Robin Soderling went into the French Open finals, ready to do what he did the previous year–beat Rafael Nadal.  He started blasting the ball in an attempt to overwhelm Rafa with power.  Nadal weathered the storm.  He looped shots up giving himself time to recover, and took one blow after another.  When Nadal won the first, then the second set, Soderling visibly drooped.  It was taking him 3 or 4 shots more to win (or lose) points against Nadal.  Robin had no other answers.  He’s not a net-rusher.  He doesn’t slice much.  Robin has channeled his efforts into hitting hard.

When Soderling met Rafa again in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon, he again hoped his strategy would work.  He started off with a quick lead, 5-0, and two breaks of serve.  But then Rafa held, and amazingly, broke, and held again before Soderling served out the set, 6-3.  Rafa then took control of the match and won the fourth set going away at 6-1.

Critics chimed in.  They called Soderling a one-trick pony.  He hits hard, and if that doesn’t work, there’s no plan B.  There’s nothing else for him to go to.

But let’s change the names from Robin Soderling to Roger Federer and ask the same question.  Time and again, Roger Federer has struggled, especially this year, especially on smaller tournaments.  The patterns are the same.  Roger goes for his shots.  He begins to spray shots everywhere but in.  Experts have wondered why he doesn’t extend the rallies and play a bit safer.

I believe Roger doesn’t think he can win passively.  He’s never going to be Rafa Nadal.  He’s not even going to be Andy Roddick.  Roger probably feels that his game hinges on confidence, and to be confident, he needs to go after his big shots in match situations.  When everything flows, Roger is untouchable, but these moments seem to be fewer and fewer.

Indeed, the one guy that seems pretty flexible about his game is Andy Roddick.  Part of the reason may be Roger Federer.  Roddick has historically played poorly against Federer, and so he’s altered his game in the last few years to maximize his results.  In particular, he’s learned to be a lot steadier than he used to be.  Once, his game was more like Roger Federer: big serve and big forehand.  He was a one-trick pony.  He’s reinvented himself as a counterpuncher, a guy who can keep the balls in play and wait for the error.

Roddick’s versatility came into play when he faced Michael Llodra in the second round.  Llodra is more comfortable at net than at the baseline.  Having come off a grass court win just before Wimbledon, Llodra befuddled Roddick by attacking Roddick’s backhand and luring Roddick to net.  Llodra was making Roddick play shots he’s not that comfortable hitting, and he was in danger of losing in the second round.

But Roddick made an adjustment.  He served and volleyed.  He attacked the net.  Against almost anyone else, this would be a bad idea.  But it turns out as comfortable as Llodra is at net, he’s equally uncomfortable when players attack him.  The strategy worked well.  Llodra is not the passer that other players are, and he struggled to pass.

The reason we don’t think of Federer has a one-trick pony is because of his variety.  He’ll slice.  He’ll drop shot.  But he doesn’t have a ton of variety to go to either.

In the old days, that is, in the 1970s, players often seriously changed strategies.  Baseliners came to net, despite lacking good volleys, and I suppose, serve and volleyers stayed at the baseline, though that happened far less because many serve and volleyers were horribly deficient in the backcourt.  These days, most players, if their stuck, don’t seem to change their games that much, at least, within a match.  They might try to develop some other aspect of their game, but that’s done in practice.

Several players of note have made significant modifications or additions to their game.  Most notably, Rafael Nadal has beefed up his serve, added a slice backhand, learned how to volley at net and how to sneak in on the volley, and is currently working on being more aggressive, going for more lines.

Andy Murray has been working on adding pace to his shots, being more comfortable pulling the trigger on down-the-line shots, trying to increase the percentage of his first serve, learned to hit high loopers, and built up his first serve.

Roger Federer made himself into primarily a baseline.  Roger used to be concerned with players like Hewitt and Nalbandian because they were better at the baseline than he was.  He’s improved his backhand, and can hit all sorts of angles.  However, Roger’s mobility, perhaps due to injuries, has been restricted some and it causes him to mishit all manner of balls.

The point is that while Robin Soderling may lack variety in his game, it’s not as if many other players have other options.  If Rafa is pounding the ball against you, coming to net is not likely to save you.  Indeed, you’ll probably just lose faster.  Most people’s solution is to just take their chances and hit harder.  Since Soderling already does this, he gets to this solution right away.  But if it doesn’t work, and it doesn’t work for lots of people, Soderling doesn’t have an alternate plan, e.g., play more patient tennis.  But, then, Roger doesn’t often have an alternative plan either.  It’s just that Soderling’s lack of variety makes it more glaring that he doens’t resort to other strategies.  It’s not that different from many other players, however.