John McEnroe calling Roger Federer's SABR unsportsmanlike was not fair, recalls Pat Cash

Pat Cash recently stated that Roger Federer’s “Sneak Attack by Roger (SABR)” technique was not unsportsmanlike. He compared the same to John McEnroe standing inside the baseline to return a serve during his days and said the American calling the 20-time Major winner “not sportsman-like” was unfair.

Federer’s SABR technique emerged in 2015 when the Swiss moved up the court during his opponent's second serve to throw him off-guard. McEnroe criticized the move, calling it unsportsmanlike conduct in tennis. However, Pat Cash thought the move was “brilliant.”

In conversation with Dan Kiernan on the “Control the Controllables” podcast, Cash shared his thoughts on the underarm serve and the SABR technique. The 1987 Wimbledon champion opined that an underarm serve is “fair” as it is part of a service, and players cannot complain about it.

"Why not? Why not? It's part of a serve. I've never heard a player go, "Oh my God, you served an underarm serve, I wanna complain about that!" It's an underarm serve,” he said, laughing.

He also admitted he loved Roger Federer's sneak attack tactic and compared it to McEnroe’s return during his days.

“I mean, I love the Federer thing that he used to come forward and take this half-volley. It's kind of like what John McEnroe did in our day. Brilliant tactic,” said Cash.

“Even McEnroe said it's not sportsmanlike. I said, "John, you have a look at some of your old videos. You are literally six feet inside the baseline, hitting returns. It's almost the same thing where Roger was. What do you mean it's not sportsmanlike?" I thought it's a brilliant idea. Federer was brilliant at that!” he concluded.

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“I love the way Roger [Federer] plays tennis” - Former coach Stefan Edberg

Roger Federer was an artist on court.

Roger Federer’s former coach Stefan Edberg recently stated that he loved how the Swiss Maestro played tennis while calling him an artist on the court.

“I love the way Roger plays tennis like a lot of other people around the world do. He’s an artist on court and very special to watch," Edberg said.

"It was very special to be around him and see how professional he is and see how things work nowadays to how it was back in my days," he added.

Edberg said he cherished the opportunity to work with Roger Federer. Their partnership yielded 11 titles for the 20-time Grand Slam champion. The 41-year-old also reached the final of the 2014 and 2015 Wimbledon and the 2015 US Open, all of which he lost to Novak Djokovic.