Federer: Court surfaces speeding up

The 17-time Grand Slam champion said he has seen courts get slower since he first came on tour, leading to the predominance of baseline players.

”I think also coaches overall everywhere around the world have, you know, made sure that players are very good just forehand and backhand players and good servers but neglected probably a little bit the volley play, even though I do believe there is a place for it,” said Federer.

“But it became harder and harder and everybody who had success was a baseline player,” he said. “Clearly then you inspired the next generation by doing that. “

However, he added, things were now starting to shift back.

“And I think now we’re at a crossroads a little bit where things are speeding up. Toronto is much faster than it used to be four years ago, in my opinion,” he said. “And that’s nice to see that there is some change in it where the attacking style is going to pay off more, especially, you know, taking chances, moving forward.” 

Federer, who is being coached by serve-and-volley legend Stefan Edberg and playing with a bigger racquet, has been trying to play a more attacking game this season. He is back to No. 3 following an injury-affected 2013 that saw him reach No. 8 in the ATP rankings, according to tennis news.

M.D