What could Federer have done against Nadal?

What if the Federer versus Nadal rivalry that ended up with Nadal as the leader could be changed.

Bias:  I have been a Roger Federer fan though over time I have learned to love the heart Nadal puts in to his game if not his style.   That said.  If I could have given Roger the means to equal the match with Rafa I would have done so if for no other reason than the selfish need to see one epic match after another.  

A rear mirror view of the reasons Rafa dominated Fed on a one to one basis in matches.

This is a look in hindsight though many years I wondered if Fed had done something with his backhand whether he could have blunted the Nadal attack on this one area of weakness relative to the rest of his game.  The problem with having any vulnerability is that once your opponent learns to exploit it like Rafa did with those high bounding topspin balls to Fed's backhand it became a primary focus on the match between them.  To compensate, Fed had to make his forehand even more aggressive and to run around the backhand at every chance.  When he did play the high one hander backhand shots they rarely did damage and the only time he caused Rafa trouble is when he would chip the ball for angles.  Going for big forehands was something Fed could do but it often put him out of position if he didn't hit the perfect shot.

What could Federer have done?

I've thought about this for years.  Aside from tactical changes such as moving in as early as possible to take the ball on the rise there weren't many options for Fed.

He could have worked on a driving chip backhand.

Imagine this.  Fed calls up Ken Rosewall and asks him to secretly train him on the chip backhand to bring it up to the level of precision and depth that Rosewall developed.    He could have passed his visits off to Ken as social, and meanwhile made this a one or two year project to make is backhand a weapon of unsurpassed versatility.  It may have worked though in truth I think it would have still been more vulnerable than other options that I have secretly dreamed of seeing Fed undertake.

He could have gone for serve-and-volley and chip-and-charge net play.

I wondered if he could have pulled this off with the changes in equipment.  Another factor is that his injury rate might have gone up thus negating any benefit.  Still, I think he held the talent to bring back a style that had over the past two decades all but disappeared.  The method of getting there would have been for him to take up playing doubles.  He should have picked up Sampras as a partner to get the full view of how such a dominant game could be played.

I will write this about Roger as a admirer of his game and the classic style.

Here is the heresy.
Roger with a two handed backhand.

Picture one match, on one day, where Roger comes up against his nemesis, Rafa Nadal.  The match begins and Rafa takes to his usual pattern in high bounding topspin balls to the Fed backhand.  Instead of lightly timing the shot and trying to redirect it with his one hander Fed grabs the racket with two hands, steps in  and crushes the ball in a fashion reminiscent of  Agassi or Connors, or maybe nowadays Novak.  The shock value alone would cause Rafa some second looks but just as importantly it would alter the years worn path of every match they have played.  The announcers in the booth would be in awe and though initially speechless, would wonder if they had just witnessed.  Now here is the rest of the story.

Codename: Double Fist

Two years prior Roger decides to embark on a secret program to add one more weapon to his already magnificent arsenal.  He calls up Jimmy Connors to meet for a game and some dinner and to ask him a favor. Over dinner he says to Connors, "Jimmy, I want you to teach me in secret how to hit a two handed backhand as you did.  I am sick and tired of getting the Borg treatment from Rafa and I want him to fear my backhand like everyone did yours."

Connors smirks at him and says, " you know I often wondered if I had your forehand and serve and my backhand how many more championships I would have won.  Of course I will if you let me know the day you plan to unleash it so I can be there.  I have nothing against Rafa but let's face it, he is taking away my reputation as the number one hustler and fighter out on the court and I want to see him dropped down a notch or two."

Two years later and many secret matches later Fed has his backhand ready.  He had Gimelstob feign the Rafa high bounder against his backhand for many nights in  Dubai.  

So it's two games into the match and Fed is waiting to return a serve from Rafa and no one particularly notices that he is double fisting his now extended grip.  The serve goes to the backhand and he steps forward and crushes it straight back at Rafa who was expecting one of those smooth but not so damaging one handed works of art.  Instead he sees a body swing with the full weight of Fed that sends the ball back at an extra 30 mph giving Rafa no time.  Fed follows up with a point ending forehand from the weak play off the return.  The following points are an attempted replay by Rafa of his usual bounders but Roger is no longer running around his backhand and is instead jumping all over the ball.  It is eerily reminiscent of somebody from the early days but the game announcers can't put their finger on it.  Instead they talk about how it seems to work as well as Novak's.  Connors is in the stands listening to this through his headphone and smiles knowing that he is again back in the game by handing his sword to Fed.

If ?

Well, of course it may be too late for this now unless Fed wants to try this on the Champions tour when he faces Rafa and the rest of them.  I suggest that he try it simply to prove that he could have done this as the Maestro of tennis and changed everything but for the idea.  I know, it is offensive to the artistic senses but this to me is the tennis version of fantasy football.  I can dream can't I?