What stands out for me is the fact Federer will be 36 in August. He is defying physiology. The changes he has made to his game have paid off in ways few thought possible and makes you wonder how dominant he would have been if he had employed an aggressive backhand earlier in his career.
What used to be a weakness against Nadal, the backhand, is now a weapon. No longer is Rafa able to hit a heavy top spin forehand to the Federer back hand to set up a forehand winner. Whereas in the past Federer would slice the backhand to simply get the ball back into play, he now predominately plays an aggressive driving return.
His performance in Miami was more astonishing for the fact he won epic duels with Tomas Berdych in the quarter finals and Nick Kyrgios in the semis before beating a resurgent Nadal.
So can Federer transfer his dominance on hard court to the European clay? Ordinarily I would hesitate to say yes, but given what the Swiss has achieved this year, it is a very real possibility that he could contend at Roland Garros.
In his prime Federer was the second best clay court player in the world behind Nadal. He lost three French Open finals to the Spaniard before winning the title in 2009 and losing another final in Paris to Nadal in 2011.
Confidence is everything in tennis and while Federer has it in abundance right now, the likes of world number one Andy Murray and number two Novak Djokovic don't after bumpy starts to the year.
Federer skipped the clay court season last year to concentrate on another shot at Wimbledon. He will have a very limited build up to Roland Garros and will only transfer from hard court to clay two weeks before the year's second Grand Slam. That's because his physio thinks clay may have contributed to his knee problems last year. He's made it clear Wimbledon is his biggest goal now. Still his preparation wasn't extensive before the Australian Open and we would be foolish to write him off at the French, because of what he's achieved so far this year.
