Roger Federer became Wimbledon junior champion in 1998 at the age of 16. He showed his skills on the fastest surface and looked like the player to see for the next two decades.
After a mediocre few years at the senior level at the All England Club, Roger defeated Pete Sampras in the fourth round en route to the quarterfinals in 2001 and suffered another early loss in 2002 before venturing to tennis glory a year later at age 21.
Since then, the Swiss has been one of the most successful competitors on the green surface, winning 19 ATP titles and almost 200 games, including eight crowns and over 100 victories at the beloved Wimbledon. On the flip side, even though he grew up on sand, Roger couldn’t find the rhythm on the slowest surface in his first few games on the tour.
He improved this in 2001 and became a competitor at Roland Garros from 2005 onwards. Talking about two surfaces in Miami in 2002, Roger said it was easier to play the crucial points on grass than on clay.
You’ll have to work harder to deserve it on the slower surface, expose your weak spots to the rival, and not control the rallies as you would on grass.
Federer explained the difference between sand and grass in big ways
“I play better on grass than sand, that’s for sure.
Although I grew up on sand and played on it all the time, even in winter in a balloon. It’s weird because I scored 0-11 on clay in my first ATP games. I said, “That is not possible.”
Large dots on sand can be used to identify the weakness of your game and make this clear to your rival. It’s two shots on grass, and sometimes you can get lucky. you never know in such a short rally.
You have to work hard on sand to earn the point. There is no guesswork. I was disappointed with my clay game before but it’s gotten a lot better now. I’ve had some good results. On the other hand, I won the junior title at Wimbledon in 1998, but the results on grass weren’t there for the next few years, waiting for the whole season to suffer losses in the first rounds.
Then the big thing happened when I beat Pete Sampras and now everyone thinks I’m the favorite. I feel good on grass; I was surprised when I beat Sampras, but not by the level I produced, “said Roger Federer. Photo credit: Tennis Point by Point
–
