This is why federer is the best. Even when the opponent is having a super human day, his range allowes him multiple options to find a way to win. Contrast with say Rosol vs Nadal or Wawrinka vs djokovic - Although by far the most athletic players to ever play tennis, their uni dimensional game gives them a hard time when the opponent is on a rampage
@angryniggah Exacty - On a fast speedy surface like grass, when your opponent is having an especially good day, its much more difficult for nadal/djokovic to overcome them. Its not like they havent - they are them after all. Most of the matches ,especially in the recent years have been played on much slower surfaces, including slowed grass allowing nadal/djok to counter anything with their inhuman athletic prowess and stability. My point is that Federer has much more variety and tools to disrupt an opponents rhythm on any surface than the usually one trick ponies nadal djock are. And I do not mean any disrespect here - that one trick has them at 21 and 20 gs so far and will likely win them more
It isn't news, federer always had the best match-up against the field. There are many stats out there to indicate this, in particular how many bagels and breadsticks he's been served vs rafa and novak. People who don't get that or bring up the random few times Roger has had a questionable loss are ignorant af.
i picked up from Federer that no matter how well Andreev played he was still going to be unconcerned. the better Andreev played (he DID play well), the more interesting it was for Fed, in fact. Andreev playing well kept the match from being too boring and helped him get ready for the next round. that is the confidence of the supremely talented and there is no shame for Andreev or anyone else losing to a player like that.
2weakkickflip its a glorious shot, but what I hate is that Andreev grunts when he hits that slice in that rally, like really? So glad fed bagelled the twat in the last set.
I was just responding to a best forehands video and I was reminded of Andreev. He gets crazy spin and whip on the ball. Him and Gonzo were the best in my opinion
andreev played well, but in the style he plays, i get the feeling that he would have to win the first 3 sets to win. You can see how his energy just slowly but surely depletes after each set, and for some points even though Federer loses, he still manages to make andreev run quite a bit.
The way Andreev hits his topspin forehand is much more likely to result in immediate injury- at least in elbow and shoulder followed by head. It looks so stiff. Nadal's shot has more penetration and power simply because it's more linear and fluid. Even though Andreev plays a somewhat similar game to Rafa, the difference is more likely in the pain threshold and mentality. Rafa is more or less somewhat a masochist compared to this guy.
Andreev hits with a heavy top spin indeed, but less than Nadal. He's forehand is geared more towards penetration. In that aspect, he's shots go deeper than Nadal's do, with less spin.
Andreev was sort of a mini Nadal...but to keep this up physically...it's incredibelly difficult with the grip he uses...that's why he got bageled at the end
interesting to see Regers style change in the last 9 years even though he has also aged another 8 years, I feel he is stronger, faster and calmer now, his forehand flatter, deeper and harder, the same almost with his slice backhand
Andreev's game is def. similar to Nadal's. I guess growing up playing in Spain on the red clay will do that to a player, lol. In all seriousness though, he is definitely an underachiever. I mean, you don't expect for him to beat Federer and Nadal on a regular basis, but he chokes so often against lower ranked players! He often plays three sets in best of three sets and finds ways to choke. It's like he has to win in 2 in order to win, but yet he doesn't get beaten in straights sets either.
Lots of top players have these kind of matches against much lesser ranked players that they really don;t like but generally come through from. E.g. Nadal vs Muller or Gulbis, Djokovic vs rochus, Murray vs most big hitters :P. Obvs it can be argued for other players but these come to mind.
This match is a perfect example of how short tennis players like Andreev, Nishikori, and Schwartzman are at a major disadvantage when playing individuals that are around 6'1-6'4, including Roger. I will admit that shorter players are generally more explosive. However, they must, in comparison to players like Roger: 1. Use more energy to get to every ball, since they have shorter strides, tiring them earlier in points and over the course of the match 2. Use more energy to hit the ball hard, since they have less body weight, also tiring them more 3. Hit far more shots above their strike zone, taking more energy and generally making their shots weaker or spinnier and more attack-able 4. Serve at a lower angle, making it more difficult to hit an ace or have a high serving percentage while still hitting a hard serve 5. Cover more ground with their feet because their reach is not as long In this match, these ideas were easy to see. In any baseline exchange, to get to a ball on the run, Andreev had to sprint like a mad man and take at least 6 quick steps to cover the baseline before coiling his entire body mass and uncorking with all his energy to hit a ball that was over his head, producing a shot that was angled nicely but short in the court, spinney, and somewhat weak. To respond, Federer could take 3 steps because of longer strides and far longer reach, use just his body weight and not overstrain, and loosely hit the ball with much less effort in his strike zone, blasting a ball down the line for winner in a high percentage manner. It is nearly impossible for someone like Andreev to overcome this consistently enough over a five set match to have any real chance of winning, even though his pound for pound ability in this match seemed to be at Federer's level.
@gargarensi Not at all, Andreev is completely different type of player than Nadal. Hes ususally exremely offensive on his forehand, and likes to atack the net after inside-out forehands. Nadal on the other hand usually stays very defensive until he gets a really good opportunity. Apart from both playing heavy topspin theres nothing they share.
@BrainSane237 Not really... although there are some similarities. They don't play like each other at all though they have 2 completely different playing styles.
@garry1177 Of course not, and it has nothing to do with Federer. All court surfaces have been slowing down. Aussie is especially known for changing the entire makeup to a slower surface altogether (remember green Aussie?).
I think that Igor Andreev for Roger was uncomfortable opponents in spite of personal meetings,he always gave a dignified soprotivlenie Roger,and lost the fight almost always. Ah and match on The U.S. open 2008 was for Federer large test of. Only Igor could give a fight to Roger then. Forcing then and play 5 sets. But psychologically Andreeva was not enough as I think in that component he was very weak. And so I think it could win in any match from Roger.
@gargarensi Then in typical Russian form, he caved in. I know Roger picked his game up a notch or two, but Andreev just vanished. A combination of both.
For some reason Federer's forehand was completely gone in this match, it did not have any power or bite, and his movements were awful. He should have changed his rachet at that time!
federer won this match because he had chances to find his forehand because unlike nadal igor plays righthanded nadal can just spam to feds bachand all day so this video proves the opposite but nice try
