What did Federer get from Ivan Ljubičić*?

[jimlosaltos]

Searching my photos to put together this month's Tour Portrait on one-handed ATP backhands for John, reminded me of one of the better ones, than of Ivan Ljubičić, and made me wonder about his role with Fed's. While most of the credit for Roger Federer's reinvigorated backhand after his first knee surgery is perhaps deservedly given to a piece of graphite -- his RF97 racket -- what did uber-coach Ivan Ljubičić bring to the game?

Surely, it can't be an accident that Fed brought on the former world number 3 known for his own one-handed backhand, just when Fed seemed to rediscover his down-the-land topspin one-hander?

But what can / did a coach bring to a then-35-yo former world number one's game? As Fed himself said, "At this age, it's not about changing technique", i.e it's hard to teach a old G.O.A.T. new strokes?

I clearly remember the tournament where Ljubicic had probably his greatest title. He beat the then world numbers 2 and 3, Djokovic then Rafa in semis, and Andy Roddick in the finals. The Ivan-Rafa semi was great tennis. Rafa won the stat battle, but Ivan took the deciding tiebreaker. Throughout their match I remember how Ivan would neutralize Rafa's get-out-of-jail-free card, the short heavy topspin forehand by stepping in to nail it down the line (sound familiar?). He also attacked Rafa's forehand return on the ad court with heavy kick serves -- one an ace that literally bounced over Rafa's racket on the slow, gritty Indian Wells courts.

So, what if anything, did Ivan tell Fed about hitting those two shots? When to hit them? Where? How to set them up? Get it in and don't shank it?

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[rthodges]

I noticed a change in strategy and court positioning. When Fed first switched racquets and began working with Edberg they didn’t change much about his baseline game and instead focused on rushing the net, S&V, and SABR. After Ljubičić started working with him his rally position changed. He moved from behind the baseline to be right on or inside it and taking balls on the rise. My takeaway from this was that Fed started attacking and hitting on the rise off of both wings. This is the biggest change in my opinion. By taking balls on the rise with his backhand he was able to control rallies without sacrificing his court positioning like he did running around for I/O forehands.




Before, especially in his prime, he had always attacked with the forehand and used his backhand to open the court or setup a forehand. By moving up and hitting on the rise off of both wings he was able to be aggressive and take away his opponent’s time without the drawbacks of rushing the net like he did with Eberg and running around behind the baseline to setup forehands like he did in his prime.

[jimlosaltos]

I noticed a change in strategy and court positioning. When Fed first switched racquets and began working with Edberg they didn’t change much about his baseline game and instead focused on rushing the net, S&V, and SABR. After Ljubičić started working with him his rally position changed. He moved from behind the baseline to be right on or inside it and taking balls on the rise. My takeaway from this was that Fed started attacking and hitting on the rise off of both wings. This is the biggest change in my opinion. By taking balls on the rise with his backhand he was able to control rallies without sacrificing his court positioning like he did running around for I/O forehands.




Before, especially in his prime, he had always attacked with the forehand and used his backhand to open the court or setup a forehand. By moving up and hitting on the rise off of both wings he was able to be aggressive and take away his opponent’s time without the drawbacks of rushing the net like he did with Eberg and running around behind the baseline to setup forehands like he did in his prime.

You win with the best answer! But then you're the only person brave enough to put one in writing <g>.

I agree, but ... Fed isn't hitting any new shots. He's always had the DTL and cross-court topspin backhand. He's just using it more. The larger racket helps. But coaches at least back to Annacone were trying to get him to pull those clubs out of his bag more often. Why Ivan? Maybe one of them will say after he retires (which is hopefully never).

Happy 4th. / jim

[rthodges]

You win with the best answer! But then you're the only person brave enough to put one in writing <g>.

I agree, but ... Fed isn't hitting any new shots. He's always had the DTL and cross-court topspin backhand. He's just using it more. The larger racket helps. But coaches at least back to Annacone were trying to get him to pull those clubs out of his bag more often. Why Ivan? Maybe one of them will say after he retires (which is hopefully never).

Happy 4th. / jim

Happy 4th to you too, hope it was a good one!

This is just my opinion:
Ivan had the most success because he was never a transcendent mover and had to compensate for it his entire career, just like Edberg brought his net expertise. I can imagine Ljubicic seeing Fed SABR serves and asking why he’s not taking the same approach to his baseline game. The more frequent use of the backhand is a direct consequence of that, since he’s focused on hitting on the rise to take away his opponent’s time and move them around. Slicing and running around to hit a forehand would just give his opponent more time to recover.

Annacone was telling him to use the slice less and commit more to the backhand drive, but In the context of a more conservative, baseliner game plan. He had Fed add spin and take pace off of his shots, with a more conservative point construction, while staying well behind the baseline. I’m not sure what the intended goal was, but shockingly, having an aging Federer play longer points with less weapons was about as effective as bathing in bleach for Covid.

[stotty]

I think Roger always had that backhand. It was sometimes incredibly good even before linking up with Ljubicic. It just seems he never had the confidence to use it in his matches with Rafa. He seems way more confident these days and is happy to take it early and really take the ball on. While it has done little to help him in his matches with Novak, it has made the world of difference in his matches with Rafa.

I am not sure what impact Ljubicic has had on Roger. It isn't all that visible to me. Maybe he is the man that finally convinced Roger that he had one of the finest and most versatile backhands in the game.

[jimlosaltos]

I think Roger always had that backhand. It was sometimes incredibly good even before linking up with Ljubicic. It just seems he never had the confidence to use it in his matches with Rafa. He seems way more confident these days and is happy to take it early and really take the ball on. While it has done little to help him in his matches with Novak, it has made the world of difference in his matches with Rafa.

I am not sure what impact Ljubicic has had on Roger. It isn't all that visible to me. Maybe he is the man that finally convinced Roger that he had one of the finest and most versatile backhands in the game.

As I recall, Fed said something like, going to the bigger racket enabled this change: "People have been telling me for years to play this way against Rafa. But, I always had to change my game when I played Rafa. Now, I hit {over?} the backhand often when I play righties, so I don't have to change my game for Rafa. That helps me {be more consistent/ play with more confidence?}".

[don_budge]

What did Federer get from Ivan Ljubičić*?

A trusted friend.