Breaking It Down: Federer Vs. Malisse On the surface, Roger Federer had another scare on Wimbledon's center court Monday with a four-set victory over Xavier Malisse to advance to the quarterfinals. Federer's back tightened up and his opponent swung freely and you could have been forgiven if you were thinking another monumental upsets was in the cards. But while the pinball of the baseline rallies and approach shots looked fairly even, Federer had a massive advantage in one specific area that was always going to get him over the line - total dominance with second serves. When looking at an IBM stat sheet, it's best to go straight to second serve points won and lost for both players to get the inside view of what was really going on. This is the "smart stat" and Federer typically wins this battle hands down. Federer is number one in the world this year in winning points on his second serve at 61 percent which is 3 percentage points better than the Canadian flame-thrower, Milos Raonic. Against Malisse, Federer won 20/35 (57 percent) of his second serve points while Malisse was only able to win a very low 9/32 (28 percent). Federer was more than twice as good as his opponent in this critical area which totally shaped a match that was fairly even with aces (9 each), first serves made (Federer 71 percent / Malisse 70 percent) and first serve points won (Federer 73 percent / Malisse 67 percent). Malisse's problems winning second serve points starts with the speed he hits it - a slow average of 87 m.p.h. compared to Federer's average of 96 m.p.h. This included three serves in 70"s in this match for Malisse, including one at 74 m.p.h. at 40-30 in his opening service game. Federer walks faster than that to change ends. Federer feasted on the slow second serves, particularly off the forehand wing where he never lost a point - going 8/8 in the match. Federer also won a hearty 13/19 (68 percent) off the backhand return as well, giving Malisse nowhere to seek refuge. Overall Federer only failed to put three second serves out of 30 back in play, denying Malisse of any free points. In the first set tiebreaker which Federer won 7-1, Malisse twice had to hit second serves and lost both points. When he needed it most, it came up short. Federer on the other hand used his second serve as a weapon. He is averaging winning 59 percent second serve points for the tournament so far and was just under it today at 57 percent. Any time you win at least 50 percent of your second serve points in a match it has been a good day at the office. Federer's strength with his second serve centers around variety-mixing it wide, to the body and down the middle to keep Malisse off balance. Federer served 65 percent of his second serves to Malisse's backhand side, staying away from the more potent forehand that could immediately hurt him. Federer won 15/22 (68 percent) serving to Malisse's backhand and won 5/12 (42 percent) to Malisse's more offensive forehand. Federer's domination in this area was even more telling on the critical break points throughout the match. Federer faced three break points on his second serve and won two of them. He won all three break points when Malisse hit second serves. Malisse's success in each set was mirrored by his winning percentage on second serves. Although he was never able to exert any real pressure, he was able at times to minimize the damage. In the first set Malisse got to a tiebreaker and won 3/11 (27 percent of his second serve points for the set. He won the third set 6-4 and was a little better winning 4/9 (44 percent). But he lost the second set 6-1 and the fourth set 6-3 and was won exactly 1/6 (17 percent) points on his second serve in both sets. The real issue with second serves is that is it a comparatively weaker shot required to be hit short in the court and your opponent is standing there waiting for it. The problem is an immediate loss of control and no one has mastered the art of taking advantage of it better than Roger Federer. Craig O'Shannessy is the creator of a tennis strategy Web site, www.thebraingame.net, and the director of Life Time High Performance Tennis Academy in Dallas. His e-mail address is Craig@thebraingame.net.