Roger Federer called on tournament officials to vary court speeds in order to offer more diversity to players. The Swiss legendco-founder of the annual international Laver Cup in 2017, oversaw the last edition of the tournament.
The World team won for the third time on Sunday, defeat Team Europe to win the trophy. During the competition, Federer joined Servid with Andy Roddick to discuss contemporary courtyard surfaces. He noted that many players seem to have an easier time returning their serves than in previous years.
Federer also proposed that surfaces be modified to give players more leeway to showcase their strengths on their preferred court type.
“I feel like they come back so easily these days,” Federer commented. “I don’t know if the conditions are a little slower or if they’re just better. Making comebacks has been difficult. Now they’re sitting there. That’s why I decided, just to float it in there and figure it out.”
Asked if there was a need to adjust court surfaces to accommodate different aspects of the game, Federer replied: “Yes, definitely. I just had this conversation this morning with Reilly Opelka.
“I told him it’s not right, and I blame myself because I’m part of the decision-making process here (at the Laver Cup). It can’t be that he serves outside, inside against Casper Ruud who can actually come back.
“He even has that option inside to return that serve which is arguably one of the best serves in the game right now. He returns it at hip height with a cross-court pass shot. It should be a little more difficult to be able to do that.
“I think that’s why we as tournament directors need to figure this out. We need to not only have fast courts, but what we want to see is (Carlos) Alcaraz or (Jannik) Sinner figure it out at lightning speed and then have the same match in super slow and see how that plays out.
“That’s what ranking points were like, remember? Back then there were only 12 tournaments so everyone played on their favorite surface.
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“They met sometimes and it was the best matches, when it was the attacker against the retriever, and now everyone plays the same way. That’s because the tournament directors allowed it with the speed of the ball and the speed of the field.
“Every week is basically the same. That’s why you can just win Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open by playing the same way.”
Federer further speculated that tournament leaders preferred slower courts because it makes it more difficult for less skilled players to defeat the likes of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.
“I understand the safety net that tournament directors see in making the surface slower. For the weaker player, he has to hit incredible extra shots to beat Sinner whereas if he is fast, maybe he can only hit a few at the right time and he passes,” he said.
