Miami 2011: Roger Federer’s Tactical Blunder

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: April 2, 2011

commentComment        

In what was quite possibly the most one-sided defeat since the 2008 French Open final, Federer had to fight hard in order to avoid embarrassment in the semifinal defeat to his great nemesis Nadal.

It seemed to me that in terms of what he was trying to employ as tactics was totally wrong and seemed to suffer from some kind of mental block. After the promising first service game he played, Federer seemed totally consigned to defeat. Employing quite frankly an unreasonable tactical game plan consisting of hitting the ball harder and harder, the more he started to loose. In this article, I'm going to look at some of the areas in which I think Federer failed to use the best tactics against Nadal.

First of all, let me say that Federer to me, despite the wonderful player he is to watch, has never been a great match player. Look at how many tight matches he has lost against Nadal and his five-set record is not something to be particularly proud of. He seems to crumble in the face of any serious resistance, and I think this is why he has a losing record against Nadal. Nadal's relentless baseline crawling and willingness to go toe-to-toe with Federer seems to interrupt his rhythm.

Mats Wilander once critized Federer heavily for having a lack of "heart and balls" when he lost his first French Open to Nadal. This has always mirrored what I thought about Roger. When it's 50-50, he lacks that bit of resistance and sternness that Nadal does in order to gain that extra  one percent in order to pull through.

A further reason is his point blank refusal to change tactics either during the match or between matches. Federer, for a while, seemed to be under the impression that he could go backhand to forehand with Nadal, when he finally decided to change it up and go up the line with his backhand in Rome, he had a five-set final and match points.

So, let's have a look at what went wrong for Federer tonight.

Serv...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

Latest News


Comments

Comments are closed.

Sponsors

Bruins Tickets The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

Red Wings Tickets The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League.

Penguins Tickets The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

New York Rangers Tickets play their home games at Madison Square Garden, they are one of the oldest teams in the NHL, having joined in 1926 as an expansion franchise, and are part of the group of teams referred to as the Original Six.

San Jose Sharks Tickets The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California, United States.

Toronto Maple Leafs Tickets The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

New Jersey Devils Tickets The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

Washington Capitals Tickets The Washington Capitals are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C.

Buffalo Sabres Tickets The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League. Get the Sabres and all of your NHL Tickets here.

NASCAR season is on of the most attended sports in the world. NASCAR Tickets to the best tracks is a must every year. Some of these tracks are: Talladega Tickets, Lowes Motor Speedway Tickets, Pocono Raceway Tickets, located in Ridgeway Virginia you have Martinsville Speedway Tickets and southern US you have two of the most popular Atlanta Motor Speedway Tickets and Texas Motor Speedway Tickets. Don't miss all the racing events this year!

Boston Red Sox Tickets The Boston Red Sox are a member of the Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Since 1912, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park. This is one of the hottest MLB Tickets sales of any team in the major league.

New York Yankees Tickets The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the borough of the Bronx, in New York City, New York and are a member of Major League Baseball's American League East Division. Get tickets to one of the hottest games of the season Yankees Red Sox Tickets.

Chicago Cubs Tickets The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League.

Phillies Tickets The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883.

Orioles Tickets The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland.

Do you love wrestling? Get your WWE Tickets and WWE Survivor Series Tickets today!