5 most underrated Roger Federer performances

#3. Roger Federer d. Novak Djokovic 7-6(1) 6-3 in

2015 Cincinnati Final

Roger Federer turned back the clock at 2015 Western & Southern Open

With sublime performances far and few, Roger Federer had spent around 3 years in the shadow of his younger, fitter opponents in Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal after his 2010 AO triumph. He had some well-earned victories in between, like the 2015 Dubai SF vs Djokovic or the 2012 Indian Wells SF vs Nadal (which is the next entry in this list!).

One of his wins vs Novak Djokovic in 2015 warranted a mention here, and it is their clash in the 2015 Cincinnati final that deserves a mention the most, as Roger Federer played seamlessly on both serve & return that day. The 1st set was pushed to a tiebreaker as Djokovic somehow managed to hang in with Federer, but it is from here that the Fed Express truly took off.

Facing a tight 1st serve from Djokovic, Federer showed real courage as he SABR-ed the ball from almost the service box. Djokovic was taken by surprise with this tactic r and could not do much in return, as the Swiss ultimately ended the ensuing exchange with a smash winner.

With the Serb visibly shaken, it would just be the start Roger Federer subjugating Djokovic's serve all match long; returning every serve with interest as the Fed Express haunted his opponent with deep returns off his wide serve, a serve that Djokovic has used to great success in his career.

On the serve, the Swiss Maestro was even more matchless, never really giving the World No.1 a crack. Roger Federer won around 85% of his service points when he went for the T, in what happens to be a stat depicting his ruthless accuracy on serve. In the end, Djokovic would gain zero break points on the Federer serve as the Fed Express took everyone back the good ol' days.

#2. Roger Federer d. Rafael Nadal 6-3 6-4 in

2012 Indian Wells semifinal

Roger Federer gave no quarter to Nadal in their 2012 Indian Wells SF

If Roger Federer were to have any regrets in his illustrious career spanning more than two decades, it would be the lack of teeth in his game in big matches vs his arch-rival Rafael Nadal. Having met in 9 Grand Slam finals and 12 ATP Tour Masters 1000 finals, the Swiss was inferior to the Spaniard for a large portion of their meetings.

In the 2012 Indian Wells tournament, Roger Federer had regained his confidence after losing to Nadal in a close 2012 Australian Open semifinal, having won the Rotterdam and Dubai Open.

Nadal was himself playing some fine hardcourt tennis, and the winner would meet the best-in-the-world Djokovic in the final. With stakes as high as ever, Federer showed a welcome change in his tactics as he successfully weathered the top-spin onslaught from the World No.2 on a windy day.

Usually, Nadal traps his right-handed opponent in the corner with his cross-court forehands, looping high balls to the opponent's backhand until the stroke breaks down enough to give the Matador an edge in the rally.

Having used this tactic to great reward vs Federer previously, the Swiss changed his tactics heading into the match to avoid giving Nadal the advantage so easily. Federer hit a high amount of balls to the mid-court with enough depth, not allowing Nadal to create spaces to exploit.

And when Nadal tried to steer a cross-court angle to get a tenable advantage in the rally, Roger Federer would return the favour with another BH in the middle or BH DTL - letting Nadal know that he was ready to go all the twelve rounds with him. Eventually, Nadal's forehand to Federer's backhand started having less effect as Federer won about half of the points in which he was made to play a BH DTL.

With his backhand niggles solved coupled with a searing forehand, Roger Federer eventually prevailed over Nadal in his 1st victory over the Spaniard at a big knockout event since 2009 Madrid.

#1. Roger Federer d. James Blake 6-0 6-3 6-4 in

2006 Tennis Masters Cup Final

Roger Federer ended his 2006 season with a record-breaking 92-5 W-L tally

All of the matches mentioned above had Roger Federer a little off his game. The ones who have seen the Fed Express in its prime would know how the Federer of old would obliterate an opponent 6-0 in under a half an hour, or would totally take apart players who were having the runs of their lives.

At the 2006 Tennis Masters Cup, James Blake met the aforementioned fate. Playing at a career-best level, the American had comprehensively beaten Federer's biggest rivals Nadal and David Nalbandian en route to the final. Expected to be quite the match after Nalbandian had put on an inspiring display of tennis against the Swiss in the previous year's final, Roger Federer would not blink twice in as many finals and never let Blake have even a miniscule chance of winning.

Federer started the match at his scintillating best, destroying the American in the 1st set. Blake would manage to put on a fight in the consequent sets, but not that much of a fight as the Swiss hammered down an ace 21% of the times in the 2nd set.

The biggest highlight of Roger Federer's performance, however, was his backhand in what was an infallible display of groundstrokes. The Swiss would put on a clinical array of backhands, swatting inside-out winners at will as the American was left frustrated.

With his game already clearly at its peak, Blake was left confused and red-faced at the fury he was facing from the Swiss' backhand side. The American would then start hitting at Federer's forehand wing more and more, even managing to break the Fed Express in one of the games.

But that would turn out the last chance Blake had at making the score look respectable, if he had any, as Roger Federer would hold his own in the cross-court forehand rallies to minimize the little edge his challenger had over him.