Federer on different styles of returns: 'Me, Rafa, Novak return completely different. It's so interesting'

Federer said that for him if you don't return, you don't win and that it's nearly as important in a game than a serve.

The Swiss ace added that for him it has improved massively since when he started playing and he said that while there was shocking players before, it is a more even keel now.

“No return, no wins, I'll tell you that. It's that simple. It's maybe not as important as the serve. I think still bigger serving is a bit more important,” Federer said.

“But it is amazing how returning has improved in the past 20 years since I started in the game. There were some shocking return players back in my day when I started. Now you rarely have them. Everyone can make returns at all times.”

Federer also spoke about the different styles of returns and said between the top trio of players they return completely different and that it is interesting.

He lauded praise on Nadal though saying that he's by far the best at returning but that to have a good return, consistency is key.

“I don't know if there's really a safe place to go to. When you kick serve to the backhand now, everybody waits for it, can make it, can even be aggressive on it. It's nice to see the improvements,” Federer said. “You have different styles of returns. I use the slice. Me, Rafa, Novak return completely different. It's so interesting.”

“Rafa is by far the best from returning way back in the court. It's amazing the power he gets from there. Just Novak, how long he is, he's still able to stay aggressive. I use the slice a lot,” Federer said. “The good thing is you can do it in different ways. I think consistency is the key when it comes to returning.”