He’s no Fed, baby!

            People are fond of referring to Grigor Dimitrov as “the baby Fed”, a sobriquet apparently arising from a general similarity in stroke production between the two players, particularly on the backhand side.  However, Dimitrov is definitely no baby Federer for a variety of reasons. 

            First of all Federer simply hits the ball better from both sides.  Dimitrov has wonderful strokes, but Federer has more variety on his shots.  This difference is particularly pronounced on the forehand side, where Federer varies the amount of topspin so as to achieve greater court penetration at key moments in a rally.  Dimitrov has a lot of topspin on his forehand and it’s a great shot, but the degree to which it penetrates the court is far more predictable.  On the backhand side, Federer uses the slice more often and better than Dimitrov, with the shot sometimes going very deep, and other times drawing the opponent close to the net, where it’s difficult to hit a return very hard and also difficult to volley. 

            Another key difference between the two players is the way they approach baseline rallies tactically.  Dimitrov is very content to play “rally balls” and wait for his opponent to make a mistake.  This strategy makes him vulnerable to aggressive shots from his opponents, who use predictable balls to get their timing down in preparation for an aggressive move.  Dimitrov’s loss to Simon in Monte Carlo provides a good example of this pattern of play.  Dimitrov was very predictable and passive, which gave Simon the opportunity to break rallies open once he felt comfortable.  A similar pattern manifested itself in Dimitrov’s loss in the Istanbul final to Diego Schwartzman, who was ranked #87 at the time of the match.  Dimitrov served passively, not seeking a tactical advantage or a free point on his first serve, and then rallied passively, giving Schwartzman the opportunity to time balls, tee off on shots, and break rallies open.  As a result Dimitrov lost the third set of this final 6-0.

            Federer’s tactical approach baseline rallies is far different from Dimitrov’s .  He never hits a shot without a purpose.  He is constantly varying angles, depth and degree of topspin in order to elicit weak shots from his opponent.  As soon as a weak shot is produced, Federer jumps on the offense, either with screaming shots to the open court or approaches to the net.  Commentators often describe Federer as making his opponents “uncomfortable”.  He doesn’t really make them uncomfortable, he just never lets them get comfortable enough to take the initiative. 

            A good deal of discussion regarding Dimitrov’s failure, thus far, to fulfill his potential, has permeated tennis commentary.  Clearly Dimitrov is enormously talented and a great athlete, but all too often, he waits for his opponents to give him points instead of seizing the points himself.   His approach contrasts sharply with Federer’s in this regard.  Were he to really play like the “baby Fed”, Grigor Dimitrov would not only win more matches, he would push his own skill development to a higher level.  Right now, though, he’s no Fed, baby!