Roger Federer- ‘Backhand Was My Weakness’

Roger Federer is often called as a complete player, with an all-round artillery ranging from devastating forehands, pinpoint serving and split second volleys. However, he has often been criticized for not being too comfortable in his backhand wing. A flaw that most of the players have always taken advantage of, more often that not that player being Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard almost always in his match-ups against Federer, looked to break down the Federer backhand.

“Of course, you have better and worse days. The backhand has always been an interesting shot for me. It was my weakness coming onto the tour”, said Federer. “All the players played against it. It improved over time”, he added.

Federer, often opts to thrown in vicious slices, rather than hitting a regular topspin backhand. A tactic, for which he has paid heavily throughout his career. The slice, while a good option in defensive circumstances, is hardly of any use when it comes to being aggressive. Federer, created ripples in the tennis world, when he returned from an injury hiatus to defeat Rafael Nadal in the finals of the Australian Open.

The backhand, that had always been the downfall for Federer, suddenly turned into his major weapon in the past couple of years. ‘I think definitely I’ve got a more powerful backhand overall‘, said the Swiss Maestro.‘I think I can generate more power. I’ve always been feeling comfortable to hit passing shots off the backhand. But I definitely used the slice more with my old racquet, eight years ago. Especially on the return now, because the racquet head size is bigger, I feel like it’s easier for me to come over the backhand.”

The Swiss maestro has often changed his racquets and strings to improve his game. The bigger frame improved his accuracy with the backhand as well as his volleys. Roger also pays important attention to the paint and the strings that the racquets come with. Read about it here : Roger Federer-‘Many are playing with a hybrid-string’