Roger Federer: World No 1 reveals reasons behind key match tactic

Despite being 36-years of age, Federer has shown little sign of slowing down on a tennis court, being notoriously quick between points and often finishing his service games in around a minute.

In 2014, Federer changed the size of his racquet to give him more power, especially when hitting his serve and backhand. But he has always adopted proactive tactics compared to a more reactive approach used by his rivals.

And Federer insists playing shorter points is not because of his age but due to a desire to play an exciting brand of tennis.

He told reporters: “I’m not sure if I play shorter points because of my age. I’m not sure about that.

“I think I just chose to do that because I thought it would be more exciting tennis for me personally to play. I think the bigger racquet change in ’14 allowed me to return more aggressively on the second serve, which then allows me to be aggressive earlier in the point.

“And I have come to realise that by taking charge earlier in the point that’s exactly maybe my situation. I can always go back to slicing and doing what I always used to do back in, you know, my best years.

“You know, when you are always on the offensive, you also have to maintain a certain level of defensive skills, you know. So it is always a bit of a give and a take, you know.

"You only have so much time to work on your game, especially later on in your life. Quality is more important than quantity.

“So I don’t have that many hours on court, and in those hours what do I choose to do? That’s why I think my fitness work is really important, what I do with Pierre. And then when I go onto the tennis court, I think it needs to be very clear what we need to work on in that time.

“For the moment, it’s working. If it’s going to stop working, I will change my game up again maybe. But for now I will play faster points, but I’m always happy to extend the rallies, too, because I feel like I can also back myself there.”