Perfect Wimbledon boost for Roger
IN TOP FORM Swiss great, who is wielding SABR with devastating effect, wins at Halle and will be favourite at SW19
What started as a bit of fun may just have led to a masterstroke.
It was the summer of 2015 when, on the suggestion of his coach, Severin Luthi, Federer unleashed the SABR, the “Sneak Attack By Roger”.
Charging forward as his opponent tossed the ball, Federer would return serve on the halfvolley, rushing the server.
The tactic gave Federer an extra dimension and put doubt into the mind of his opponents, who were never sure if and when he would try it.
But it seems that the SABR may have also been the catalyst for the improvement in Federer’s backhand that was so instrumental in helping him to Australian Open victory at the start of this year, and looks set to spearhead his assault on Wimbledon.
Federer will head into Wimbledon, which starts on July 3, as favourite to win an outright record eighth title and surpass the mark of seven he currently shares with Pete Sampras.
The Swiss great thrashed Alexander Zverev to win his ninth Halle title on Sunday and admitted he’s feeling fresh ahead of his assault on an eighth Wimbledon crown.
At 35, after six months out following knee surgery, Federer stunned the tennis world with his victory in Melbourne, but it was the way he attacked his backhand, especially in the final against Rafael Nadal, that was such a revelation.
“Roger did something unbelievable and I believe that it is true that his backhand is great now,” Nadal told a small group of reporters last month in Monte Carlo. “But in my opinion his return is one of the biggest improvements.”
Craig O’Shannessy, the analyst for the ATP Tour, believes shortening his backswing to play the SABR helped take Federer’s backhand — and his backhand return — to another level.
“With the SABR it was the halfvolley and insanely short in the stroke whereas on (the regular) return, he’s letting it come at him but it’s essentially a similar, very short blocking rebounding stroke,” O’Shannessy told Reuters.
“The size of the backswing gets Roger in trouble. Now he’s removed that size, it hasn’t taken anything away from the speed, he’s still accelerating into contact really well and he’s taking the ball a little earlier so he actually has more speed to work with, taking it early with that ball coming out of the court.”