After a relatively easy 64, 64, 64 win last night over the powerful Sam Groth at the 2014 US Open, Roger Federer spoke about how he can sense how fast a serve is going within a few miles per hour without looking at the radar.
“I’m aware of every serve, how hard it is after the point when he goes big, because I think it’s interesting and I want to see,” Federer said. “Sometimes I feel it, as well. I’m like, That felt like 138, and it might be just a couple off. It’s the same with my own serve. I can judge it probably to a few miles an hour close.”
Federer also explained what it’s like to return those serves from guys like Groth who last night hit a 147mph.
“The difference between 142 and 147, there’s none really in the racquet,” Federer said. “I think once you pass the 135 range everything is just really fast. It’s true, though, you got to maybe either maybe pick a side or maybe have read the serve a little bit, because you do see, I feel, with the big, big serving guys, when they go for the really big serve, I feel like you just have that feeling that they’re really going to try to crank it and their body tightens up, and that gives it away sometimes that they’re going to go down the T on the deuce side, which is normal. Can’t be the same motion.”
As you can see, Federer’s had a lot of success against some of the biggest servers ever in the sport.
.@rogerfederer does pretty well against big servers, but how will he handle Sam Groth's serve tonight? #ESPNTennis pic.twitter.com/nkJBvniczX
— ESPNTennis (@ESPNTennis) August 30, 2014
Federer will play Marcel Granollers in the third round on Sunday afternoon.
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