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Tennis Articles Tennis Serve and Volley, Lies and.... | Tennis Serve and Volley, Lies and.... |
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| Written by Sergio Cruz | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Aug 14, 2010 at 12:59 AM | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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...Altered States of Mind! In Toronto Roger Federer had a hard time adjusting to the serve and volley and chip and charge game of Michael Llodra a French player who is mostly known as a doubles and tennis serve and volley specialist, but who has grown into a respected contender in the men's singles as well. Even though Roger fell 1-4 behind in the first set, he pulled a 7-6(2), 6-3 win to go into the Toronto quarter finals against one of his nemesis Tomas Berdych. Roger Federer said - 'It is fun playing that kind of a style once in a while, I kind of miss it, obviously. Having come through the rankings back in '98, '99, 2000, I was facing many of those kind of players, especially on the faster courts indoors.' After reading this comment at the press conference a large grin came to my face. Starting in '98, how much fun could that have been for Roger Federer when his ATP ranking was in the 301 area and almost any ATP journey man beat him, especially serving and volleying? With a ATP ranking in the three hundreds and lower as a player you do not exist, you are virtually nothing in the world of tennis, I just wonder how much fun that must have been for a proud Roger Federer who used to smash rackets during losses against such attackers and has a winners ego? My grin got bigger! In '99 Roger's ranking went from 302 to 65, the only fun he could have had was that he saw his stock rising otherwise it was still a struggle. Serve and volley players like Tim Henman, that Roger claims he had 'fun' playing against, when in fact they were making his life hell and beating him in straight sets! For example 1999 Basel Open Tim Henman 6-3, 7-5. Not to mention that being ATP Nr. 65 only entitles you to enter some of the toughest Indoor season qualifyings anyone would want to face, that is if you make it into the qualifying draw. If those hellish qualifying rounds and losing to serve and volley players, is the definition of 'fun' for Roger Federer, someone must be in an altered state of mind! This further rebukes the statement of 'how much fun' it was playing serve and volley players in those years for Federer. If you go back to the videotapes of those defeats from Federer against the serve and volley players he claims he had so much 'fun' playing against, what do you see? - A despondent Roger Federer. - A frustrated Roger. - A Roger in tanking mode.(throwing the towel) - A very upset Roger. - A nervous and tight Federer. A Roger Federer with a huge frown on his face, no smiles, no joy'! Did anyone hear me say, 'fun'? No, that was not fun nor would it be for anyone experiencing it, but it is a process of learning and developing every tennis player has to go through whether playing serve and volleyers or baseliners! The real truth is Roger Federer never had any 'fun' playing serve and volley or attacking players. Furthermore if Roger would have had to play more often against serve and volley players similar to Tim Henman or Pete Sampras his record would very likely have been reduced to less than half of what he has won in his career, Grand Slams included. You can bet your booty that would not have been such 'fun' for Federer! To re-enforce my point just look at the dismal record Federer has against Tim Henman and take into consideration that the last 4 or five victories Federer has on record against Henman, Tim was suffering from severe back injury and pain plus recovering from a series of other injuries. No one can speculate but a healthy Henman would probably have won at least 3 of the last 5 encounters. As it is Roger leads Henman 7-6. I can not call such a record against an attacking serve and volley player, 'fun'! Head to Head - Roger Federer 7 Tim Henman 6
Below is part of the ranking progression of Roger Federer from 1998 at ATP Nr. 807 to 10.01.2000 at ATP Nr. 61 Federer was not yet a force to recon with in ATP standards. In my view the 'Big change' in all facets of Federer's game was at the final in the Tennis Masters Cup Houston, TX, USA ATP World Tour 2003. In the round robin, Roger defeated Andre Agassi 6-7(3), 6-3, 7-6(7) a normal score for two players that are close in quality and game. Four or five days later in the final of the same tournament, Roger completely trashed Agassi 6-3, 6-0, 6-4 (best of five sets), that is when the 'Big Change' revealed itself ...re-enforced by the unexpected immediate sacking of his very successful Coach Peter Lundgreen (not to confuse with Peter Carter who had died a few months past in South Africa). Oh lá lá! The French would exclaim! Then and only then, after the 'Big change' did Roger Federer start to have 'fun' and become a true force to reckon with in tennis. That 'Big Change' lasted for 4 years from October 2003 to October 2007 until he fell ill with 'Mononucleosis'. In that four year period from a run of the mill good tennis player with talent, Federer became a demy-tennis-God and amassed an almost perfect (impossible) record by virtually winning almost every tournament he entered. One of the reasons he became such a force in tennis was that serve and volley players and attackers, who previously defeated and challenged Federer stiffly, disappeared from the ATP Tour and that is when Federer started to have 'fun' and not in 1998 to 2000! Coming to the end of this commentary, I conclude that the title is wrong! It should have been Tennis Serve and Volley Video Tapes and Lies! The premisse of Roger Federer's statement; 'It is fun playing that kind of a style once in a while, I kind of miss it, obviously.',
just does not make sense, I do not know any top tennis player that would have fun losing!
Roger Federer - Player Stats 1997-2000
Sergio Cruz
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