from SportSkeeda
by Manjunath Shekara

[...] In recent times, Federer’s innate ability of remaining relevant to the sport has been analyzed and eulogized. In my opinion, his game is where he wants it to be technically and tactically, but not mentally. Yes, that seems very unfair a comment when he has won 17 Grand Slam titles and is currently World No. 2 at the age of 34. But I’m talking about something very specific.

The larger racquet, the Edbergian School of Coaching, the smart scheduling and the SABR (Sneak Attack by Roger) have definitely added layers to Federer’s supreme game. However, certain mental aspects of his game seem to be untapped so far.

The 17-time Grand Slam champion showed a few chinks in his mental armor even in his prime. Federer’s arch-rival and nemesis, Rafael Nadal, has always given him a rough time as evidenced by a lop-sided head to head of 23-10 in Nadal’s favour. 13 of those 23 victories for Nadal have come on clay, his favourite surface, but on quick surfaces like those in Wimbledon and the O2 arena at London Federer has dominated their clashes.