Roger Federer IS beatable: Rafael Nadal told how to do it by Mats Wilander
ROGER FEDERER must not be allowed to play at his high pace if Rafael Nadal wants to break the Swiss’ recent streak against him, according to Mats Wilander.
Federer has played Nadal 38 times in their storied rivalry but only won on 15 of those occasions.
However, the world No 2 is currently on a five-match winning streak against the Spaniard.
And Wilander, a seven-time Grand Slam champion, believes he has figured out what Federer is doing differently to find a way past Nadal.
“Federer wants Nadal to play aggressive and make mistakes,” Wilander said.
“That’s why he is rushing so much. That’s part of his tactics and I think it’s working.
“The last few times, Nadal was making too many mistakes trying to keep up with the pace of Roger Federer and I don’t think he can do that.
“Nadal has to say ‘if you can beat me, beat me but I am not going to beat myself by trying to hit winners’. That’s the only chance he has.
“He has a good chance if he does that and starts playing a little more like he used to, he has really good chance of wearing Roger Federer down mentally and physically.”
Federer shows no sign of his ability abating even at the age of 36, but he is starting to reduce his workload.
The Swiss has admitted to working only “half days”, skipped the 2017 clay-court season and played just 12 tournaments last year.
And Wilander believes Nadal should use his age against him, wearing Federer down over the course of a match.
“Nadal needs to have patience because when Federer is playing well like he did last year, I don’t know if anyone in the world is able to beat him,” Wilander added.
“[But] it’s not going to last forever.
“I also think that Nadal has to be careful that he doesn’t fall into the trap where Federer tries to play such quick points and so quick in-between points that I think Nadal gets caught up in the tactics of not wanting Federer to control everything. Therefore, Nadal plays more aggressive. The more aggressive Nadal plays, the shorter the points, the better that is for Federer.
“I think Nadal has to take a step back and say to himself: ‘I am playing against the greatest player of all-time. I have to have enough respect and discipline to admit that Federer at his best is better than me and I just have to somehow make the points last longer so that I can make him tired. I cannot afford to make mistakes.’”
***Mats Wilander will be commentating at the Australian Open for Eurosport. Watch all of the action from Melbourne live on Eurosport and Eurosport Player from Monday 15 January.***