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John,
Intersting take on Hamburg. Amazing to see the psychology of the game used during non-slams or (those tiny little irrelevant Master's tournaments!!)
I didn't see the match but I'm going to posit something here. Rafa was using a lot of balls up the middle off of Roger's down the line backhand because hitting crosscourt would leave him vulnerable to Fed's crosscourt forehand angle and Rafa was struggling with his own backhand line. Second, hitting up the middle takes away Fed's angle for his inside out forehand and gives Rafa less chance of being driven off the court to the forehand side.
Now I am watching the French and for the first time I see Rafa really nailing the backhand crosscourt that takes an opponent beyond the singles sideline. Federer simply does not hit that shot as well as Rafa.
In my opinion, this could be the definitive shot of the match. Once the players engage in the backhand down the line rally, the player with the better crosscourt backhand angle will have the advantage. Additionally, and I dread saying this out loud, I believe Rafa's running forehand is more dangerous to Federer than Federer's running forehand is to Rafa. OUCH THAT HURT TO SAY!!
I think that Fed seriously needs to use his inside out backhand return on the deuce side of the court if he has any chance to win this battle. I'm also interested to see if he comes in against the Rafa forehand and takes some of those high balls out of the air. Finally, I wonder if he can find a way to use his short angle backhand slice off Rafa's backhand down the line. This will drive Rafa low and wide off the court and open up Fed's attack to Rafa's running backhand.
I'm hoping Roger pulls it of but I'm thinking Rafa is too solid in this matchup at the moment.
Let me know if you'd like a match analysis like the one I did last year.
CC
Intersting take on Hamburg. Amazing to see the psychology of the game used during non-slams or (those tiny little irrelevant Master's tournaments!!)
I didn't see the match but I'm going to posit something here. Rafa was using a lot of balls up the middle off of Roger's down the line backhand because hitting crosscourt would leave him vulnerable to Fed's crosscourt forehand angle and Rafa was struggling with his own backhand line. Second, hitting up the middle takes away Fed's angle for his inside out forehand and gives Rafa less chance of being driven off the court to the forehand side.
Now I am watching the French and for the first time I see Rafa really nailing the backhand crosscourt that takes an opponent beyond the singles sideline. Federer simply does not hit that shot as well as Rafa.
In my opinion, this could be the definitive shot of the match. Once the players engage in the backhand down the line rally, the player with the better crosscourt backhand angle will have the advantage. Additionally, and I dread saying this out loud, I believe Rafa's running forehand is more dangerous to Federer than Federer's running forehand is to Rafa. OUCH THAT HURT TO SAY!!
I think that Fed seriously needs to use his inside out backhand return on the deuce side of the court if he has any chance to win this battle. I'm also interested to see if he comes in against the Rafa forehand and takes some of those high balls out of the air. Finally, I wonder if he can find a way to use his short angle backhand slice off Rafa's backhand down the line. This will drive Rafa low and wide off the court and open up Fed's attack to Rafa's running backhand.
I'm hoping Roger pulls it of but I'm thinking Rafa is too solid in this matchup at the moment.
Let me know if you'd like a match analysis like the one I did last year.
CC
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