Former Great Britain No.1 Greg Rusedski believes that Rafael Nadal cannot beat Roger Federer with the tactics the Swiss is currently employing.
The Federer-Nadal head-to-head currently stands at 23-15 in favour of the World No.1 Nadal. However, Federer has won the last five meetings including the last three in straight sets.
Former US Open finalist Rusedski gave an example of a player he felt capable of beating Federer: “How do you beat Roger Federer? You have to have some huge weapons like Del Potro.”
Del Potro defeated Federer in four sets in the US Open quarter-finals before taking a set from the Swiss in a closely contested Shanghai semi-final last week.
Rusedski believes it is something in Federer’s new approach that means certain players could find more success against the World No.2: “You have to be able to serve huge and you have to have something that makes a hole through Roger’s movement and not allow him to take the ball that early.”
Rusedski also identified another player who could cause Federer problems: “That’s why he’s a little bit scared of that sort of player. There are two guys on tour that can do that to Roger – Stan Wawrinka and Juan Martin del Potro.”
Nadal may be the World No.1, but the recent record in the Federer-Nadal rivalry suggests that that could be changed in the near future.
