opponent is doing but simple taking the bull by the horns and really asserting himself.

Roger was on the attack. He made up his mind that at the first intelligent opportunity he was going to be on the offensive and it was a little surprising how this put the more defensive Djokovic back on his heels.

So often these modern day tennis matches turn into such dull backcourt affairs that when we finally see somebody actually moving into the forecourt at the first opportunity it seems like such a novel thing to do. Hard to believe that is the way the game used to be played. After watching Federer and Djokovic it is sort of hard to get excited about Ferrer vs. Nishikori or Nadal vs. Monaco.

It's interesting…after a scintillating performance like that by Federer the commentatoes automatically want to start talking about him being the greatest ever. Fortunately Peter Fleming was in the house to help set the record straight about that nonsensical talk. Peter mentioned that Laver was the best of his era and McEnroe at times was the best in his and Pete Sampras dominated his era as well. Peter concluded that the best that a player can do is be the best of his era. Of course this is absolutely true as the conditions and now the equipment makes certain comparisons very difficult to compare. I want to say that the depth in tennis today is not nearly what it was in those other eras.

Roger was electric yesterday. I had a couple of tacos with the match. Talk about being satisfied. It doesn't take much these days. One of the things that I miss from home is Mexican Town there in Detroit. Mexican food. That is one thing this town could use. A good Mexican restaurant.

[GeoffWilliams]

he was 9/21 at net. Those figures usually mean a straight set loss. He won with his serve accuracy once again, just like Sampras under pressure.

[don_budge]

The Brain Game...

This article is on the ATP site. I thought it was interesting to compare my thoughts with the "Brain Trust". This guy uses all of the bells and whistles. Imagine little old me coming to virtually the same conclusions. I never peeked at this until I was done with my rant.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2015/02/8/Dubai-Final-Brain-Game-Federer-Djokovic.aspx

[stotty]

This article is on the ATP site. I thought it was interesting to compare my thoughts with the "Brain Trust". This guy uses all of the bells and whistles. Imagine little old me coming to virtually the same conclusions. I never peeked at this until I was done with my rant.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2015/02/8/Dubai-Final-Brain-Game-Federer-Djokovic.aspx

Good article...well written...really informative.

I didn't see the match but from reading the article it seemed identical to when Federer played Murray a few years back at the Aussie Open.

I wish I had seen the match. It's not easy to beat Djokovic. Roger must have played a blinder.

Tweaking with court speed may just be the answer...

It's amazing to think out of the last 20 grand slams, Federer has only won one of them...feels like it should be more.

[don_budge]

At least 5 more...

It's amazing to think out of the last 20 grand slams, Federer has only won one of them...feels like it should be more.

You missed a real fine display from the "Living Proof"…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSQG4pSvIk8

If he had switched racquets that much earlier it would have been many more…trust me. The racquet has made that much difference. We have seen a resurgence in the "old boy" in the past 15 months or so…coincidentally he switched to the bigger equipment at the very same time.

The switch may have come too late to effect his chances in three out of five set tournaments with all of the big honchos because of his advanced years and the number of miles he has put on the machine. But we have seen how he fares in two out of three set events…he is formidable once again. The Once and Future King.

[don_budge]

Inspirational tennis match...

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2015/03/9/By-The-Numbers-Novak-Costly-Slip.aspx

That was one inspirational tennis match last week. It certainly looked to me that the courts were speeded up if only marginally. Maybe even more. Djokovic was certainly on the defensive more than he normally is as Roger consistently got the quick drop on him. He was rocking Djokovic into a position where he was so out of position that he couldn't use his usual modus operandi of the slick escape.

The serving was key and it is an indication that the surface was less sandy than the usual fair being dished up on the ATP tour. Roger was able to serve his way out of serious jams several times by pulling out the big serve and the intelligent serve as the great equalizer. Djokovic on the other hand showed that his serve is just marginally less effective on a quicker court because of his inability to capitalize by attacking the net effectively.

Roger's serving was also indicative that in general the serving concept has been lost somewhere in the shuffle and the engineering of the modern game. Serving when behind in the count is an extremely important and tactical part of the game. It is reminiscent of baseball pitchers pitching when they fall behind in the count…to still be able to come up with the necessary goods to get the batter out. Roger used placement, spin and speed intelligently to mix up his "pitches" to retire Djokovic swinging.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSQG4pSvIk8

With Indian Wells coming up the natural question to ask of oneself is…what about the courts? I still find the spectacle of Roger's attacking tennis in the final of the Dubai mesmerizing. It was a sensational performance. Indian Wells will be a stiffer challenge as you can imagine that the field is going to be so much deeper…and the courts so much slower.

Federer is the living proof you know…and he is also the end of the foreseeable line. There are no other players that are fundamentally sound enough to be capable of playing this kind of tennis. Beware of the quantum drop when he retires. Don't forget who told you so. The founder of "stick man" tennis. "Old man" tennis. Phooey.