Okay, a lot of people might scoff at the question initially, especially Rafa fans, and that's perfectly justified, but allow me to elaborate a bit. I was originally going to ask, who is better with their backhand when on the defensive, which is a far more interesting question at surface-value. However, if you really think about it, Fed has improved his backhand tremendously in the last couple of years, it's really the only part of his game that hasn't gotten worse. It's a very big weapon for him offensively.
Their backhands are as different as possible. Nadal loves to rip his crosscourt tremendously hard and has also developed a relatively good slice. It is a relatively safe rally shot for him but he can also attack it. His 2 hander is as powerful as any in the world, particularly when using the extreme angle. Meanwhile, Fed's is much more about precision and placement. He makes far more errors off of his backhand than Rafa, but part of that is because he tends to go for it more often. When Nadal attacks his backhand it's crosscourt, when Roger goes big on his, it's almost always down the line (See Aussie Open 2010 against Murray). Fed can also create an extreme angle with the backhand to open up the court and probably has the best slice in the world.
In regards to defense, both are great off of the backhand wing as well. Nadal gets great depth on his backhand to keep him in points, has developed the reliable slice, and hits stinging passes from a good ten feet behind the baseline if you come in towards his backhand, which you really have to, since his forehand will almost always pass you. As for Roger, his topspin backhand is relatively lacking on the defensive end. He can hit some great passes with it, but the true defensive strength of his backhand is his incredible ability to be stretched way off the court and still slice the ball back right to the opponents' baseline. While Rafa uses a stopspin 2 hander to keep his opponent at bay, Roger uses the slice with incredible control and touch to keep him in many points that he probably should lose. The other big thing about Fed's defense on the backhand is "the Flick" which is just an outrageous bit of skill that no other player in the world has. Even other players with better backhands, such as Gasquet, don't have the ability to flick passing shots and backhands like Roger does.
So I put the question to you, Yahoo! Answers. Who has the better backhand overall? It's interesting because at least for me, I think about Rafa's backhand initially as an offensive shot, but it's probably even better when he's on the defense. Remember how many times he destroyed Djokovic earlier this month with those huge crosscourt passes? And initially I think of Roger's backhand as a defensive shot because of the great slice, but it's actually probably stronger when he's attacking now, particularly since he's not quite as quick to get around it and hit a forehand, his backhand has had to become better for attacking, and it most certainly has.
The first instinct for everyone is to write Roger's off, that's what I would have done. But if you really think about it, it's at least a much closer discussion than you might have originally thought.
Their backhands are as different as possible. Nadal loves to rip his crosscourt tremendously hard and has also developed a relatively good slice. It is a relatively safe rally shot for him but he can also attack it. His 2 hander is as powerful as any in the world, particularly when using the extreme angle. Meanwhile, Fed's is much more about precision and placement. He makes far more errors off of his backhand than Rafa, but part of that is because he tends to go for it more often. When Nadal attacks his backhand it's crosscourt, when Roger goes big on his, it's almost always down the line (See Aussie Open 2010 against Murray). Fed can also create an extreme angle with the backhand to open up the court and probably has the best slice in the world.
In regards to defense, both are great off of the backhand wing as well. Nadal gets great depth on his backhand to keep him in points, has developed the reliable slice, and hits stinging passes from a good ten feet behind the baseline if you come in towards his backhand, which you really have to, since his forehand will almost always pass you. As for Roger, his topspin backhand is relatively lacking on the defensive end. He can hit some great passes with it, but the true defensive strength of his backhand is his incredible ability to be stretched way off the court and still slice the ball back right to the opponents' baseline. While Rafa uses a stopspin 2 hander to keep his opponent at bay, Roger uses the slice with incredible control and touch to keep him in many points that he probably should lose. The other big thing about Fed's defense on the backhand is "the Flick" which is just an outrageous bit of skill that no other player in the world has. Even other players with better backhands, such as Gasquet, don't have the ability to flick passing shots and backhands like Roger does.
So I put the question to you, Yahoo! Answers. Who has the better backhand overall? It's interesting because at least for me, I think about Rafa's backhand initially as an offensive shot, but it's probably even better when he's on the defense. Remember how many times he destroyed Djokovic earlier this month with those huge crosscourt passes? And initially I think of Roger's backhand as a defensive shot because of the great slice, but it's actually probably stronger when he's attacking now, particularly since he's not quite as quick to get around it and hit a forehand, his backhand has had to become better for attacking, and it most certainly has.
The first instinct for everyone is to write Roger's off, that's what I would have done. But if you really think about it, it's at least a much closer discussion than you might have originally thought.