Roger Federer's clay conundrum

It’s that time of the year again when the tennis world is painted red for a couple of months and players tough it out in the hot European sun on the unforgiving red dirt. Unlike other surfaces, clay has never been, traditionally speaking, a happy hunting ground for big shot makers. It’s more a game of patience and constructing points steadily, pushing your opponents back with heavy spin and waiting for the error to come. That is a strategy that has been used to great advantage by the great Rafael Nadal for many years now and off late has been adopted by many others who have found good success on this surface. David Ferrer and the current World No. 1 Novak Djokovic have enjoyed great success with hard work and consistency. This is not to say that big hitters have not been able to make their mark at all. Players like Delpo, Verdasco and Almagro have had their share of triumphs. The general direction in which tennis is going these days is accentuated by the low bouncing slow clay surfaces. It’s a more a test of concentration and stamina than anything else.

Roger Federer has always found it hard to claim glory on this surface. He has openly said that he is himself surprised with the limited success that he has had on clay courts considering he grew up playing on them. Notwithstanding the roadblock that Nadal has been, Federer’s performances over the years have been inconsistent on clay as compared to his record on other surfaces.

Technically speaking, it is not very difficult to see why. His swift, aggressive style of play, with the idea of finishing points quickly is not quite suited for clay. Well, to be fair to the man, he has enough experience and skill to adapt his game according to the conditions and he has done that a lot. But at the end of the day, it becomes very difficult for him to completely let go of the style that he is so used to and has made him the champion that he is. Frankly speaking, he has never been too much for defending. He likes to dictate points, carefully construct them and then deliver the knock-out punch when he thinks fit. That has always been his game plan. And that has worked for him. Once upon a time, he was young and shots flew off his racquet with effortless perfection, kissing the lines and leaving the opponent gasping in disbelief. Nadal has however managed to humble the champion on many occasions on clay, even during his heydays.

Roland Garros remained a unachieved dream for the master until one Robin Soderling shocked the world by handing Rafa his only loss till date at the French Open. The fact that he did it with fearless hitting from the back of the court to which Nadal had no answer was all the more interesting. How much Nadal’s failing knees had to do with that epic defeat is up for debate, but it did open the doors for the master to complete his Career Grand Slam. Only the previous year, he had been thrashed in front of the crowd at the Philippe Chatrier in straight sets by Nadal. That was not a contest in all fairness. This was followed by the losses at Wimbledon and the Australian Open the next year. He started his clay campaign in 2009 with a win in Madrid against familiar foe Nadal in the finals. But the way he beat the odds to win the French open that year and then followed it up with the record breaking victory over Andy Roddick at Wimbledon firmly established that he was far from being over.

Jump to 2011:

Novak Djokovic was having the time of his life. His record was 43-0 when he faced Federer at the semifinals of the French Open. After ending Nole’s streak as he wagged his right index finger suggestively, the message was clear to the tennis world. His game was still good enough to beat the best. Sadly, he squandered the initial advantage to Nadal in the finals, losing to him again in four sets.

A year ago:

His form was lacklustre to say the least even after winning in Madrid on a relatively faster blue surface. He lost to Nole after coming back from a break down in the second set in the tie breaker at Rome. After fighting through the initial rounds at Roland Garros, he met the heavy hitting Delpo in the quarter finals where he absolutely got blown off the court in the first two sets. He somehow managed to take advantage of a depleted Delpo from third set onwards to finally win it in five. But the inevitable happened at the semis. Although both players played considerably below par in that match, Djokovic managed to strengthen his grip gradually as Federer fumbled and floundered his way to a straight sets defeat after having an early advantage in each of the first two sets. The loss in itself was not as worrying as much as the way it was inflicted. The sheer exasperation was dreadful to watch.

2013 – the way ahead:

Federer has not reached a tournament final this year. His game has not exactly been sans the flair that we are used to seeing, but it’s been on sporadic display. He has not been able to hold the level of play for long periods of time and that has meant no titles this far. A lot is at stake at Madrid, a tournament which he won last year. He’s barely hanging in there with the rankings as Andy Murray closes behind him. The change back to the red clay put aside, Federer actually has to come up with a definite strategy which allows him to stay with his opponents. His legs are not getting any younger and the courts are getting slower and lower. So, the odds remain heavily stacked against him.

According to me, there are two things that he can do – go out all guns blazing and hit his shots with a certain level of accuracy intact. As long as he can maintain a 1:1 of winners/unforced errors with a decent first serve percentage, he will do well. Or he could go for a more defensive approach, hit more top spin; look to keep the ball in court and mix it up with drop shots and sliced returns. Personally, I would love to see him take the former route, just because he looks so much better when he is playing that way and the fact that it’s his natural style of play, but it’s a decision he has to make. From past experiences, I think there cannot be any half measures from him. To mix and match the two styles of play has not done him a lot of good in the past. So it has to be one or the other. And once he does pick one, he has to put in his all and hope for the best. He still has the class and definitely the game. It’s the application of the ability that matters.

And yes, he has to dig deep to get back some of the old unshakable concentration during matches that he was known for. This would ensure that he doesn’t squander away any advantage and finishes of matches as clinically as he once used to do. The writing on the wall for Roger Federer very clearly is – “Play hard or go home”. Has he taken notice yet? We’ll find out soon enough.