Looking at Roger Federer’s first round match, nobody would think that he would have any troubles finding his range early on in at the 2011 Australian Open, right? Well hold the phone (as the saying goes)! Roger Federer will be meeting Gilles Simon (FRA) in round 2 at the 2011 Aussie Open, that doesn’t sound like much news. However; Simon has put Federer away TWICE of their two previous meetings (not to mention they were both on hard courts similar to Australia)! The previous meetings came in 2008, when Federer was at the peak of his dominance. So we have to ask, can Simon pull the ultimate upset down under? Let’s take a look at what he has in his tennis arsenal that could possibly give Federer more trouble in round 2.
Tennis match time thus far in Australia – since the start of the 2011 tennis season – has been less for Federer, only playing 8.4 hours of match play. Where as Simon has already logged a lengthy 11.6 hours of match play. Who will be the fresher of the two after already having played quite a bit of tennis in such a short period of time. Our bet is on Federer, only because he has had a short match at the Aussie (84 minutes) during the first round and he is a more seasoned player when it comes to this level of play.
We all know that Federer can come up with some of the most amazing shots in tennis, so on the ground, Federer has the edge. Roger has the finesse and experience in Australia to put Simon in his place and make up for those two losses. But Simon is a fighter, giving 100% every time.
Another factor on this tennis match, Simon is a couple years younger than Federer and seems to have more brute force behind his ground strokes. Simon’s serve is nothing that will hurt Federer, however; Simon’s placement could possibly move Federer out of position to put away the short reply off the serve. Simon has a slight edge against Federer at net, doing pretty well on volleys, winning close to all net points. But we all know that Federer is a volley specialist, hardly being passed at any given time.
If you consider the experience that Federer has in majors, Simon should not give Roger much trouble. But there is usually a surprise at every tournament, so we don’t know what could happen. It will be an exciting match and Federer will be victorious in 4 sets.
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