Did Federer model his strokes after Becker?

[lukman41985]

I've read a couple of articles where Roger Federer called Boris Becker one of his idols growing up (along with Sampras and Edberg--what a trio!). As I was looking at footage of Boris Becker's forehand in the stroke archive, I definitely saw similarities between the two. They both use a classical Eastern grip structure and Becker, like Federer, seems to have a swing shape typically associated with more extrene grip structures. Federer and Becker also have a similar rhythm and cadence when hitting forehands. What do you guys think? I'd stick videos of each guy side-by-side for the sake of comparison, but I don't know how...help John!

[johnyandell]

Good question. Haven't even thought about it! But I will... Go to Tour Notes and ask AJ--I bet he has an informed opinion. He also helped me film that Becker footage.