Like his shadow, elegance has also been inherent in Roger Federer. His finesse and grace in tennis have always linked with his attitude off the court. «We tennis players always said that He was in a tracksuit and looked like he was wearing a morning coat», describes to ABC Anabel Medina, the captain of the Spanish team, who so many times coincided with the Swiss for world tournaments. At the hour of her farewell, tennis and sport link her memories to the style of Federer, his one-handed backhand, his pinpoint forehand, her sharp serve or her peak talent wrist. But elegance is another matter and, according to Anabel Medina’s analysis, that virtue comes from footwork.
“When talking about tennis, many people focus on the shots, but more important than that is the footwork -says the Valencian coach, who trained the Latvian Jelena Ostapenko, winner of Roland Garros in 2017-. Federer has been one of the players on the circuit who has moved the best. The beginning of the footwork has made him always stand close to the ball and in a good hitting position. He is a very plastic player who worked on psychomotricity with a physical trainer from a very young age. Working on this part of the movement for so long, together with his physical qualities, makes him seem to float, because he takes the right steps and has great agility to position himself behind the ball».
Federer never let his rivals see him break a sweat. He played tennis with a style that almost never showed the effort that he required, unlike other tennis players. «A detail that is worked on a lot in the base is the hitting technique, the gestures and fluid movements -explains Medina-. Roger has a natural and clean stroke that allows him to attack the ball in the sweet spot, always a little in front of his body. He always hits in front, which has allowed him to have good control, precision and power.
Federer was never a tennis player who screamed when applying his balls or grunted when turning his body. Neither did he celebrate the points noisily or with exaggerated gestures. Elegance, always the distinction. “He has been helped a lot by the evolution of rackets and strings,” says the Spanish coach. He plays with a type of string (mixed with gut and synthetic) that helps him gain power and spin, especially with the cut».
The way he held the racket and his physical qualities helped him unleash a unique stroke, that unmistakable one-handed backhand. “The one-handed backhand in such top players is very significant. It means that it is very good, because they only use one hand and you have to have a lot of strength. It is a technically very good backhand, because in addition to being able to give it a topspin effect, it can also vary its game with the slice. He anticipates the ball a lot and is capable of changing directions very easily,” says Medina.
The absence of injuries during her prolific career has to do with the precision of putting her legs in place, according to the coach. “If you are always well positioned, in the right place, the shot is always more fluid. If you’re late to the ball, or playing a more defensive game, you have to reach over the baseline to save the ball. He is a very aggressive tennis player, and his game is based on constant dominance. He obviously has to defend, but in his case the defense situations have been less ».
“His serve is not very powerful, but his technique and his wrist make him very effective,” Medina analyzes. He is capable of getting all directions and a high percentage of first serves. The rival never knows where he is going to take him out. He serves topspin, slice, flat, but he has mental agility to do damage ».
A compendium of virtues that derive in supreme plasticity. «If to all these virtues you add a natural gift in your hand, then you have Roger Federer. He has a special sensitivity with the ball, nobody has it in the current circuit and few in history. Perhaps John McEnroe, albeit in a very different style.
