Roger Federer’s Gift to Tennis: A Shot That Players Love to Hit

The squash shot may be a last-resort play, but it’s fun to unleash and spectacular to watch. Federer made it his own, but many other players, especially women, are adopting it.

WIMBLEDON, England — “Times have changed,” Roger Federer said this week as he looked back on his early days at Wimbledon. Serve-and-volley was the rule then for the men, not the exception. Points were shorter, but the shots often slower. Modern string and racket technology and modern training methods have helped all professional players generate more pace and spin from extreme positions, and no shot better exemplifies the shift than the one the 39-year-old Federer has popularized over the course of his 23-year professional career. It is best known as the squash shot, in part because Federer played squash in his youth, and it is a lunging forehand slash, typically from an open stance.