Well, Roger Federer may have lost the 2008 Wimbledon final to Rafael Nadal but make no mistakes, that was by the slightest of margin. This tells us that Federer is still the man to beat in the upcoming Beijing Olympics which for the past years, many professional players had shunned it -- so that they have more time to prepare the U.S. Open, normally held after the Olympics.
Not this time.
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have both confirmed their participation in the Beijing Olympics, which is a major boost for the organizer. Federer has a bit of advantages on the hard court surface judging from past history. But the gap is closing fast now by the way Nadal adjusted his game to the fastest court on Grand Slams tournament in grass court at Wimbledon. Beijing Olympics will use the same type of hard court surface like in U.S. Open called DecoTurf which tends to bounce faster and lower than any other hard court surface. This gives Federer the edge over Nadal. Besides, Nadal has yet to prove he has what it takes to be a major force to be reckoned with on the hard court. Not yet at this moment. He has some points to prove. Certainly not Federer to prove.
Roger Federer is a wounded tiger now. He is licking his wound at this very moment and will ponder his revenge over Nadal in the upcoming Olympics and U.S. Open. Federer certainly play better when he can come to the terms that he is no longer the world No.1 tennis player at this moment, no matter what the ATP ranking tells you. Ok, maybe he is still the world No.1 tennis player, but he is certainly not when playing against Nadal. He needs to adjust his game when facing Nadal just like Nadal adjusted his game on the grass court. Simply, Federer cannot play like he tends to play against other tennis players other than Nadal. Nadal's game is based on his physical approach to the game. His powerful ground strokes with heavy topspin is his weapon. Federer has to do more and perhaps do something differently than exchanging topspin ground strokes with Nadal. Federer has to admit that he is worse than Nadal in this department. Pride and ego will not save the day for Roger Federer.
Perhaps, Roger Federer should use more slice and underspin than topspin with Nadal when dealing with Nadal service game. Then, with his ever reliable service aces, or the usual one-two punch of serving out-wide first, then kill the ball with the short return from Nadal. This has to be his weapon against Nadal. Maybe he also has to mix up his choice of shots a little bit like playing serve and volley more to put Nadal off his comfort zone at the baseline.
The only real problem Federer has now when facing Nadal is his self-belief and confidence. It's the mental fortitude. Not his skills. His inferiority complex kinda creeping in at crucial stages in the game like dealing with breakpoints over his opponent. Just look at the stats of breakpoints conversion ratio at the Wimbledon final -- 1 out of 13 breakpoints won. This is not a good sign for a champion like him. When was the last time we see Roger Federer plays with such gloomy look on his face? Perhaps, in the French Open finals and the last concluded Wimbledon final. So, where is the Roger Federer brimming with confident-look on his face when he defeated Andy Roddick with such grace and elegant shots in the Wimbledon finals three to four years back?
Time will tell.
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