Roger Federer eases past Kevin Anderson to book his semi spot in Miami
Two semifinalists Roger Federer and John Isner are the oldest left in the draw, at ages 37 and 33. Their opponents are part of the NextGen trying to break down the barrier to ATP titles, Felix Auger Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov, both Canadians. Federer talked about the challenges of facing younger and younger challengers on the Tour.
“I mean, it doesn't feel that different to when I played Rafa, you know, when he was super young, or anybody. Any teenager you play, once I think you're 23, feels different to playing anybody else, because you know they come out there and they might not know all the plays down to the T yet, but, you know, they don't have to, because they just free-swing sometimes, and that makes it particularly dangerous.
“Yeah, I have always enjoyed playing against teenagers. I think it's very exciting, you know, because of that… It's an exciting draw, I think, for John and for myself here, playing these young guys. They are not just young, but they are very good, as well. They are nice guys. It should be hopefully a good semifinals.”
Roger Federer thrilled the audience with exciting net play during his match against Kevin Anderson, beating him in straight sets, 6-0, 6-4. The Swiss was asked about whose shot making he admired.
“Yeah, for me, Pete [Sampras], great shot making. I guess guys who came to the net, for me, always did the trick. And to some extent also, you know, maybe [Lleyton] Hewitt and [Andre] Agassi, just Agassi's sheer domination from the baseline, able to take the ball on half-volleying, all that stuff, we didn't know that quite yet. And Hewitt's defensive skills, that he was able to pull off defensive shots like we almost haven't seen before.
“Yeah, that's what I remember.”
More of the younger players are adopting a one-handed backhand, inspired by Roger Federer, who helped the vintage stroke make a comeback. He faces one such player, the young Canadian sensation Denis Shapovalov, who is also left-handed, like Nadal. Federer was asked about his thoughts on Shapo’s style of play. The tennis legend hit with Shapo when he was even younger, and was impressed even then. Fed said that he will pose a challenge against him, and that he’s a fan of his game.
“All I have is half an hour of practice tomorrow to get ready for that lefty. So the change is a big one, you know. I have done it many times before. So no problem there.
“When you're younger and you're facing a lefty, it's always super annoying, because maybe you're still, you know, lacking strength, you know, with the one-handed backhand. Especially when you're 12, 14, 16, it's just a challenge. And then later on you start figuring it out, and things become more simple and you have different weapons to make it also complicated for them. It goes like that.
“Yeah, I mean, look, I practiced with Denis way back when when he was -- I remember Edberg was with me on the court and I was warming up. Maybe -- I think he warmed me up for a match in Toronto, I believe, and he came out. He might have been 16, 17, and, you know, similar to today, he was just hitting big. I was, like, Wow, it's unbelievable. How old is he? How good is he gonna get? I don't know. But he was very impressive. Same with the serve. He has that beautiful swinger going. You know, it just felt like he belonged there.
“Then I watched him play Tsitsipas in the Junior Wimbledon, semis or finals, I don't remember what it was. But it was during my Wimbledon run too. I don't remember. It was one of those matches where Tsitsipas should have won it, but both great onehanded backhand already, and, you know, I remember Denis was just going for broke, basically. The more important it became, the bigger he went.
“It's nice to see that with Stefanos and Denis and that one-handed backhands will be around, because these guys will be very good many, many years from now. And I'm very excited playing against Denis, because I think he's a great guy, and he's one of the great shot makers. I still remember watching his game in Montreal, I believe it was, against Rafa when he crushed forehand down-the-line winner after forehand down-the-line winner. It was unbelievable. Yeah, big fan of his game, so it's going to be tough tomorrow.”
The Miami Open men’s’ semifinals will take place on Friday.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2YyTwf2
No comments