Roger Federer breaks down tactics with the vintage wooden rackets
Roger Federer has never hidden his admiration for Rod Laver and the Swiss player's quotes during the 2018 Laver Cup proved it again. Federer was asked to describe Laver's game in one word. 'Just smooth,' replied the 20-time Grand Slam winner. 'With the wooden racket, you had to have a very simple technique, otherwise you wouldn’t get behind the ball. There were a lot of bad bounces, so of course you were going to come to the net. And he was a great athlete. He came to the net extremely quick. I serve and volley—I think Rod would come to the net faster because he had the perfect technique. After the serve, for the first few steps, to get that speed going to then finish within the service line on his first volley that’s something I admire. And then just understanding the geometry. Back in the day, it was different because you couldn’t hit flick shots as much as we hit them today, or as easy as we hit them today. And then there was a lot of lobbing going on, because that’s how you would stay in the point—you couldn’t just smash away every single the time.
Laver, too, regards Federer as a complete player. The Australian, who completed the Grand Slam twice, in 1962 and 1969, often attends the Swiss' matches.
ALSO READ: Rafael Nadal: Worse players than David Ferrer won a Grand Slam title
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2Etoy12
No comments