By Randy Walker
@TennisPublisher
Much of the success of Roger Federer in his 30s can be partially attributed to his switch from a larger racquet frame from his original 90-square inch Wilson frame. The larger frame, in particular, has allowed for Federer to hit his one-handed top-spin backhand with great frequency and ferocity.
It is interesting to look back in the pages of my day-by-day anniversary and anecdotes book compilation of Roger Federer’s tennis career called “The Days of Roger Federer” and find the first match that Federer played with the larger frame. It happened on July 17, 2013 when Federer played the ATP event in Hamburg. Federer entered the event following an unexpected second-round loss at Wimbledon to Sergiy Stakhovsky, which caused many observers to question if Federer’s career was at a crossroads.
The except from the July 17 chapter of “The Days of Roger Federer” that details the match and the switch to the new sized racquet can be found here:
July 17
2013 – Roger Federer plays his first ATP World Tour match with a new Wilson racquet with a 98-square inch face and struggles past Daniel Brands 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in his opening match at the Bet-at-Home German Tennis Championships. After dropping to No. 5 in the ATP rankings following a shock second-round upset loss at Wimbledon, Federer makes the switch to the larger racquet after winning 17 major singles titles with a 90-square inch racquet.
“I’m pleased how it’s playing,” Federer says of the racquet after his win over Brands. “I kind of knew it from practice, so it wasn’t like just jumping into the water, but I’m very happy that under match conditions I was feeling comfortable with it. I’m satisfied.” Federer plays tentative from the start in his first career meeting with Brands, losing the first set, but doesn’t lose a point on his first serve in the second set (17 for 17) to square the match. Federer’s confidence grows in the third set and he streaks to victory.
“After I lost at Wimbledon, I thought this is a good time to go and test the racquets, to take a bit of time off and then add some tournaments and see was there enough time to change or not,” Federer says. “I’m happy I did the change and now we’ll see how it goes. So far, so good.” Federer says his extended time off from his loss at Wimbledon and the start of the summer hard-court season in the United States provided an ideal time to try out new models of racquets. “I’ve been very close on numerous occasions to change racquets in a bigger way,” he says. “But then very often, time was the issue. Maybe also just the records of Grand Slams – I was always keeping on playing quarters and semis – so then it was also a bit more difficult to change it because of the time. This time around, all of a sudden I just had the extra 10 days, two weeks I was looking for, and I really was very serious about it. Wilson flew to Switzerland and we went through the whole process and I was very happy how things went over there.
“The Days of Roger Federer” book, available for $19.95 here http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1937559378/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=10D3VB2K77DG8P0DHHEV&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1688200382&pf_rd_i=507846, chronicles the trophy-laden career of Federer, one of the world’s most well-known, popular and respected athletes, regarded by many as the greatest tennis player of all time. The book is unique for its day-by-day format: every day of the calendar year is presented with a corresponding anniversary or a bit of fact or trivia, including hallmark victories, statistics, quirky happenings and quotations.
Founded in 1987, New Chapter Press (www.NewChapterMedia.com) is also the publisher of “The Greatest Tennis Matches of All-Time” by Steve Flink, “The Education of a Tennis Player” by Rod Laver with Bud Collins, “Macci Magic: Extracting Greatness From Yourself And Others” by Rick Macci with Jim Martz, “Court Confidential: Inside The World Of Tennis” by Neil Harman, , “Andy Murray, Wimbledon Champion: The Full Extraordinary Story” by Mark Hodgkinson, “The Bud Collins History of Tennis” by Bud Collins, “The Wimbledon Final That Never Was” by Sidney Wood, “Acing Depression: A Tennis Champion’s Toughest Match” by Cliff Richey and Hilaire Richey Kallendorf, “Titanic: The Tennis Story” by Lindsay Gibbs, “Jan Kodes: A Journey To Glory From Behind The Iron Curtain” by Jan Kodes with Peter Kolar, “Tennis Made Easy” by Kelly Gunterman, “On This Day In Tennis History” by Randy Walker, “A Player’s Guide To USTA League Tennis” by Tony Serksnis, “A Backhanded Gift” by Marshall Jon Fisher, “Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games” by Tom Caraccioli and Jerry Caraccioli (www.Boycott1980.com), “Internet Dating 101: It’s Complicated, But It Doesn’t Have To Be” by Laura Schreffler, “How To Sell Your Screenplay” by Carl Sautter, “Bone Appetit: Gourmet Cooking For Your Dog” by Suzan Anson, “The Rules of Neighborhood Poker According to Hoyle” by Stewart Wolpin among others.
