On the same day he announced he’d be taking it old school by hiring Stefan Edberg to join his coaching team, Roger Federer revealed he’ll also be starting 2014 with a bit of the new.
As noted by Christopher Clarey of The New York Times, Federer recently confirmed he’ll play with a larger, 98-inch racket head in Australia.
The 17-time Grand Slam champion used a 90-inch racket to win each of his majors. Last summer, he briefly dabbled with a 98-inch model before going back to his regular racket prior to the North American hard court season.
He explained his decision to the Swiss-German daily Basler Zeitung. (Note: The quotes have been translated.)
I’m going to play in Australia with a similar model as in my first attempt. Actually, I wanted to switch back after the U.S. Open again, but then I had so much to do with myself and my game, that I kept it on hold. Now, I had more time to make more small changes and together with my supplier company Wilson worked on the fine details of the racket.
[...] But now I have the feeling that this is the right time for a change in the racket. I’ve played through two and a half weeks with the new model and am confident. The racket is very good in the hand. But the truth will come out on the court. We’ll see how it affects me in the tournaments in Australia.
Larger rackets tend to produce more power and are more forgiving on mishits. The disadvantage is that players say they lose control when the size of the head increases.
Pete Sampras famously stuck with his 85-inch Wilson Pro Staff throughout his career. Upon his retirement, he started using the larger racket during exhibitions and has said he wishes he could have made the change during his prime.
ftw.usatoday.com
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