HOW FEDERER CRACKED THE NADAL CODE

RAFA NADAL had a 6-2 head to head advantage over Roger Federer in Grand Slam finals ahead of Sunday’s Australian Open summit clash and had not lost to his great rival in a Major final since Wimbledon 2007. Federer said he had planned the “play the ball, not the opponent” approach. This is how it worked.

Net gains

Federer approached the net 40 times during the match and won 29 of those points. Nadal had a better success percentage when he approached the net but moved forward only on 12 occasions and won 10 net points. In the first set, an aggressive Federer caught Nadal off guard, and when the Spaniard tried to counter-attack, the Swiss approached the net to cut down the angles.

Attacking mindset

Federer also gave Nadal little time to run around and hit that ripping forehand. Federer attacked from the baseline, often hitting the ball early and upsetting the rhythm of the Spaniard. His backhand was his most effective weapon and the cross-court version was at its potent best.

Costly but effective

In terms of unforced errors, Federer almost had double of Nadal’s — 57 to 28 but in terms of winner’s Federer was way ahead — 73 to 35.

King of aces

Federer also served well hitting as many as 20 aces and he also set-up his second match point with an ace. Nadal could come up with just four aces.