This Player tried CRUSHING every ball to beat Federer...then THIS happened

[@robertonoboa2035]

"This player" is no more no less than Fernando Verdasco a great tennis player. He was 7 in the world in 2009, he won several ATP titles, reached semifinals in Grand Slams. he is a Davis cup champion, and more.

[@ryzennightshade9763]

Acting as if he didn’t give him respect. Did u even watch the video u punk.

[@taxationistheft7]

Nice how many slams

[@tennisace40]

Against most players his tactic could work but not here.

[@wimgroart1870]

Two years younger than Federer, he won 3 times of Nadal and 4 times of Djokovic. Not many did that!

[@albertogmg]

@@taxationistheft7how many players won grand slam in the big 3 era? Fernando Verdasco was an amazing player, he deserves more respect. Is not a random player ranked 150 in the world that made it to the final rounds of a GS..

[@erisen960]

No, I don't think Verdasco was trying to overpower Roger. Just made a plan. Because even if you had a good plan against Roger it was still a defeat. :-) He needed some risk against Fed obviously and it didn't work like most of the time. But apart from this Verdasco was a very good player for more than a decade. If you want to pick somebody who was tryingt to overpower Fed succesfully in some occasions that would be DelPotro.

[@DNA2000-8bit]

That's just Verdasco being awesome.

[@Freba66]

So nice to attack your opponent's backhand. Well done Roger. While the backhand of a lefthander is often well developed, the forehand of a right-hander always attacks the backhand of a left-hander.

[@andresnavas3671]

Fernando Verdasco fue muy buen jugador con una excelente técnica

[@IronJohn755]

Federer was so fun to watch. Everything is so effortless and flawless - he just had more patience and consistency than everyone, and waited for a mistake to happen.

[@markwilliams7091]

He wasn't trying to "crush" the ball, just end the point as quickly as possible. An entirely rational strategy. If he rallies w/ Roger he's toast.

[@Alexg1561-t4m]

Point starting around 7:42 is wonderful. Just doesn't back down. That final forehand is just taken so early and hit with so much speed.

[@luigicirelli2583]

quality materials to withstand all that stress

[@jonathanlee5314]

Title is misleading. It's Verdasco, crushing the ball is literally his playstyle

[@RAUL7487]

Unluckily, Verdasco's head wasn't created for tennis

[@Raidersscm]

I think because of the way he played he thought may as well. Verdasco was not going to out steady Federer.

[@alfiel1]

VERDASCO baby, all the way.. I have a poster of his on my wall!

[@drbonesshow1]

This player aka Verdasco was known for one thing hitting everything hard. Not the brightest way to play winning tennis.

[@MarcosSilveira-jo6un]

Federer is the God of tennis.

[@ledarius82]

Premise is silly... if you try to crush every ball (at your maximum speed/power) you make a lot of unforced errors regardless you being ATP level or recreational

[@astrelixx3857]

Just clickbait titles to be honest

[@newbro]

This is crushing every ball? Did you even watch Federer 's matches against Blake?

[@rudihambaallah6913]

Yg bikin verdasco ga pernah menang GS ya itu. Pukulannya bnyk yg keluar atau nyangkut di net. Pdhl dia bnyk pukulan bagus

[@pac0re]

Verdasco played like shit, hes a lot better than this match shows.

[@waimak134]

I think they are using the same court with same material but just not Federer in play now ……

[@fn6795]

GOAT forever. And, top 5 GOATs of ALL sport. Some players are just a unique combination of style, still, personality, charisma, appeal, grace, resilience, longevity, reach, toughness, intelligence and beauty. Like Ali, Jordan, etc. Federer is the greatest.

[@marcgrondin65]

Right after Djokovic(24) and Nadal(22), he is the greatest (20).

[@annewalden3795]

You are 100 % correct Roger will always be the G O AT because he played such beautiful tennis.

[@marcgrondin65]

@@annewalden3795 beautiful strokes don't make you #1 of all time OR goat .. results do. For style we could have an entirely different lineup : Edberg, McEnroe, Laver, Federer ...etc.

[@annewalden3795]

@@marcgrondin65 Your comment is noted but I will stick with my pick.

[@pagoteras2630]

If verdasco should be clever should be nadal but his head and his caracter is diferent and is verdasco with much talent and very small head so small than a bird

[@fred3r1k]

a little bird?

[@pagoteras2630]

@@fred3r1k yes ,very little.

[@fred3r1k]

@@pagoteras2630

[@kevinle5460]

Put some hespec on his hame'

[@NisseOhlsen]

Don't agree with the premise. He was not trying to overower. He was trying to not hand the initiative to Roger.

[@muhammedkaka1965]

i was about to say that majority weren't exactly hard, but he knew he wasn't going to win by rallying. On the same note alot of unforced errors made in trying to not play rallies

[@andreaho]

Same thoughts. If one could not slow Roger's pace down, they ain't get any chance to win.

[@ricclee8559]

Im a huge fans of Djokovic, but my God, Federer shots, the way he hits the ball, motion and movements are such a beauty, its like flawless dancing or harmonized symphony on court

[@mesabman]

I think that Federer was the most fluent, graceful player to ever play the game.

[@andreaho]

Nobody could move and play as smoothly as he ever did. Today tennis is all about power, and it doesn't look so enjoyable.

[@susa4727]

@@andreaho You should watch Sinner or Korda, they have finesse

[@TheseHoesAreLoyal]

Djokovic may not have better footwork than Federer but he is more exceptional at defending, hitting crisp and wall-like backhands and is harder to fatigue than Federer. Both players have better game than Rafa to be honest.

[@MrMartin48705]

@@andreahocoming from a diehard Nole fan, agreed on the first sentence, second sentence not so much, but we will never see a pure strength match like this one. Big 3 matches can never even be dreamed of, they're all old now, and the next gen, with all their might, cannot even hold a candle to those 3. Honestly, I think we will never see another big tennis star face off against another tennis star, both in their prime. Sure, there are still top 5 and top 10 players that occasionally shine, but we always had those in Cilic, Wawrinka, Nishikori, Dimitrov, Tsonga, Soderling etc, but this era of great tennis is over once the Djoker decides he's done.

[@bigrobsydney]

I think Roger was just so dominant back then, that the only way players could beat him, was to go for it. If you rallied, he would just gradually make things harder and harder till you run out of legs, space, or patience. Like a snake, slowly squeezing its prey, pressure being applied constantly. In any rally, Roger would probably feel like he had the 51% chance to win (or better), so only had to play the odds, and eventually, the house always wins. Just keep them at the table long enough. And that was Verdasco's gamble; to try to NOT stay at the table. Go hard as soon as possible, and throw the dice. Risk it all. Because otherwise, it was just a slow, painful ending.

[@tdc_2021]

And this is maybe 4-6 years past Federer’s prime

[@-music2023]

@@tdc_2021 lol 2012 is still Federer 's prime

[@TheseHoesAreLoyal]

@@-music2023 I don't know why Fedal morons keep emphasizing on Fed's 2004-2007 as his "prime." He was younger and faster back then but his technique and overall game including his serve got better over time even after he turned 30. Plus the switch to a larger racket definitely improved his backhand. They are delusional.

[@-music2023]

@@TheseHoesAreLoyal Yup, 2015 and 2017 are pretty much the best versions of Federer, just the way he dominated Murray in 2014-2015 while struggling against him before tells you 2015 Federer was a better player.... Wimbledon 2015 is peak Federer, 2017 Australian Open is peak Federer too. Shanghai 2017 is one of the best performances I have ever seen from him.

[@TheseHoesAreLoyal]

@@-music2023 I'd say Federer was in his peak form (physical, strategic, technical, and finesse aspects all rolled up into one) in 2004-2006, 2011-2012, 2014-2015, 2017 and 2019. While his physical form may have declined because of his age, his serve and backhand got significantly better throughout the latter stage of his career, actually winning more points on his second serve than ever and hitting his serves with more fluidity with laser-like precision. His backhand also became a weapon in the beginning of 2014 and I remember the commentators were talking about it, because that was the first season when he actually switched to a racket head size bigger than the 90 square inches that he used to play with. Also what many Fedal fans are wrong about is the fact that Federer's forehand simply changed, in fact for the better, and never declined as time progressed - in 2004-2006 literally the technique was different when he used to have a much bigger torso and shoulder rotation (which led to a bigger backswing) which enabled a bigger weight transfer and heaviness onto the ball, all thanks to his movement that was better because he was younger. He also used to run around his backhand like 60% of the time, which heavily depended on that large kinetic chain of his body muscles. As he got older with age and improved his backhand, his backswing became way more abbreviated and his footwork became more accustomed to freely hitting the forehand on both open and closed stances, with more spin, trying to minimize movement not to mention to avoid running around the backhand. What Fedal fans also fail to see is that Federer was mostly an all-around baseliner during his physical peak (2004-2007) who had great volleys but rarely came up to the net unless he could. Simply meaning that he outhit his opponents not named Rafa with his forehand and slice mainly and then finished the rally with a volley, much like Djokovic nowadays. Starting in 2015 he actually came forward with more aggressive style of tennis to finish the rally at the cost of bigger risk due to his age. This basically falsifies Fedal fans' claim that Federer could've had more success if the surface stayed fast the way it did. The truth is that the ball speed didn't change significantly nowadays compared to Federer's physical peak years.

[@andreaho]

Dont let the way Roger effortlessly hit the ball fool you. His striking is deadly heavy if you ever have a chance watching tennis in person.

[@bigrobsydney]

Yes, his technique is flawless. The biomechanical speed he puts on a ball is ridiculous.

[@angerisdiscipline3913]

heavy might not nail it , I would say fast

[@VictorLu-z8q]

@@bigrobsydney I love that "biomechanical speed"

[@sankalpjain2983]

I have watched both him and Nadal playing in person (Indian Wells), and was amazed at how hard the ball get hit, stays in the court, and even gets returned.. The level of play is just unbelievable!

[@huntercook1726]

Bruh this is just how Verdasco plays every match 💀

[@dartfield4655]

yup, nothing special to see here, classic business match from Federer.

[@andreaho]

@@dartfield4655 Power hitters and big servers were always nobody while facing against Federer. He's too fast to give them enough time to hit the ball with their full power. Federer's early ball-taking skill is pricelessly unique.

[@CalvinLau_the_plasmanaut]

​@@andreaholike when Roddick hit one of the most massive serves ever.. and Federer just flicked it back. Roddick almost didn't even have time to finish his serve motion. Lol.

[@lewisweakland]

Damn, nice to be reminded of how great Federer was at his best! He had the most beautiful and complete tennis skill set I’ve ever seen!

[@MrPernell27]

The man has been retired for less than 2 years and you already needed a reminder of how great he was? Damn

[@abbbee8918]

He’s the best player anyone has ever seen!

[@lewisweakland]

@@MrPernell27 Lol, I didn’t “need” a reminder but was just saying that it was to see a video of him at the top of his game! I’m sorry that you got your butt hurt by misinterpreting my comment…

[@harkirehal258]

Sooo many unforced errors from Verdasco. And yes. Ferdasco was not any player. He was one of the worlds top notch players who could take on anyone else on a good day including Federer. He had all the weapons in his arsenal.

[@ijump-bounce2283]

Doesn't seem he could take on everyone since he never beat Federer in 7 matches. And AO 2009 against Nadal might have been the best he played and it wasn't enough to beat Nadal who was a beast that day

[@nasa_fanboy4434]

His backhand wasn't that great

[@ИванДжамбов-о3н]

disrespectful title to Verdasco

[@pikeflowed]

Federer proves himself the ultimate nullifier, as a blistering attack by Verdasco was neutralized and turned into attack by Federer, sheer majestic brilliance from the Swiss Master !

[@thebadguyswon-w7n]

I like the go for broke strategy. Verdasco came in with a gameplan and stuck to it. He almost pulled it off. Entertaining video.

[@MrMartin48705]

Was hardly even close to pulling it off. The score was like it was because Federer held himself to a 1 break a set rule, you gradually increase the pressure on opponents service games and wait for mistakes letting them try everything they've got. This was obvious for the last 3 years Roger was actively playing, and Nadal used to try the same tactic on courts other than clay.

[@connorism69]

Verdasco wasn't playing some thrashing all-out-power game here. The title is completely deceptive.

[@starlife8652]

It's called wanting to take control of the point by being aggressive..did this guy who uploaded this ever played tennis in his life!

[@The-Dom]

Its a good tactic, but you still have to place the ball well, and not make tons of errors. Most of these were hit right at Fed.

[@DavideAnastasia]

To be honest, that was the only way Verdasco knew how to play tennis: in the rare days the ball was more in than out, he could win against anyone. However, more often than not, his unforced count was waaaay too high.

[@roger22fed]

Federer was in such good form 15 months leading upto this US open.. Reclaimed no. 1 .. Wimbledon champion . Bageled Djokovic in the Cincinnati final.. And then..... Lost to Berdych or Robredo in the quarters.. Quite sad.. For a fed fan

[@jimclawley9117]

Berdych

[@TheseHoesAreLoyal]

As a Fed fan you should've been more sad when he lost to Murray at the 2012 Shanghai masters semifinal and then to Djokovic at the 2012 WTF finals.

[@-music2023]

@@TheseHoesAreLoyal and destroyed by Murray at the Olympics

[@TheseHoesAreLoyal]

@@-music2023 He still got a silver medal in singles, which wasn't that bad. Plus, he beat Murray in the Wimbledon 2012 final to tie Pete Sampras' record of 7 Wimbledon titles so it wasn't that bad.

[@JutifiedGamma]

2:53 Verdasco: "Good-byeee..." Net: "Hello."

[@hiliou2b]

Don't waste your time, nothing happened in this video.

[@Leejungwoo48]

Well it's possible to overpower Federer. Del Potro, Nadal, Djokovic, Soderling, Kokkinakis, Wawrinka, Thiem, Zverev, Monfils, Berdych, Safin, Tsonga, Kyrgios, Roddick and a few other big servers or big hitters at their titanic best are capable of it. But Verdasco simply didn't have enough power, variety nor sustained focus on this day.

[@webtechsYoutube]

naming verdasco as this Player as if he less known

[@HaraldSchneider-m8n]

Great to see this 2023. Unbelievable good , powerful shots from both...❤❤

[@parveenraghav4646]

Verdasco used to be one of my favourite players back in those days

[@tomasnadassky1642]

Clickbait…

[@martinnonstatic7435]

verdasco´s spin forehand is incredible, one of the strongest on tour

[@eriktomas9194]

Ali and Fed and that free-form style of assertiveness is just mesmerizing to watch.

[@davidshortt3523]

Thanks man. Nothing like watching Roger at his best to remember how good he actually was. *Wipes brow*

[@sultanabran1]

people have short memories. most people don't remember how good sampras was.

[@dobbydob9443]

Personne ne peut jouer plus vite que Federer. On peut le dépasser en puissance, en régularité, mais jamais en vitesse. Sur 3/4 coups de raquette il est imbattable. Le relâchement de Federer est tel que sa balle sort de sa raquette comme une coup de fusil, c'est aussi ce qui le rend aussi esthétique. Je le classe parmi les descendants de Pete Sampras.

[@tbd419]

Everyone continues to complement Roger. How about kudus to this other guy who makes him work for it (Roger looks like he’s challenged for a change). That’s something to talk about.

[@danielpierre3161]

Verdasco is not «trying » to crush balls…he is doing that with every players because he had much more power than Federer and the rest of the big names of that time. That, everybody knows that fact.

[@IzakD8]

What's the point of blurring out the names as if people just don't know who Verdasco is?

[@denisfogel286]

Yeah Verdasco is probably the most talented tennis player without any tennis IQ after Roddick. Feds favorite type of player 😁

[@williewasahippie]

Verdasco was good in his prime but heard some players say he was very arrogant. Who knows.

[@dennissanchez5171]

For me Verdasco is GOAT.

[@Cool12_782]

A great and wonderful match each of them displayed great skills however Roger stood tall

[@weekendhacker]

Title of video is misleading. Verdasco hardly 'crushed' every ball

[@EndoftheTownProductions]

Verdasco just didn't have a great two handed backhand to back up his forehand.

[@secrets.295]

Not a bad strategy to be honest. Against somebody like Roger, its better to keep the points short.

[@TheTopspin77]

I don't understand the title of this video. Verdasco is not "CRUSHING every ball to beat Federer". He is just playing his normal game. He always hits like that. Federer is just better.

[@georgerichards4808]

Agreed.

[@DaveGramling]

Clickbait. Just two pros playing tennis..

[@prodi_profesikhalif5573]

verdasco is one of the best forhands

[@jkj1459]

FERNADO VERDASCO PATHAIKKUM PATHAKKA .

[@aSm8full]

You just added a bullshit title to a random match Quality content my dude

[@niceguy1774]

I can't watch the video if the names and score are blurred out.

[@rondunn4336]

Not just to beat Federer, Verdasco was a hard hitter every match.

[@rafapazos06]

Who is that commentator that said “mediocre at best” what a muppet.

[@sultanabran1]

it seems like you weren't around to know verdasco's game

[@stanleyextra2812]

Verdasco is basically the opposite of Murray. He has big power forehand with low consistency as opposed to Murray's low power but high consistency

[@andreaho]

If you ever watch Murray playing in person, you would realize he actually strikes the ball heavily. He simply doesn't do it regularly because he's a defensive baseliner.

[@TurnOnTheBackburner]

@@andreaho Murray strikes his backhand much heavier than his forehand. His forehand is too spinny when he hooks it.

[@thanagan5192]

I love these British commentators. Unimpressed, judgemental, and condescending. They should try to go out and face prime Fed. See how they'd fare.

[@RenzoDalom]

Is amassing how somebody can play so good and be destroyed so quickly!!!

[@zzz51435]

These were the days. I miss it. Can't believe over 10 years ago 😢 But this one was hard to watch because of verdasco's errors, was rooting for him. But there was really nothing he was going to do against Fed

[@JeffGamby-Hull]

The faster the courts the more Federer won so they slowed the courts down and now Wes have boring long baseline matches

[@marcgrondin65]

Yeah and much earlier with faster surfaces we had servbots .. where we had boring serving exhibition with no rallies.

[@perfectionbox]

If Verdasco was Scarface, Roger would be the drug lord telling him "I believe you play from the heart, Tony." 🤣

[@perfectionbox]

Too bad power and control tend to oppose

[@alexp.7182]

Well, that's actually Versasco's play style.. Short rallies, going for the lines, huge forehand..

[@ordinaryguy6869]

Two classy guys battling it out without all the stupid grunting and looking at their box after every point.

[@FunDuude]

Well if you're gonna overpower Roger, you gotta have a Hell of a consistent winning serve, to go with those groundies. you'll have to be consistent and have minimal unforced errors. And hope that Federer's Serve is off or his forehand or his backhand.

[@tolykozin]

while there may be a few players who were able to beat him, just watching his skillful handling/placement of balls, one can only surmise who the real GOAT is!

[@froeliuus]

the most amazing thing is that its all made with a 90' square raquet... not like big pans of today...

[@soothsayer2406]

Fernando is a bad person

[@baloog8]

He misses all his shots?

[@zacharyscott6779]

The only player i ever saw who in his prime could power the big 3 off the court when he was on was Wawrinka. I particularly remember 3 GS wins in which he absolutely crushed almost every single shot and made it so Djokovic and Nadal had no answer. Especially from the BH wing.

[@sammarcosson4417]

I would add Juan Martin del Potro to that (short) list. When he was healthy, there were times he simply blew everyone else off the court with his power. Unfortunately, wrist issues kept him from being able to do it consistently.

[@jollymolly2521]

I remember watching this live and thinking how much Verdasco reminded me of when Roger used to play Gonzo. Gonzo just always hit everything as hard as he could and hoped it didn't come back. Not a whole lot of strategy involved.

[@markoshun]

Yes, at this point in Fed career, many tried this same strategy even if it wasn’t their game. I recall Agassi once went all out going for winners. Totally not his usual MO. It was a necessity, though, no one was beating him any other way. They just had to go for it and hope for an amazing day.

[@TheseHoesAreLoyal]

You're correct except the fact that Gonzalez hit even bigger forehands with actual precision and deadly accuracy when he beat Roger for the first and last time at the 2007 Shanghai WTF round robin match.

[@jollymolly2521]

@@TheseHoesAreLoyal That's literally what I said. Gonzo was basically DelPo 1.0. He hit everything hard, heavy, deep, but his accuracy wasn't always as precise as it needed to be against Roger or Rafa. From first ball in the rally to the last he crushed everything. DelPo's serve was better and so was his BH before his wrist injuries. The FH is a toss-up but I'd take DelPo's. He at least tempered the shot until he wanted to end the rally.

[@TheseHoesAreLoyal]

@@jollymolly2521 In your original post, you said: "Gonzo just always hit everything as hard as he could and hoped it didn't come back. Not a whole lot of strategy involved." In your original you did not include anything about Gonzo's actual precision and deadly accuracy when he had the time to set up on his forehand, especially on high balls. So I don't know why you're saying "that's literally what I said" as if you originally said that Gonzo's forehand did have precision/accuracy. I sort of agree with you on the speculation that Gonzo's forehand is like "DelPo 1.0", but in my opinion I think Gonzo's forehand and Thiem's forehand are similar. Del Potro's forehand was more of an easy power shot with a lot of flat and heavy pace (honestly surprised that his forehand was still very consistent with not a lot of spin), whereas Gonzo's forehand has monstrous amount of topspin unless he sometimes chose to blast it for a winner at a risk of an unforced error. Thiem's forehand is probably less risky than Gonzo's forehand but I think the big backswing (similar backswing motion too) and the spin he puts on it are similar to Gonzo's forehand. You said Delpo's serve is better than Gonzo's, and I respect that. And it probably might be. And Delpo's serve is faster than Gonzalez's serve too on average. But Delpo's serve wasn't big for his physique. But extremely reliable. On the other hand, Gonzo's first serve was pretty powerful for a moderately big and tall physique. Plus my favorite serve from Gonzo is when he hits that nasty slice serve wide to the opponent's forehand on his first serve from the deuce side. Growing up I watched both play live quite often, especially Gonzalez. I'm a bit sad that Gonzalez didn't really have a topspin backhand unless he was on the run or trying to hit a passing shot against an opponent up at the net. It was more of a surprise factor rather than a reliable shot. I'm not trying to argue, I just wanted to correct you on what you said about Gonzo's forehand lacking precision.

[@GrinGottsGBL]

what happened?

[@akiratheastronaut]

One of the most unlikeable players of this century vs one of the most loved.

[@kennethwilliams4874]

Verdasco hits the spectacular shots. Roger wins the match.

[@sokratis2265]

clickbait

[@aisthpaoitht]

Thanks! Good highlights

[@SHVideografie]

Federer had such amazing form in Cincinnati but really underperformed at the USO that year.

[@baptistelleshi1090]

@@SHVideografie what’s your top 5 players ever?

[@DreamteamCarlo]

That boy in the blue shirt has potential..

[@coryCuc]

7:45 that racket speed. Good lord.

[@JuninhoMicali]

2:52 - Dubaiiii

[@markthomas3730]

SADLY MISSED IN 2023...

[@jimclawley9117]

Loved Fed kit here. Understated cool

[@ertugrulkorpinar51]

Federers old forehand >>>

[@coryCuc]

11:25 that 1-2-3 punch was insane.

[@jokelot5221]

Really good play from mr 40:15. 😂

[@andreaho]

You should live a better life, dude. Time is limited.

[@jokelot5221]

Says a guy that replies to trolling comments 😂

[@RehmanAli-bl8tn]

Wow...what happened to the US open courts....did they put clay underneath the surface over the years....this was soooo fast compared to what we see now