It's spring 2007 and things don't look any better for Roger Federer when he steps onto a clay court and looks at the imposing figure of his nemesis Rafa Nadal.
In fact, things look worse.
Yesterday, in the finals of the 2007 Monte Carlo tournament, Federer got smoked like a pig on a fourth of July roast.
Fed just can't handle the Nadal topsoin forehand to his backhand. He's tried of course. He's tried a stragey of slicing his backhand. Didn't work. He's tried trading topspin backhands with Nadal -- doesn't work.
If I were to receive a telephone call late one night from somewhere in Switzerland and a certain R.F were to ask what Roger Federer could do on clay agsainst Nadal -- I might offer the following advice. And, if this Monsieur R.F. said he was a close personal friend of Rog and asked me to tape a little message for the Great One, this is what I might say:
Rog,
Dude, as much as I admire your greatness, you just don't match up well with Nadal. If you both play percentage tennis, he smokes you everytime. His forehand just beats you up brutally on your backhand side and you can't afford to play percentage tennis against him.
And, I know for someone as great as you are, it's hard to accept that there's another player out there who has your number. But, it's true and the sooner you accept it, the better your chances of beating Nadal.
Right now you're playing to keep matches close. You've got to accept that to beat Nadal you're going to have play riskier tennis and escape your comfort zone.
You might get smoked 0 and 1, but this is the risk you're going to have to take if you ever want to beat him on clay.
The first thing you're going to have to do is position yourself more in your backhand corner. You have to run around every backhand you can. Get it through your head -- Rog -- you can't beat Nadal on clay if you have to hit a lot of backhands.
Now, of course, you're going to say, but wait --he'll kill me with his inside out forehand. He might, but this is the risk you have to take. Anyway, every time he hits an inside out forehand, he's hitting to your forehand and this is exactly what you want. In fact, it's your only chance. You must force him to hit to your forehand and then you must go for every forehand. Win or lose the point -- and keep the points short.
Rog, I'm getting tired but I'll have nore to say to you in the next few weeks. After all, the French Open is a month away and you've got to get out to the court right away to start practicing running around every backhand.
Glenn Sheiner M.D. - author of Insider Tennis Strategies A Tennis Ebook All About Tennis Strategy guaranteed to make you a smarter tennis player and take your tennis to the next level.
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