Roger Federer takes on Rafael Nadal in the
first semi-final of the Australian Open on January 26 in the evening session.
Nadal leads the rivalry 17-9. The manner in which Federer defeated Juan Martin Del
Potro shows that he is playing almost at his present best. Nadal, on the other
hand, struggled against Tomas Berdych.
There is little change in the game of the
two players, but Nadal is a bit slower than before. He commits more unforced
errors. His first serve was faster
in the U.S Open, 2010. His second serve has been slower than that of women’s
second seed Petra Kvitova. Federer too is much slower than in his prime years. The
balls come faster these days, which has led to his shanking the ball more. His
serve used to be his main weapon as well as his savior. He was very effective
in serving out the matches in his prime and also getting out of trouble with
good serves on break points. But in recent times, he has lost while serving for
the match. He did not serve exceptionally well against Del Potro in the last
match. His first serve percentage was well below the usual 65%. He served only
five aces in 14 service games. Nonetheless, his serve continues to baffle his
opponents.
The top spin forehand to Federer’s backhand
became so much of a stock shot that Nadal would instinctively play it as the
bread and butter shot. It has won him numerous points since though Federer has
figured out what he has to do to counter it, he has not been able to
execute it on consistent basis. In his previous rounds, Nadal has been seen
feeding short balls to the backhand of his opponents and many a time, these
have been smothered by the two fisted backhanders. However, the single fisted
Federer may not be able to do the same to these short balls with the result
that Nadal will be able to stay longer in the point. Nadal’s clay court type of
game is no longer a mystery to many players but it is still effective against
Federer.
Conversion of break points in not Nadal’s
forte. He also finds it difficult to serve out for the set or match. His decision
at times of receiving the serve after winning the toss can be seen in this
perspective too. Federer mostly likes to serve first and thereafter manages to
serve first in the subsequent sets.
Federer will score points from the forehand
corner of Nadal and Nadal will score points from the backhand of Federer. Federer
dictates the play and if he has to lose, it is often on an unforced error from
his racquet. He is making many more unforced errors since he wants to keep the
point short. Nadal should keep Federer away from tie break since serve plays an
important point there which makes Federer dominant in tie breaks. Federer is
comfortable with speed since he is able to utilise the speed of the opponent
effectively. He is not that comfortable with Nadal’s spin. His co-ordination
suffers with the excessive spin. He is more at ease with the flatter shots of players
like Del Potro. Federer can disturb the rhythm of players with heavy slice. He
can nullify their pace with the slice, but with Nadal, it is not that effective
since Nadal pulls up on the shots. On account of the extra spin, his return of
Federer’s slice does not go into the net. Federer plays a smart game and Nadal
plays a physical game. Federer tries to end the point in five - six shots, but
when somebody like Nadal hangs in there much longer and returns everything thrown at
him, Federer starts getting uncomfortable.
The rivalry is heavily loaded in favour of
Nadal, but Federer has the capacity to rise to the occasion and prove everybody
wrong.
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