Success Surprising Federer
Czech tennis pro, Radek Stepanek, has surprised many tennis players on and off the court the past couple years with his stellar play at times, e.g. his win against Roger Federer in Rome today in the red clay lead-up to Roland Garros, as well as his off-court relationships, i.e. he was engaged for 8 months to Martina Hingis and then that ended in August, 2007, and by December, 2007, he was engaged to teenage Czech tennis pro, Nicole Vaidisova. On the tennis court, Stepanek surprises many players with
his steady, solid serve and volley game, a rarity in today’s pro game. As with former British star, Tim Henman, who had some success against Federer in the past, Stepanek does not have an acing serve. Nonetheless, Stepanek mixed up his serves very well and was very effective in his win against Federer with his “body serve” and reversing volleys which were hit behind Federer. Stepanek also managed to successfully pressure Federer by periodically serve and volleying on his second serve. Stepanek also kept Federer guessing even on Federer’s serve by occasionally chipping and charging on Federer’s second serve, as well as mixing in well-placed down the line ground strokes on both the backhand and even occasionally his forehand side to Federer’s backhand. There was also the surprise drop shot, which can be very successful on slow red clay courts. Stepanek may not have overpowering shots, but he illustrated how a clever, well-executed strategy can often be very effective. All of these tactics prevented Federer from finding and maintaining a rhythm during the match… not an easy feat, but it was key to Stepanek’s victory over Federer.
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