I can't imagine Muzza and Lendl did not plan for the eventuality that rain would intervene during the final.. Conditions changed for both the players, Federer just managed to play that tiny bit better on the big points after the roof was closed.. I do know that the closed arena favours Roger's game, allowing him to play the up-tempo style he likes, without worrying about external factors.. Muzza is one of the smartest tennis guys out there, and one of the best movers on the tour.. IMHO, the grass still favours the player who is pressing forward.. Muzza just could not impose his counter-punching game on Federer..
There was nothing to plan except for keep the focus and the momentum going – toughest job for Andy, really. This was the reason why Lendl and Andy never talked during the break. Andy's main problem is, he gets distracted very easily and the major finals are always his biggest challenge. Andy came out with a plan to blow Federer off the court so when you say that “Muzza couldn't impose his counter-punching game”, you are assessing the match wrong, as Andy was very aggressive from the start. In fact, he's been that way throughout the tournament. This is pretty much the Lendl effect and he’s making the transition here in Andy’s game. So obviously, Andy is still in the midst of that transition and so when he gets a bit tentative, he tends to regress. He tends to think too much and he has his mental lapses from time to time, so obviously the break was never going to work in his favour. This is the reason why the McEnroe brothers talked about it quite a bit at the start of the match, as the rain was coming at some point during the match, so it was part of the discussion from early on and they predicted that with roof closed, Federer gets the advantage. And they had yet to see the match as it was a pre-discussion.
Federer, without a doubt, the better player under controlled circumstances as his serves are much more effective (McEnroe brothers will vouch for it). He’s won 20 titles on indoor hard/carpet, a total (almost) combination of his grass and clay titles (21 – 11 on grass and 10 on clay), so you can see how successful he is as far as anything indoor is concerned. He’s also far more experienced given that he’s been on tour for nearly 15 years, so the closing of roof instantly favours Federer and the pros know. As to Andy – well, unless Andy himself wants a break, any other break will go against him; that is, if he’s playing a very big match. You never want to give him too much time to think. He already thinks too much due to this pressure he has.
