12-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic’s strategy coach Craig O’Shannessy has decoded the secret behind former World No. 1 Roger Federer’s unbeaten run against his arch-rival Rafael Nadal in 2017.
Craig O’Shannessy – an expert in strategic analysis is the latest member of a new look Team Djokovic comprising former top-10 player Radek Stepanek as head coach and 8-time Major winner Andre Agassi as super coach. The Australian’s video analysis has already transformed the careers of lesser known players, Kevin Anderson and Dustin Brown, masterminding the South African’s run to the 2017 US Open final and Brown’s upset win over Nadal at Wimbledon in 2015.
And after beginning his association with Djokovic in the autumn of 2017, O’Shannessy will try to provide additional inputs to improve Djokovic’s game in tandem with the on-court guidance the Serbian will receive from Stepanek and Agassi.
O’Shannessy told Metro that he wasn’t sure if Federer worked on improving his backhand during the off season in 2016, but one thing was certain, that the Swiss legend willfully changed his tactics against Nadal to get the desired results this season.
“I don’t know whether he used that time off to improve his backhand – I think it was always there, he was just never committed to it,” he said.
“Especially, on the return of serve. Rafa was always, always pounding to Roger’s backhand return and Roger sliced his backhand return. It worked great against other opponents where he could slice it and then neutralise the point, get into a baseline rally and then look to run around his backhand.”
He added: “Whereas if he slices against Nadal, Nadal will really keep him under the cosh and never let him get ahead in the point. So that situation is one of those deals that everything worked against every other player didn’t work against this one. That’s why Rafa kept pummelling him.”
“He finally had commitment to come over and block the return and it had multiple benefits. It took that time away, it shortened the point. I think in that situation it was just about stepping onto the court and committing to it. And he’s finally done that and been unstoppable.”
