Federer on Spanish School of Tennis

This is the first time that I can recall such commentary from the Old Man.

Q. Now for sure we know you're playing Bautista next round. Your thoughts about him?

ROGER FEDERER: Never played him. I think he's done extremely well. Didn't he win three different tournaments on three different surfaces this year? He's quick on his feet. He doesn't miss much. He's consistent. He's got a pretty good first serve. He's overall a solid player. I would assume he's fit, too, because he comes from the Spanish tennis school, which they just know how to train hard. They never get tired. They're always ready to go. They have a good mental approach, point-for-point mentality. Then again, he's not the typical Spaniard with a lot of topspin. I mean, he plays unbelievably flat actually, which is very surprising for a Spaniard. But I'm looking forward to the match. Like I said, never played him.


Q. After the rain delay there were some moments in that match where you were moving at a very high level. When you analyze your longevity, your 60th major, your movement, how those things tie together...

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, it's been good for a while now. I think especially now it's been really excellent the last three matches here at the US Open. I feel very explosive, quick. Like you say, the coordination is there, as well. I feel like I've gotten used to the hard courts by now. It's really working well. I'm very pleased. Today conditions were much more humid so you could feel a little flat out there, but that wasn't the case. I was able to power through that. Yeah, I mean, I'm happy I wake up every day and I'm ready to go. It's also great to see Robredo fit like a fiddle at the end last night. I thought that was impressive, too. He's my age, too. I think when you keep yourself in shape and train the right way, that's how you do it. Then actually it's not such a surprise for yourself. But I'm clearly happy about it because it's become a game of movement. If you don't move very well you can't dig out a few shots. It's just not going to work out in the long run.


PS:

On Paganini...

Q. On CBS John McEnroe said that Paganini deserves a medal for getting you through 60 Grand Slams. Do you agree with him? How much has it helped to have one man that has been with you through all that time getting you ready physically?

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I mean, he's not in the limelight. He doesn't show up much at tournaments, only from time to time. So the hard work gets done away from the tennis tournaments really. There's only so much you can do during. There's a lot of maintenance going on. We've worked together for a long time. We really got to know each other from 14 to 16, then not 16 to 19 because he left the Federation. Then I started with him again I think at 19 or 20 years old until now. He's been a great man in my corner. Yeah, I mean, clearly we've worked unbelievably hard and I think in the right way, as well, to keep me injury-free. The great thing with him is we have always very open talks about anything. Especially with him and Severin and my wife. Basically we can talk about a one-year schedule within about 20 minutes so we can all get it done very quickly because we know each other so well. We know what we want to achieve. We know how much I need to train to achieve certain things. I think last year was particularly challenging for both of us with the back problems I had. Where do we go now? Are we allowed? What can we do? I think we were all training with the hand brake on and it wasn't very enjoyable. He would always ask me, How does this feel? Is this dangerous for you? We just felt this was not the way to go, so we had to figure things out. I'm happy we did so. And the record continues, so I'm very happy about it.

http://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/interviews/2014-08-31/201409011409544359906.html

Definitely applies to Robredo, fitter than Monfils imo.

So Spanish school is a bit dodgy and suspicious...

LF, you picked up on it too?  I also noticed the same as I was watching the interview last night.  I was not sure whether it was just me or whether it was indeed slightly different from the way he normally says things.

On the face of it, the comments are fairly bland praise of Spanish tennis. Are you saying the interviews themselves hinted at a slightly darker meaning?

laverfan. I'm not sure what sort of mischief you were attempting to cause with this article but it sounds to me that the Spanish tennis schools are very similar to the Swiss. Both produce players who train hard and in the right way, keep themselves incredibly fit and use topspin for control. Nadals average forehand has 3,200rpm and Federer's averages 2,700rpm. Many overestimate Nadal's topspin and underestimate Federer's. The truth is Federer puts quite a bit of spin on his forehand compared with other players

http://www.fawcette.net/2012/02/federer-hits-with-more-spin-than-nadal-.html

I certainly don't see anything critical in what Federer said

Praise indeed, but suggesting a group of players en-masse 'never get tired' particularly when you're looking at a nation with a chequered (that's actually a bit too positive a word) history in terms of doping (particularly in regards to methods that improve endurance) is perhaps a touch naughty.

He knows what the score is, and he's probably just having a little bit of fun.

hawkeye wrote:laverfan. I'm not sure what sort of mischief you were attempting to cause with this article

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I certainly don't see anything critical in what Federer said

Don't see anything critical myself either.

And nor - would it seem - does laverfan, who merely quoted the article for others to read & digest, but without adding any personal judgement one way or the other.

Federer is not afraid to say what he thinks if/when he does have a point to make, but I doubt there's any sinister message here.

hawkeye ...I wonder what exactly causes you to suppose that laverfan might have intended to cause some "sort of mischief"   ......

You don't believe Forum members actually post articles purely with that motive ...? Surely not ....??

lags72 wrote:hawkeye ...I wonder what exactly causes you to suppose that laverfan might have intended to cause some "sort of mischief"   ......

In this case I think you are a touch unfair to HE.  What Fed said could quite possibly be entirely innocent but it is worded in a way that does allow room for interpretation and it seems pretty obvious from the way LF quoted it she was inviting discussion on just that.

Fair play to HE for calling it "mischief"; it is not like "mischief" is exactly derogatory either.

Well ok, I hear what you say summerblues.

However .....the fact remains, these are all Federer's words - NOT laverfan's

If someone puts a newspaper article in front of me, BUT with no more than "here, you might be interested in this ....." and I happen not to like what I read, I think it would make sense to reserve any disapproval/criticism for the journo or interviewee, rather than the messenger.

If, on the other hand, the messenger developed a certain penchant for constantly quoting articles about a particular player ..........

Sure, and I know it is cheeky from HE to call other posters for "mischief", I am just saying that in this particular case she does have a point.


...but if the person that put that article in front of you also added:

"This is the first time that I can recall such commentary from the Old Man" and underlined some of the words in the article for you, you would perhaps view it differently

Fair enough sb.

Score-draw, I say ....

Edit : would just add, regardless of any intention (or not as the case may be) on laverfan's part, I still don't believe there's any dark message from Fed. Come across as just honest praise to me - something which he seems much more ready to offer in his old age.

@HE... there was no mischief intended. I picked up on it, as did SB, without any innuendo. The underlined parts indicate what I think Federer otherwise never uses for a collective group of players. He will typically praise his opponent and he did praise Granollers (lydian's favorite "agrarian").

He also admitted that the rain break helped him. In the remainder of the match, he sliced his way to win.

Despite not having played BA, he is very aware of players that he plays against "three-titles-on-three-surfaces" was almost like the Brain Games' Craig O'Shannessy' statistical analytics.

@DjLovesYou ... the 'never tired' remark had enough room to go either as praise or suspicion. My observation was related to the collective training on Clay, nothing more. Paganini, like Furcado, is not given enough credit, IMO.