'That risk and creativity reassure Roger Federer', says ATP ace

In recent weeks, Roger Federer has posted a photo on his social media that immortalizes him hitting a shoot on a field in Switzerland, surrounded by the colors of autumn that are beginning to invade the landscape. The photo is bouncing on all social media, because we haven't seen the Swiss on the pitch for a really long time and because, let's face it, we lacked that movement in the Federer service. "Back to work", "back to work" writes in the caption below the post. Gilles Simon believes that while Roger Federer is exceptional, aspiring players shouldn't try to emulate his style of play. According to the Frenchman, youngsters would be better off learning to be more conservative in pressure situations.

Simon on Roger Federer

In a recent interview, the Frenchman talked about both Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in context of the word 'warrior', and how the two cannot be compared through the metric of this quality. Gilles Simon thinks Roger Federer is not the best player to emulate while trying to learn the game, because his style is heavily tailored to his own unique skills. “In terms of training, he (Federer) is a counterexample,” Simon said. The Frenchman explained that Federer’s propensity to attack in pressure situations can't work for a majority of players, who would be better off being more conservative. “In times of high tension he will become ultra-offensive,” Simon continued. “Normally, under tension, a majority of players will do things that are simple, reassuring, less brilliant but effective. Conversely, a minority will take ill-considered risks to give themselves the right to fail." The former World No.1 faced a similar situation in 2016 when he was forced to withdraw from the tour midway. When he got back on tour the following year, he enjoyed great success as he won the Australian Open and the Wimbledon Championships. However, things might not always work out in the same fashion as they did previously. Roger’s gotten older and all these years of playing tennis would’ve taken its toll on him. Taking note of this, Paul-Henri Mathieu said, “Honestly for him, I find it hard to believe that is an advantage. We don’t know how he will recover. In all fairness, I think he himself, deep down, doesn’t know. When you stop for a long time, especially at that age, you don’t know how you’re going to feel when you go back to it.” 

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3qg4tAb