Roger Federer has grabbed attention with his new half-volley return but has revealed he came up with the shot only to avoid long points during a training session.
The No. 2 arrived in Cincinnati a couple of days before the start of the Masters event and went almost straight to the practice courts.
"I don't know what time it was, maybe after lunchtime, and then I went for a hit. It was Benoit Paire. He had like an ear problem. I was tired from jet lag. We were tired and practicing on center court," Federer said after his third-round victory at the US Open.
Having withdrawn from the previous week's event in Montreal, he was preparing for his first hard-court event since Wimbledon. The 34-year-old Federer hit with the unpredictable, shot-making French player for a while and then the two decided to play some practice points because coach Severin Luthi wanted a bit more.
"We said, 'Well, let's still play some games just because it feels like it's the right thing to do,'" Federer said. "I was going to stop already, but Severin said, 'Play a few games, get used to the conditions.' I said, 'Whatever. Let's play some games,'" Federer said, though they didn't take it seriously for very long.
Federer conceded he wanted to keep the points short and decided to employ some chip-and-charge returns into the practice session. As Federer said, he wanted "to get off the court soon anyway."
"That's when I started to run in and hit returns," Federer said. "I hit a couple for a winner. They were like ridiculous. He laughed, I laughed, Severin laughed.
"Then I did it again in the next practice just to see if it actually would still work again. Then I tried it the next practice and it still worked. That's what Severin said, 'Well, what about using it in a match.' I was like, 'Really?' So he pushed me to keep using it and not shy away from using it on big moments and not just because you don't know how you look with a full stadium.
"I thought it was kind of funny.
Two of the most famous examples of the shot came when Federer took on big-serving Kevin Anderson's delivery and hit a volley winner in his second encounter at Cincinnati and then took control of the first-set tiebreaker at 3-1 against Novak Djokovic in the final. But even Federer might be hard-pressed to do it against his next opponent, 6-foot-10 John Isner, who wields a massive serve with a high kicker.
"I mean, the idea is not to use it very much against a player like that," said Federer, but did add, "I will think about it."
Isner wouldn't suggest it. "He's the only guy who could do it," he said in a TV interview with ESPN but had to laugh about whether Federer would do it to him. "By all means, give it a shot."
Sounds like a challenge.