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Roger Federer, like
a father asked to rate his children, does not like playing favourites
when it comes to dissecting his most spectacular shots on the tennis
court.

The Swiss added
another gem to his extraordinary collection with a between-the-legs,
back-to-the-net winner that left opponent Brian Dabul dumbfounded and
delighted the centre court crowd in his first round victory at the U.S.
Open on Monday.

Last year, the
five-time U.S. Open winner uncorked a similar shot that whizzed by
Serbian Novak Djokovic standing at the net and gave Federer match point
in their semi-final.

“What do you
think?” Federer told reporters when asked whether Monday’s shot was
better than the 2009 missile that was dubbed ‘shot of the century’ by
scribes around the world.

ESPN TV, which was
broadcasting the match in the United States, promoted a snap poll of
viewers. Fifty-nine percent voted in favour of the new shot. Federer
was not so sure.

“You think this one
was better? I don’t know,” he said. “Obviously the importance of last
year’s was probably a little bit more important. So obviously that has
a little bit of an impact, too.

Big push

“In terms of
difficulty maybe this one was harder, because I had the feeling I had
to run a longer distance and I was further back somehow.

“I had to really
give the last big push at the end.” Federer said when he turned, he
could not tell that his shot found the mark.

“Obviously the
crowd gave me the answer, which was kind of good. The ovation was
fantastic. Crowds went wild. Yeah, you could see on my reaction I
couldn’t believe it.” Federer, winner of a record 16 grand slam events,
said that after 10 years on the professional circuit there were plenty
of shots on his highlight reel.

“I know on YouTube, there are guys that are putting together best shots of me,” he said.

On the question of
trick shots, Federer was asked about the stir created by footage taken
for a TV commercial that shows him knocking a can off someone’s head
that won a huge number of hits but has raised questions about its
authenticity.

“One thing I tell you, that the shots on centre court in front of
22,000 people is a bit more difficult than what I did at the…
commercial,” Federer added. “That was just having a bit more fun.”