Summary: <p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-12830" src="https://blog.tennisevolution.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/roger-federer.jpg" alt="" width="954" height="606"></p> <h2>Listen to 5 Reasons Roger Federer Won The 2017 Australian Open …</h2> <div class="smart-track-player-container stp-color-2d7bbf-EEEEEE"></div> <h3>Show Notes</h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Hey, it’s Jeff Salzenstein, USTA High Performance coach, and former top 100 ATP player, and Roger Federer just won the 2017 Australian Open. And in another audio, I talked about the <a href="https://blog.tennisevolution.com/roger-federer-the-courage-of-a-champion/">courage that he had to play fearless tennis</a>, and to really go for a shot to have a clear head and a clear mind. And today, I want to go over the tangible strategies on why I think that he won this year’s Australian Open, and why I believe he can win more Grand Slams. Believe it or not, at the age of 35, he can do it with his new approach, with his more aggressive approach to the game. So, I’m going to go through the 5 reasons why Roger Federer won the Australian Open in 2017.</span></p> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Reason Number 1</span></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He was fresh, and he was, let’s just say relaxed, because he had been off for 6 months. He had time to spend with his family. He had a new perspective when he stepped on to the court. So, a lot of times, when players have an injury, they come back hungrier, they come back more eager, more open-minded, and fresher in head and in the mind. And so, just having that outlook, taking that pressure off, maybe to win another Grand Slam, because maybe he wasn’t sure he could win a Grand Slam, he certainly didn’t think he was ready to win a Grand Slam in Australia. So, the pressure was off, he could play more free.</span></p> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Reason Number 2</span></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Movement. When he’s been hurt, when he’s had the bad back or the bad knee, he’s playing it 90, 95%, and still top 5 in the world, top 4 in the world, but not the Roger Federer from 10 years ago. So, by taking the 6 months off, and getting healthy, and getting his movement in order, feeling fresh in his legs, and being able to explode to the ball, that makes all the difference in the world for him.</span></p> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Reason Number 3</span></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The backhand down the line. I’ve never seen Roger Federer hit his backhand down the line like I did at the Australian Open. I always wondered when he was going to start either developing that shot or using that shot. My belief is that he’s always had the backhand down the line, but he’s been content with staying in a cross-court rally with the slice and with the drive, and he committed to changing direction and playing down the line with the backhand. Sometimes, he would hit it as a clean winner. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Other times, he would hit it as a rally ball, and the whole idea behind him hitting down the line as a rally ball is that there’s a better chance he’s going to get a forehand on the next shot, whether it’s an inside out forehand, or he can run across the court and hit a cross-court or down the line forehand. So, just by changing direction with his backhand down the line and also hitting aggressively at the right time to hit clean winners, that was the big difference-maker for him off the ground.</span></p> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Reason Number 4</span></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Now, related to that, he also committed more to his return of serve. I saw more backhand down the line returns off of the second serve. I saw more driving off of his return of serve. He usually has been content with slicing and starting points, but he now knows against guys like Nadal and Djokovic and Murray. </span></p> <p><span style=""></span></p>
