How will Roger slay the giant Giant Killer

Written by: Tennischiro on 17th May 2013

How will Roger slay the giant Giant Killer

epa03705468 Swiss tennis player Roger Federer returns the ball to Polish Jerzy Janowicz during their quarter final match of the Italian Open tennis tournament at the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy, 17 May 2013. EPA/MAURIZIO BRAMBATTI |

Many of us have been waiting all winter for Jerzy Janowicz to resume the form he demonstrated last November as he went through 5 top 20 players including Murray and Tipsarevic to reach the finals of the Paris ATP 1000. He’s won some matches and shown flashes but hasn’t produced anything like the astounding results he posted in that final ATP Tour event of 2012. This week he’s knocked off two more top tens in Tsonga and Gasquet. There have been times when he’s looked like the newcomer to the big time that he most certainly is, hitting too many dropshots, double-faulting 3 times in one game to lose his unbreakable serve and generally looking not-quite-ready-for-prime-time. But more of the time, he has actually looked better than he did last November.

Surprisingly, Jerzy is extremely comfortable on the slow red dirt of Foro Italico. When you see such a big man glide and slide on the clay, his grace and balance are astonishing; it takes you totally by surprise. No big man ever has the leg turnover of his smaller competitors and he will never be as fast as Murray, Djokovic, Nadal or Federer, but he is light on his feet and because of the way he takes advantage of his humongous reach, he is actually quick to the ball and covers a tremendous amount of court. Despite what many of the commentators would have you believe, clay may actually be his best surface as he moves so comfortably on it, taking advantage of his great sliding ability to set up for balls at the end of his range. He can not possibly match the quick and precise footwork of his relatively vertically challenged opponents on a hard court, but in Rome he is defending the full width of the court beautifully and turning defense into offense where no one even sees the possibility for such a turnaround. The slower pace of the dirt gives him the little extra time he needs to set up to hit his shots and puts his opponents shots at an ideal height for him; at the same time his shots are so big that he can afford to give up a little speed and still produce winners right and left.

Furthermore, his serves, especially his second serve, bounce so high, they put his opponents in an uncomfortable position to play their shots. He is putting players on their heels with his deep groundstrokes like no one we’ve seen in recent memory. What I like most of all is the way he is closing and finishing at the net. More often than not, he follows his dropshots in and finishes with a decisive volley. He is transitioning behind his groundstrokes as well as anyone, no probably better than anyone else I’ve seen lately. I really love the mechanics of his groundstrokes, serve and now, even his volleys. His height enables him to eat up court and attack well into the court on return of serve, especially second serve, with just one step. Some of his returns the last couple of days have been absolutely electrifying, or more like electrocuting for his opponents.

What I’d like to see him do is hit just a few more high kicking second serves as first serves and occasionally serve and volley on those balls so his opponents feel they can’t get away with just floating the ball back deep where they take their chances with his blistering groundstrokes. I want them to have to take a little more risk and make a few more errors on the return of second serve, … or he can just knock off a lot more first volleys. I’d like to see a few less dropshots and I think the best way to accomplish that is to develop a Rosewallian slice that will penetrate the court, stay low as a change of pace and force his opponents to hit up; moreover, it can be hit off the same preparatory move as the backhand dropshot and the conundrum this will present to his opponents will make both shots that much more effective. Most of all, and unfortunately this will take time, he needs some maturity and experience. He needs to get comfortable with the big stage and the fact that his opponents will occasionally make some good shots and he has to just keep coming with more of the same rather than trying to hit too big of a first or second serve or even a routine baseline groundstroke. That tendency to overplay in tight spots has led him to too many double faults and unforced errors at key points in recent matches. But that experience will come. In fact, I don’t see any way they can keep Jerzy out of the top ten much past Wimbledon. I think he will be there shortly. And, if we see the developments in his game I mentioned just above here, look out top 5 in 2014.

So that all sounds great, but what will Roger do with him today.Will I get this post up before the Federer/Janowicz match starts in about an hour? Look for the Great One to make Jerzy do all the things he doesn’t like to do. Roger is in the rare position, for him, of having greater shot tolerance than an opponent who is an actual threat. The Pole will almost definitely hit a lot more winners than Roger today, but how many more unforced errors will he have. Look for Fed to use the slice to keep the ball low and stretch the big man. Expect the Swiss maestro to put the 6′ 8″ Janowicz on the move. He will change up pace and speed and spin constantly to keep the big man off balance. At the same time, he will hit a lot of balls right at Janowicz to avoid giving him angles. Janowicz will have to play much steadier than he had to against Tsonga or Gasquet. He can’t afford to give away a game with doubles as he did yesterday in the first set against Gasquet. And Roger will absolutely feast on the banquet of poorly chosen and poorly executed drop shots he offered Richard in the first half of yesterday’s match. No, Jerzy will have to be on his absolute best behavior today, at least 65% first serves, no more than one or two double-faults per set, judicious use of his drop shots and a reduced number of unforced errors while still playing his aggressive style of play. Most of all, while we want to see his energy and enthusiasm expressed, he must channel it all positively. He can not afford to waste any of it being distracted by discussions, or worse confrontations, with the umpire or linesmen. Just play.

And even if Jerzy can do all that, a healthy and match sharp Federer, even at 31, would find a way to dull the Pole’s weapons and render him seemingly helpless; at least enough that he would drop no more than one close set, perhaps a tie-breaker, but still he would win comfortably in the final set. I was trying to explain to one of my young student’s last weekend that there are certain things you have to accomplish in the first set of a match, especially a 2 out of 3 set match. Yes it is very important to win that first set, but there is actually something that is more important. At the end of the first set, win or lose, you must know how to win the 2nd set. A healthy and match sharp Federer would be able to do that today. But we don’t really know if he is either. I am excited to find out.

10sChiro

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Topics: 10sChiro, Andy Murray, Foro Italico, Jerzy Janowicz, Paris ATP 1000, Roger Federer, Tennis News