Roger Federer says the homogenization of playing surfaces speeds has made the game somewhat less interesting.
“I think there are no necessarily grass-court players, indoor specialists, not really clay-court specialists, for that matter,” Federer told reporters in Madrid. “So everybody can play everywhere now. In the past people would miss entire clay- or grass-court seasons because they just thought, I’m not going to waste my time there. I’m going to practice and return on a surface that I prefer. It makes it sometimes easier then to dominate through different surfaces. But at the same time, if you’re on bad run, also that run can last longer as well.”
Federer, who has won majors on clay, grass, and hard courts, added that it’s a pity there are not more extreme differences on tour.
“That you come into, let’s say a quick hard court or a slow clay court and you have somebody who feels totally out of sorts,” he said. “Before I thought that was pretty funny sometimes to see a guy feeling so uncomfortable having to play the other expert, but trying with what he had to make the other player feel uncomfortable. It’s not so much that anymore now, because everybody hits a good forehand, everybody hits a good backhand, everybody serves well now and moves well and is fit. It’s more one-dimensional now.”