Roger Federer raised one of the most intriguing questions in the world of tennis on Monday. If so many rising stars are praising him, then why don’t they play like him?
The age-defying Swiss maestro recently clinched a record eighth Wimbledon title with a straight sets win over Marin Cilic. Federer’s triumph underlines what has been a remarkable return to the tour after a six-month hiatus due to injury. In the ATP Race To London he is second behind Rafael Nadal, but has played less tournaments than anybody currently in the top-100. Just one example of Federer’s brilliance in the sport.
One common feature of Federer’s game is the serve and volley. It is an approach that is starting to fade out as more players focus on playing aggressively from the baseline. Yet the 35-year-old continues to question why his younger rivals don’t use it more.
“I have played almost every player here [and they] wouldn’t serve and volley,” said Federer. “It’s frightening to me, to see this at this level. I look at the stats and go into whatever round it is and see that the guy I’m going to face is playing two per cent of serve and volley throughout the championship.
“I’m going, ‘Okay, I know he’s not going to serve and volley,’ which is great. We are talking about grass, and it was playing fast this week, and I wish that we would see more coaches, more players taking chances up at net.”
The evidence is there to support Federer’s call. Earlier in the year Mischa Zverev defeated Andy Murray in four sets at the Australian Open. During that match, the German served and volleyed 119 times. According to atpworldtour.com, Pete Sampras served and volleyed in 81% of his service points during the entire 1997 Wimbledon Championships, which he won.
Nursing a rare hangover after partying until 5am following his Wimbledon victory, Federer is eager for a resurrection of the serve and volley. Eespecially amongst the Nextgen group. Currently there is only one player under the age of 21 in the top 30. Alexander Zverev is ranked 11th.
“A slugfest from the baseline with Andy Murray, Niko Djokovic or Rafa? Good luck if you are 50th in the world. The young guys could choose not to play that way, but you can be sucked into a mode where you don’t want to attack.” The 19-tie major champion explained.
“Since mine and Rafa’s generation the next one hasn’t been strong enough to push all of us out really. So that’s helpful for us to be able to keep hanging around.”
Grand slam title No.20?
Apart from handing out advice to the players who may one day replace his place in the sport when he retires, Federer is keeping cool about his own plans. With two grand slam titles under his belt this season, he is a strong contender for the US Open. If he was to triumph and win his 20th major title, it will be the first time that has has won three majors within a season since 2007
“The target now is to enjoy being Wimbledon champion,” he said. “I haven’t set a sight on a number of Grand Slams; I was very content at 17, that was a wonderful number. So was 18, and now 19 is great.
“I think now it’s about enjoying myself, staying healthy and playing for titles.”
Now at third in the world, the No.1 position is also within sight. Unlike his rivals, Federer has no ranking points to defend for the rest of the year. He has already spent a record 302 weeks in the top spot, but the last time was in October 2012.
“I think it’s going to be a three- or four-way race,” Federer told the BBC on Monday. “Or maybe a two-way race with me and Rafa at some stage, when Andy is going to drop his world No 1 ranking. But if all of a sudden Andy starts winning again, we also have to win again. But at some stage if he starts dropping points, we’ll just get there.”
This week Federer is 1205 points adrift from world No.1 Murray.
Emirates #ATP Rankings points to defend through Dec. 31:
A. Murray: 5,460
N. Djokovic: 3,740
S. Wawrinka: 2,990
R. Nadal: 370
R. Federer: 0 https://t.co/AWNtiU1MQk— ATP Media Info (@ATPMediaInfo) 16 July 2017
