Roger Federer Pushed To Five Sets at Australian Open 2011: An In Depth Analysis

Roger Federer was given a massive scare in the second round of the Australian Open on Wednesday, pushed to five sets by Frenchman Gilles Simon.

Federer ran away with the first two sets before falling off his game as Simon started to work the Federer backhand more and make the most of the world No. 2's drop in concentration.

Here's an in depth analysis of what Federer did right in the first two sets and what Simon did to push the reigning champion to his limit.

Set 1

Let's take a look at the very first game of the match, because this really set the tone for the first hour of the contest. Simon is serving, and even though he eventually saved two break points and went on to win the game, the plan of Federer was very clear from the get go.

Simon actually didn't do a lot wrong. He was going to the Federer forehand in the deuce court and the backhand in the ad court, but Federer just kept pinning him back with a great weight of shot.

Federer was taking the ball inside the baseline a lot and he was targeting the backhand of Simon. In addition, he also worked the ball up the middle of the court a lot, not giving Simon any angles to work with. When this was coupled with Federer taking speed off the ball, it was so effective, mainly because Simon is not good at generating his own pace.

One point in particular really shows how Federer was able to dominate the first set.

Federer moved his feet to avoid a body serve and chipped a backhand to Simon's forehand. Federer followed it up with another pair of sliced backhands cross court before stepping onto the baseline to unload a wicked forehand that dragged Simon out of the court and into the doubles alley deep on his forehand. Although Simon was able to get the ball back, Federer had the simplest of drive volleys from the middle of the court to put the point away.

Set 2

The second set featured more of the same, with Federer dominating on his serve and forcing the issue on the return. Simon didn't help himself in this game with a double fault, but Federer continued to take second serves inside the baseline and then establish himself on slightly shorter balls when Simon found himself hitting ground strokes from four or five feet behind the baseline. Federer broke to love here to move ahead 4-1 in the second.

Federer didn't serve particularly well in the second set, making just 55 percent of his first serves. The key, though, was that when he did get his first serve in, he won 10 of those 11 points. Look at how he kept Simon at the back of the court, compared to where he was taking the ball. This service game gave Federer a 5-3 lead and consolidated the break.

While Federer broke in the very next game to take the set 6-3, there were encouraging signs from Simon. He was absorbing pace on the backhand swing as well as ever before and he was keeping in rallies better than in the first set. More importantly he was winning points on Federer's second serve while starting to get a better feel for passing shots when Federer presented a target at the net.

The number of balls Federer hit from inside the baseline, or right on the baseline, speaks for itself.

Set 3

So what caused Federer's dip in the third set? He lost the opening game on his serve to 15 and then fell 0-3 behind after being broken for the second time in a row. His forehand dropped off to the point that it was almost wild, and while he was still creeping inside the baseline on the backhand flank, he wasn't using it to set up his forehand as effectively.

Federer made 17 unforced errors in as many games in the first two sets, but eight in the first three games of the third. You can see where he was missing in the image below. Six of these were on the forehand, with four of them on or inside the baseline.

Two over-hit backhands added to the mix gave Simon the edge in the set. Federer lost concentration and Simon pounced. Still, give credit to the Frenchman for attacking the backhand more and for reading the Federer shot a little earlier, allowing him to get into position sooner.

Set 4

Federer started hitting his forehand cleaner again in the fourth set, but Simon countered by attacking, almost exclusively, the Federer backhand. While the world No. 2 was able to defend very well from that side, Simon had a lot of success and it was the primary reason why he was able to take the set and force a decider.

To put it into context, here is how Simon played Federer, serving at 3-4 in the fourth. To put a baseball analogy on it, Simon pitched Federer away, away, away. More than three quarters of the ground strokes were to the ad court and Federer just wasn't able to attack the forehand and get to the net.

Below is a detailed look at the fourth set as a whole. You can see just how aggressive Simon was in targeting the Federer backhand. Simon mixed up his serve in the ad court but went after the backhand a lot in the deuce court. He also got inside the baseline more and attacked the net, giving him a much more well-rounded game than in the early stages.

Set 5

As we know, Federer ultimately went on to win this match 6-3 in the fifth as Simon was unable to keep up the intensity of the earlier two sets. Simon's serve went to the dogs while Federer's was much stronger. Federer dropped just two points when he made his first serve and he looked great coming to the net again.

Federer lost his timing in the third and fourth sets and he went away from what had given him success at the start...namely constructing points, coming over his backhand and avoiding the chipped backhand in games where he was serving.

Federer is into the third round after a big scare against a guy he has had no success against in the past, but he was made to work for it. Simon changed his approach mid-game in the face of a straight-sets defeat and it almost gave him the biggest upset of the tournament.

While he is now heading home, the game may serve as a blueprint for Federer's opponents going forward into the championship.