too bad roger isn’t playing with the big boys in england. i guess he was afraid he couldn’t compete with them. so stay in your sand box, rog, but you can’t hide forever, the big W is coming up and the truth will be revealed.

fed is afraid, I get that you are a big anti-Fed guy or pro-Rafa, that’s fine. And I probably shouldn’t ask this but screw it, I have to know. This from the other thread you write “federer is the most mentally weak number 1 that has ever been.”

So the how the heck do you arrive at such a moronic statement? What’s your thought process. Do you even have one? Sorry, just gotta ask.

Oh, but quite opposite - all the big boys are playing Queens because there they at least have a chance to win.

For all the Halle tournament mockers, just a few random notes:
1. Prize money (€713.000) is identical to the Queens’ prize money, with a notable difference, main draw is 32, as opposed to 48 (Queens). Ergo, Halle winner gets €115.500, Queens’ winner gets €84.500.

2. “Gerry Weber” stadium is reaaaaly monumental, its capacity is 12.000, it can hardly compare with the backyard where Queens is played.

3. Queens does have notably stronger roster but each one of the eight seeds in Halle are quite good fast-court players.

To make long story short, Halle is ideal choice for a gooood grass preparation and Wimbledon warm up, with approximately 3-4 easy and 1-2 harder matches. Also, it is possible to make a perfect timing for training sessions and matches, because the stadium is covered, so there are no rain delays.

Sean,
You sounded there as funny as the other guy, “fed is afraid,” especially when you said, “moronic statement” and “Sorry, just gotta ask.”
I am still laughing !

LOL

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/22825103/vp/25061839#25061839

The answer to your question, “And I probably shouldn’t ask this but screw it,” which cracked me more, is: “FIA” is the same guy at Mad Dog Minute, MSNBC? Thanks, Bullies Sissies (BS from now on).
[FIA = Fed Is Afraid].

Fed has always played Halle, even before he ever won wimbledon. I don’t think he ever played Queens. So his going to Halle this year is nothing new.

As for Fed being scared of players on grass - that is the most ridiculuous thing I have ever heard in my life! Even Nadal is scared of Fed on grass, as he showed last year by choking in the 5th set. 5 straight wimbledons, with only 7 sets lost (far fewer sets and games lost than even Borg and Sampras) - Fed has put up the best performance on grass courts ever in the history of the game, and by being undefeated in 6 years!!

Nadal had a tough time today against a player I can’t even remember his name (ranked 113 or something, 18 year old from japan). So nadal’s season is pretty much done.

djokovic will overtake nadal soon. nadal has nearly 250 points to defend from stuttgart from last year, which he won’t since the season is compressed.

Nadal is what he is - the best clay courter, perhaps ever. But that’s where it stops as well.

Check this out, Agassifan, http://www.atptennis.com/1/en/2008news/borg_pressconference.asp

This grass-court trash talking from nadal fans has been common for the past few years. It is going to be fun to see them vanish one after the other as things start rolling down for mr. weak knees.

Wimbledon-olympics and USopen will be the critical tournaments for Federer. He hasn’t lost at Wimbledon in 6 yrs. At NY in 5yrs and in shanghai he has lost only 3 matches. 1 of them in a 5th set tie-break and two of them 7-5 in the 3rd. It is going to take an insane effort to beat him at these 3 places. Djokovic is the best bet to stop Federer. Rest all dont even have a prayer if Fed brings his A+ game. Djokovic and Federer have so much game and options on the faster courts. Nadal is lucky the wimbledon courts and conditions are not even a pale shadow of the pacy courts of the 90s.

Shital,

Borg also predicted that it will be a close final at the FO this year. So much for predictions.

Sampras used to lose in the first couple of rounds at the French on most occasions. Nobody ever questioned his ability to win wimbledon (and rightly so). Fed is so much on the radar purely because he is SO GOOD on clay, that he is no 2, so he is in virtually every clay final, where he unfortunately faces possibly the best clay courter in history.

If Sampras was playing today instead of Federer, he probably would have had an even record against nadal on clay (0-0). Why? Because he would have almost never reached a clay final, to be able to play nadal. Fed is 1-9 against nadal on clay just because Fed reaches almost every clay final. If nadal reached almost every grass and hard final, then Fed would have had an overall winning record against him. So Fed being 1-9 against nadal on clay, instead of 0-0, is just because he is so good on clay, something many people do not understand, or care to.

Point is - its ridiculous to question Fed’s ability to win on grass, given his record on grass, just because he is SO MUCH better than sampras on clay, which leads to his finals losses on clay against nadal!!! just doesn’t make sense.

And on the GOAT debate - those who favor laver, should recognize that he won his first 6 slams (out of 11) against amateurs, who were much inferior to the professional players in the early 60s. Prime example is Pancho Gonzalez, who couldn’t play then, who consistently beat LAver even though he was 12 years older! Also, 3 of the 4 slams were on grass.

Again, nobody has a perfect record.

So the question is not whether anyone’s record is perfect or not. The question is - how CLOSE to perfect is it?

WIth 5 Wimbys, 4 US, 3 AUS, and 3 french finals, along with the numerous other records, Fed can be considered to be closer to perfection than anyone else.

Shital Green: Point taken (Borg’s props for nadal at W) but I wouldn’t be too taken with Borg’s skills in crystal-ball gazing. He was the lone expert who gave Fed a good chance against Nadal in the French finals.

it’s very simple. his competition has been suspect until nadal came around. the other guys just weren’t as good as federer or they were too lazy to put the work into it like safin and nalbiandian. safin was just as good as roger but was too busy partying to take full advantage of his potential. most guys were beat before they got on the court with him, nadal comes along and has no fear of him, has pushed him in almost every match, doesn’t back down, and roger is scared to death of him. you could see it in his face sunday, he did not want to play rafa, so he didn’t. he didn’t even try. and djoker isn’t backing down either, roger’s days at number 1 are coming to an end.

Don’t believe any of Borg’s “predictions”. He has an astounding ability to jinx certain players by championing them to win certain tournaments. Whatever he says, go for the opposite. He’s probably a poor gambler as well. It’s likely the reason each of his post-tennis business ventures foundered during the 80s.

fed is afraid:
I’ve heard the “Federer has no competition” stuff before, and I don’t buy it. He’s had many tough matches during the past several years, but it’s only because he won most of them that some don’t think he had to earn much. He was just an over-all better tennis player. Does Nadal win on clay so often because he has no real competition? A rare few might say yes just by looking at the scores, but the reality as most know is that his ability to bring out his best on that surface is what makes him a better claycourter than the rest. As with Roger on the faster surfaces, it’s a matter of time before someone gets the better of Nadal on clay. Thing is: who and when?

I like bullies…That link took two years off my life. Thanks for reminding me just how awful the “mad dog” is.

Fed is afraid, no it’s not that “simple.” Your reasoning is complete garbage. Had Fed dropped from No. 1 when Rafa first burst onto the scene, maybe then you can make such a case, but now, four years later Fed is still No. 1 and Rafa still hasn’t sniffed the top spot.

And if Fed is the weakest No. 1 ever as you argue what does that make the No. 2 guy who has been stuck behind him all this time? Mentally stronger?

You want to argue that Roger is afraid of Rafa, fine, I’ll listen, but I still gotta ask, how the hell can you come to the conclusion that Fed is a mentally weaker No. 1 than say…Marcelo Rios. Or Carlos Moya. Or Juan Carlos Ferrero. Or even Marat Safin. You do know those guys were also once No. 1, don’t you?

Sorry for being curious, fed is afraid. Again, sometimes I just gotta understand how people can arrive at the statements they make here. So help me to understand your point.

Agassifan and Statman,

I did not take side when I asked you to check out that interview. I don’t totally disagree with you guys. I agree with you guys that Fed will be the most favorite going into Wimby, no doubt about that. I agree with Borg regarding comparing players from 2 different eras that it does not make much sense. To me GOAT debate is irresolvable because of too many variables to sort out (e.g. you cannot discredit Laver for winning US Open only on grass against Connors’ win on all 3 surfaces of the US Open). If I were to get into this, I would have 4-5 players up there, instead of just one.

Back to the present, regardless of Fed being favorite, there will be stronger challengers this year, not just for Fed, but for all top three. Honestly, I would not be very surprised if none make it to the final, though I hope Djoko to do better this year and would prefer him on Nadal’s side of the draw. And that should tell a lot about Fed’s standing on grass.

That Mad dog guy is an utter dork; however, he has a point. That final was a huge let down primarily because Roger did fight. No matter what you say about how great Rafa is on clay, if Roger is the number 2 on clay, as his results over the past few year suggest, then how come he didn’t even come close in one of the three sets which were over in the blink of an eye. Novak came way closer and really should’ve taken it to a 4th but folded in the tiebreak. But at least he fought.

Sorry in that first sentence of my last post it should say roger did NOT fight.

By contrast, Rafa fought hard in the Wimbledon final last year, making it a classic in probably all our minds/memories.

All that said, I agree Roger is still the favorite to win Wimbledon, but this year there are more who could potentially dethrone him there - esp. if he meets some young hot player in the early rounds. You just never know. Halle will help him to warm up, as Queens will help the others.

rios, moya and ferrero aren’t candidates for GOAT. roger is put in the same catogory as sampras, borg mcenroe, lendl, and he just doesn’t belong there. look at the guys they had to play and look at who roger plays. it’s night and day. look at fed’s finals opponents and compare to lendl, becker, mcenroe etc… fed has had cupcakes compared to them. until nadal came around and we see the h2h-6-11.

No matter what happens at Wimbledon, I have to say that this is just an incredible moment for men’s tennis. We have the top 3 players in the world locking horns week after week on every surface, at every Masters Series event and Slam. I started following tennis religiously in the 90s so I can speak about before that, but it’s pretty incredible. Maybe it has something to do with there not being much difference between the surfaces, but still. A real shame that men’s tennis is so off the radar in the U.S. because I think the sport has never been better.

Fed is afraid, sorry but you’re not very convincing. Nadal’s every bit as good as McEnroe’s two main rivals at Wimbledon - Borg and Connors. And think back to that 2004 Wimbledon final. Roddick woulda served Mac off the court, sorta like what Curren did to him 1985. In fact, as soon as that big power game came to the fore with Becker and the graphite rackets, Mac’s days were numbered.

i’ve read a lot in the press and on this blog and others about how fed didn’t try in the french final. and i think most have bolstered this line of thinking from fed’s own press conference when he said (and i’m not saying this verbatim) ‘once it was 4-0 (in the third) his chances of winning were slim.’

well, call me crazy, but at the level nadal was playing surely roger couldn’t have thought..”ok…if i just break nadal three more times this set and then win the last two, the titles mine.”

i’d say he gave the match a fair assessment at that point. and sure his body language was down at times but he never gave up…. he played every point trying to win it. just so happened he didn’t win hardly any.

this final reminds me of the wimbledon final 05 when fed beat roddick in three sets - he had no double faults, 13 unforced errors and played roddick into the ground - despite roddick trying on every point to win one.

sometimes there is just greatness at a massive level and we have to appreciate it. particularly when it happens to be two such amazing players (nadal and fed).

oops ‘his’ should be ‘my’.

andrea, it’s funny to hear you apologize for Fed’s lackluster performance when you said after Djokovic’s much-more spirited match with Rafa something to this effect –> “now let’s see the only player [play Rafa] who can give him a run for his money” meaning Roger, of course.

And speaking of money, don’t you think the fans deserved a little more effort than Roger just resigning himself to the loss and deciding to have a bagel for breakfast?

I mean Roger is a great player -one of the greatest- and also the number 2 player on clay based on his results, and yet that’s what the fans get? A complete rout? He just didn’t seem into it, and that’s a shame. Whether you’re a fan of Roger or not.

If you go to ESPN you can read Bonnie Ford’s article in which she cites ex-French Open champs marveling at the apparent lack of effort on Roger’s part.

Of course Rafa was the overwhelming favorite (although many, including you, thought Roger had a chance) but that final was a blow out, and partly that was due to Roger’s sub-standard performance. We know he’s capable of more than that against Rafa on clay, as we saw just at Hamburg and MC this year.

Of course also if it was Novak who lost in the final like that, you’d have much to say about it, but no apologies.

To fed is afraid:
If one man wins everything then there is no competition.I fed had lost to guys like roddick and hewitt then you wouldnt be saying that.Who did sampras face other than agassi(who was missing for 2 years)He beat cedric pioline and those type of guys.The others becker , courier were declining during those years so its as good as fed ’s competition like facing agassi.It doesnt make sense.As hiding behind our keyboards put it……Does anyone say nadal doesnt have any competition.Or that you cant compare nadal with borg or vilas on clay because they had better competition.Even greats like rod laver and sampras have said that federer would definitely fall into the top 5 GOAT players of all time.Now who is supposed to be right—them or you?If they dont have a problem adding fed to their list then why do you have a problem? I’m a fed fan go sue me…….

BTW, that Roddick / Fed 2005 Wimbledon final you mention?

2-6; 6-7; 4-6

The Djokovic / Nadal 2008 French semi?

4-6; 2-6; 6-7

They each won the exact same number of games - 12 - and they both fought hard.

We all know Fed won a whopping total of 4 - I repeat 4!! - games in the French Open final.

If you’re Roger’s numero uno fan, you know he can do better than that!! I was hoping he’d at least make it interesting. In a GRAND SLAM final a player must not resign himself to losing.

If Roger’s taking some heat about this in the press, it’s really not that surprising - two of my neighbors, not even tennis fans, have commented on how quick the final was over…

Jane,

While we are at it, let us mention Roddick getting thumped 4 2 and 0 at last year’s australian open or the many times nadal gets swatted off the hard-court as if he is an unwanted bug. Nalbandian did that twice last year, Fed beat Nadal at shanghai under an hour. Tsonga lost 7 games in the Aussie semi-final. Davydenko in miami final? Youzhny in chennai final? Nadal won 1 game in that match.

The fact is even great players have off-days especially on their least favorite surfaces. (Sampras was beaten 6-1 6-0 by Fabrice santoro in Monte Carlo). If the whole world is shocked it is only because for 4 long years Fed did not miss a beat. From 2004 Wimbledon to the beginning of this year, fed was beaten in straight sets in only 5, i repeat, 5 matches. That is an insane benchmark he has set.

At RG, fed was off his game and nadal was totally on his game and unfortunately for fed, there were no chokes from nadal like in the semi-final. Nadal had already learnt his lesson to not take his eye off the ball. You think Djokovic comes back from a double break down against rafa on clay without any help from rafa? 4games 12games let us not nit-pick here. None of them had any chance to beat nadal out there.

Ok. So I just started reading The Quest for Perfection. I’m almost halfway through it and I gotta say, from what I’ve read, I can’t believe Federer let himself lose like that. I’ve been saying since the beginning of the year Federer seems to have slipped back to his old habits. And now I’m more sure of it than ever. He’s losing to everyone and most of these players he shouldn’t be losing to. He has everything in his game he needs to beat anyone but he’s been playing stupid again. Like he’s figured out what to do with his game and now he’s kinda figured it out so well that he’s confused again. I know that doesn’t make sense but I don’t really know how to explain it.

I think now, more than ever, that this really is just a slump. And he will bounce back maybe not this year but next year sometime for sure. He’s so determined it’s incredible. I thought this was his last chance to ever win the French but now I’m not sure. Now I have faith in him because he does want it and he’s accomplished just about everything he’s wanted up to this point. Hopefully Wimbledon will get him back on track, the way it got him on track way back when. Cmon Rog, you can do it, you’re the best!

Joker,

I agree Fed set an insane benchmark and that others have gotten whipped; it happens. I also agree that Rafa was by-far-THE-favorite. However, I still maintain that Fed didn’t fight the good fight. Call it an off-day or whatever, if you want, but his heart wasn’t in it like in the past two finals, which he also lost. He didn’t put up a fight. I don’t think that’s nit-picking.

Sensationalsafin,

Agassi won the French when no one expected it, when he was 29. I said on the other thread, quoting Novak, “everything is possible”. Fed could bounce back and maybe that bashing or as you aptly put it “let[ting] himself lose like that” will make him fight more next time?

jane,

let’s just say that it’s pretty obvious who will be the first in line when the novak djokovic sheet sale will go on sale at your nearest department store….

hit submit before i was finished….

i don’t see a single apology in my prior email so you are reading things into my post that you want to see.

as mentioned, my comments were that many people seemed to think he didn’t try, bonnie ford included. when i watch the match i see effort. but effort stymied by clay court greatness.

and i, like most, people thought roger would give him a run for his money. turns out we were wrong.

Joker,
Apparently you are trying to defend Andrea’s position against Jane’s. Andrea’s is indefensible. Roddick-Fed at Wimby 2005 Final is not comparable at all with Nadal-Fed French Open 2008 Final. Both lost, but Roddick’s played far better than Fed did against Nadal. Your citation of non-slam tournament results to compare with Slam Finals to justify or make Fed’s miserable loss look good is not a strong argument unless we want to call all the tournaments are equal, including Futures.
The fact is there. Let me cite myself from another thread, if you did not read it:
Nadal-Fed French Open final breaks the 2nd lowest games allowed record, as far as Roland Garros goes. The 1st lowest was when Vilas allowed Gottfried only 3 games in 1977. At US Open Final in 1974, Connors def. Rosewall, allowing only 2 games. This is the lowest record of all times, though there are two more in pre-Open era to tie this, but you will have to go back to Wimbledon 1936 and 1881.
So, in the entire Open Era in all Slams’ Finals, Roger’s is the 3rd worst ever. In our time, meaning since the beginning of 80s, Roger’s is the worst. Roger’s past record cannot cover this up. This is just the fact. If you have better data related to Slam Finals to falsify me, bring ‘em on.

I thought we were done talking about French Open. We were already on grass. This Andrea shows up and rekindles the fire. Time to move on.

Grass season’s two games old. Wait for today’s results (with 8 tier2 favorites in Queens and a tough cyprian opponent for Fed) before argueing any further.

“I thought we were done talking about French Open. We were already on grass. This Andrea shows up and rekindles the fire. Time to move on.”

I agree with Shital that it’s time to move on from the saturated GOAT debate and the FO to what’s happening NOW, and that is, we’re into the grass season. Today, the QFs matches for both Halle and Queens will be played. Queens has some great mouth-watering matches. What a shame there’s such a huge difference in the prize money. The competition should warrant a greater return in the purse department.

Meanwhile, Davydenko and a few others are blissfully ignoring the grass tournaments. I suppose Davy’s thinking that his chances of winning the trophy at the clay tournament will be greater, considering the field is bereft of higher ranked players, hence it would be logical to assume, he’ll walk away with the trophy. A very shrewd guy this Davydenko fellow, and money, money and more money, seems to be his motto.

As usual Roddick cuts to chase on the question of Roger’s chances at Wimbledon…

Q. Do you find this idea that because Roger took such a beating on clay, somehow when he walks onto a grass court he’s any less formidable?
ANDY RODDICK: No. I think that would be irresponsible journalism just from the fact that they’re completely different. That would be like — I don’t even know a proper analogy.
The guy’s won Wimbledon five times in a row. What else does he need to do? If that doesn’t answer any questions, you know, hell, I must really suck if he’s getting questioned about how he’s feeling about grass. If I was him, I’d be feeling really well. I’d be feeling really good.

Good morning everybody,
Rafa and Ivo just walked in. Ivo’s big serve should help keep this match competitive. Like Von said, all the four matches are “mouth-watering.” You don’t want to miss any action.
If you want to watch Artois and have Sopcast, try Star Sports. Or, try one of the links from: http://myp2p.eu/broadcast.php?matchid=13411&part=sports

Talk to you later.

Nadal lost the first set to Karlovic. Yesterday also he lost one set to that unknown guy. This is not clay, and nadal, and everyone else, knows!!

He can’t stand back 15 feet and defend serves on grass, like he does on clay.

We is not reaching the wimbledon finals this year - no way can someone be so lucky with the draw 3 times.

The Nadal v. Karlovixc match is anything but exciting. Karlovic is frustrating Nadal — he can’t get any rhythm, and Karlovic has even been able to run down some of Nadal’s shots, which aren’t many. Nadal lost the first set and they are now 3-3 in the second set. If they both hold serve it will be another tie-break, which Karlovic most probably will win hammering aces.

Shital,

I am not suprised you, jane and Von are ganging up against andrea. We know what is common to the 3 of you. A dislike of Federer in your words or hatred in other people’s words.

Donot jump into conversations without understanding what the discussion is about. The question was not about how miserable Fed’s loss was. It was about whether there was a lack of effort or not. Slam final or not, a miserable loss is a miserable loss. And federer did not lose to some yo-yo guy (relatively speaking) like youzhny or davydenko. He lost to probably the greatest clay courter of all time. He need not be any more ashamed than the players I listed in the above post.

And very conveniently you chose Roddick’s wimbledon 05 effort. What about Fed massacring him 4 2 and 0 in the aussie open last year. Do you want to debate 6 games are a lot bigger than 4 games? How about the Masters cup last year. Roddick and nadal were beaten under an hour. How about that for an effort from the two top 8 players? Anyway 12 games at wimbledon, where the surface helps roddick’s serve as much as any doesnt sound like a great achievement to me.

And Federer’s past achievements do matter. For someone who has achieved so much to get blown away like that by the greatest player on clay ever, when he was in the zone doesnt reflect a lack of effort on Federer’s part. Again the question was about Federer’s effort and not how bad the loss was.

And andrea’s the one who rekindled? You did not see Jane’s post above that? on june 12th at 7:58p.m ? Oh wait! we are exchanging emails with Jane, aren’t we? Let us blame the rekindling on andrea! I would like to know how you justify your statement that andrea rekindled things?

OH WOW. They’ve just announced that Andy Murray has withdrawn due to a sprained thumb which he sustained in yesterday’s match. Roddick has a walkover — is now through to the SFs. Sorry for Murray — he’s had injury following injury.

Shital, jane, how do you like them apples? Our Andy is now through to the SFs — he needs all the help he can get with his back.

Von,
If you did not know, Andy Murray withdrew prior to his match against Roddick. So your huckleberry gets to semi without playing much. His semi could be a repetition of 2005 Final at the Queen’s Club.

Joker:

Watch your mouth — you are a known Federer bully. Point out to me what I said to Andrea, and if you can’t find anything, then I would suggest you shut the hell up. I’ve taken enough abuse from you and have not said anything, but this time you’ve gone too far accusing me of something I’ve not done. Andrea is NOT a saint by any means and can defend herself. She does not need YOU as her spokesperson. Why can’t some of you co-exist peacefully?

Von,
I just saw you are up to date. I think Roddick will win here.

“If they both hold serve it will be another tie-break, which Karlovic most probably will win hammering aces. ”

This coming from a Roddick fan? Hilarious! Roddick wins 90% of his matches this way. Yet Karlovic’s game is frustrating and roddick’s exciting?

Anyway, this match along with yesterday’s match just shows nadal’s limitations on grass. Yesterday he was totally unsure about his movement. He fell down like a zillion times. Agreed the courts were slippery, but clay courters accustomed to the sliding on the clay will realise that is not at all a safe method on the grass.

Today, he is getting served off the court by 1 of the greatest servers in the game in the past few years. 26 aces in 2 sets? The most number of aces Ivo managed against Federer in a match ever were 16 aces (including 3 three-setters!) Maybe jane will understand it better if I say that is a miserable effort on the return. I mean we are not even asking the serve be returned. Just get the dang racquet on it dude!

Shital:

“Von,
If you did not know, Andy Murray withdrew prior to his match against Roddick.”

I didn’t know this. So why didn’t they announce it at the beginning of the Nadal/Karlovic match? Why keep me in suspense. I would have liked to see the match though. Yes, my huckleberry is in the SFs and I’m happy. c’est la vie.

joker:

Serving aces is a talent and a gift — Roddick is talented and he has been bestowed a gift by a power greater than YOU. this is where i’ll leave you to chatter all by yourself. Bye.

BTW, say all you want about Nadal — I’m not a fan. Surprise, surprise!! But I can understand your dislike for him — he WON the FO.

Von:

You are no saint either. Tell me you dont exchange emails with Jane and Shital and then we will know whether you gang up or not. You might not have said against Andrea in this blog, but any group of people who have another channel of communication apart from this blog are always suspicious to me.

That Nadal comment was not for you! Surprise! Surprise! Stop thinking the world revolves around you.

Only the roddick comment was for you. Anyway, a roddick fan calling karlovic frustrating is quite ironic. You must understand how the other fans feel when their player plays roddick. I have no problem. Federer and Djokovic will cut his serve to pieces on any surface. Roddick is NOT winning this tournament. It is between Nadal and Djokovic. See? I dont hate nadal….. Surprise! Surprise. I call it as I see. Nadal has limitations on grass. Even if you dont accept it to to please you friend s Jane and Shital - who were nadal die-hard fans before they realised their boy couldn’t beat federer outside of clay.

Happy hunting together guys!

Joker:

“Tell me you dont exchange emails with Jane and Shital and then we will know whether you gang up or not.”

You have truly earned that post name “Joker.” Now your imagination is running amock. Shital, jane, and I, exchange emails? That’s news to me. You are making me laugh so much — thank you for providing some laughter for this day. I love to laugh, and I sure am laughing.

Joker, andrea - et al,

I am guilty of rekindling the FO discussion -I admit- but I stated my comments about Roger’s lack of effort at the FO, if you read my posts (4 short ones in a row because I was dealing with my son & his friend simultaneously), with reference to the grass slam. I said I still think Roger is the favorite to win Wimbledon.

I didn’t mean to insult Roger or his fans. I took andrea to task a on her comments because she tends to make disparaging quips about Novak, and because she being one of Roger’s most dedicated fans maybe sees things through colored lenses. [ andrea, you must have the Roger duvet eh? LOL ;-)]. I was merely stating my opinion; I have watched that final twice. I still think after Roger got broken in the second set, he visibly gave up.

Joker you should know, too, that it was andrea who brought up the comparison to 05 Wimbledon, not Shital.

Anyhow, my apologies to all for stirring up the dirt discussion again. I don’t think anything like the FO final will happen on grass as Roger knows he’s always in with a shot, even when pushed to the limit like in last year’s excellent Wimbie final.

Meanwhile, speaking of being pushed, I’m going back to following Ivo & Rafa.

Joker,

a) I have a number of players I cheer for - Djokovic being my favorite, then Rafa, Roddick, Safin, Murray.

b) I have never exchange an email with either Von or Shital, though we are friendly with one another on this blog.

c) I can’t believe Karlovic has served 32 aces; he’s a serving monster.

Von & Shital,

I am sorry you’ve been dragged into something. Please accept my apologies. I was merely trying to put into perspective the difference we’ll see in Roger once he hits grass (vs. clay - his confidence will obviously be stronger on grass) and then to discuss some points andrea made with andrea. andrea & I have posted for a long time here, and she is cool; I have nothing against her.

Anyhow, sorry again guys - never meant to whip anyone into a frenzy!

Von it’s great that Andy’s through but I hope the other Andy’s thumb is better for Wimbledon.

Joker,
So all tournaments are equal? A Grand Slam Final and all other ATP level tournaments? I thought they carry different points, and players prepare for Grand Slam all year. Am I wrong?

Fed plays one of the worst Grand Slam Finals ever, and I should call it a great match (he made efforts?) to please the like of you? Show me a single article written by a tennis expert or analyst that defends Fed’s effort and calls it a great Final.

A guy who supposedly the No. 2 on clay brags about how prepared he is and how ready he is just the day before for FO final gets bageled, and that is effort because he played against Nadal? And his miserable loss should be sympathetically viewed as his giving everything despite outburst of disappointment and out cry from most tennis fans who were watching live because he has stellar record before 2008?

And in 2008 Fed lost only to “the greatest player on clay ever [which is questionable]”? And what about Stepanek, Roddick, Fish, Murray, and Djoko since January this year? I agree with Sean and repeat here: “the Swiss […] hasn’t won a championship match point on anyone since Shanghai last year!” Meaning his meager win at Estoril was without “championship match point.” Fed WAS the greatest player between 2004-2007, not before and not after. He is still a great player. You can stick to his past and reminisce his best match whenever he plays worst. I cannot do that. I don’t live in the past. I just happened to be different. If he plays great, bringing out some of his best shots, at Wimby this year, I will be enjoying his game and complementing him for it. But if he plays the same way as he has been since Jan, I will be critiquing him. The same applie to Djoko, my favorite. And that is neither dislike nor hatred.

BTW, congratulations to Rafa for surviving 35 aces and making to semi !

Joker, Karlovic’s biggest problem is breaking top players on a grass court. He may hit a lot of aces, win his serve easily but against top guys like Federer, Roddick, Djokovic and Nadal, he has virtually zero chance of their breaking serve. So it often comes down to tiebreaks where I’d give the edge to a Federer or Nadal. Tiebreaks usually come down to what’s between the ears and Ivo’s going to struggle in those situations against the mentally tougher players.

That said, I thought this was a good place for Nadal to bow out here in a couple tiebreaks. Take some added rest before Wimbledon. But credit to him for getting through and setting up a very intriguing clash with Roddick tomorrow.

Nadal has really been relentless all year. For all the injury speculation, the guy had his best Australian Open, his best French Open and now his best Queen’s event. He’s not taking anything lightly.

Yes, congrats to Rafa for eeking that one out. Karlovic reminds me of Goran a little but he needs to round out his game; then he’d be really dangerous. That serve is a scorcher!

Sean,
Rafa knows he’s right in the middle of the triopoly, with Djoko on his heels and Fed in front, but not insurmoutably so. Even so, Rafa fights hard no matter what. Sometimes to the point of stupidity, like playing with huge blisters. But he’s a fighter like few others.

jane:

There’s no need to apologize to me. The apology should come from Joker who has accused me of ganging up on Andrea. I agreed with Shital that the comments should move onto grass — leave the FO/GOAT topic behind; the FO’s over — at least I think so. Beating it to death is not going to change the results. My comment did not include Andrea. Joker’s only interest in Andrea is because she’s a Fed fan, who says whatever she likes about Roddick.

Joker has seen fit to pick on Roddick, who is the only player that has spoken up on Federer’s behalf to the press, twice. whether Roddick wins his matches through tie-breks or other means, the end result is he wins. That’s all that matters. Had Federer won the FO by 3 tie-breaks, I’m sure Joker would be praising tie-breaks, and jumping up and down and all around. There’s too much animosity emanting from Joker, and I’ve been on the receiving end of his abuse and bullying me into silence. He comments as much as he wants, I usually ignore him, thus, I do not understand his problem.

Joker, a piece of advice for you, try placing a civil tongue in your head. No one can attack Federer in the manner you’ve attacked other players, or else they would have a riot on their hands. It’s a ratio of about 8:1 on this site in favor of Federer. This is the reason I don’t get into many discussions becuse it’s one-sided. Sometimes, I wonder, why post at all — there isn’t freedom of speech here.

Agassifan, Nadal is not standing 15ft behind the baseline.

Regarding easy draw, did Rafa really have an easy draw last year? Fish, Youhzny, Soderling, Berdych?

In 2006, yes he had a pretty comfy path but last year was much tougher.

Thanks Von. Roddick & Rafa will be a good match; I am looking forward to it. I am cheering for Andy so he can defend his title here.

BTW you’re right about the ratio of fans here; if you check out the poll “will Roger Federer win the FO” 88% said “yes!” - that’s hardly objective. I’d say at best Roger had a 50/50 chance of winning. The other thing I don’t understand is that even though we occasionally point something out about Roger, like say he coulda tried harder, but also acknowledge his good side, we get called “haters”. I don’t think you, Shital, nor I are haters. We admit Fed’s not our favorite but we don’t insult him like others insult Novak or Roddick. Sheesh.

Speaking of my huckleberry, he’s got his hands full with Hewitt, a gritty fighter to the end and 4 time champion at Queens. huckleberry will need to serve well and eat some wheaties.

Fed is afraid, so what you really meant to say was not that Fed is the mentally weakest No. 1 ever, but rather that his is the mentally weakest No. 1 among the top Slam winners? If that’s your argument your reasoning is still garbage.

Fed’s well ahead of Nadal 5-2 off of clay. How can that be from a guy so mentally weak? Sure he gets dominated by Nadal on the dirt, but then again who doesn’t?

Jane, I guess you can’t fault him for fighting. I just hope he can maintain the intensity after Wimbledon when his play usually begins to slide…

jne:

I’ve learnt in life that there are SOME people who only have extremes. Viz, love and hate. In this case, there should be like and dislike, but unfortunately, it’s like and/or hate. I hope this makes sense. My ratio was not based on a poll but just my observation of what I see on these threads 8:1, I’m surprised that I’m so close.

There are many times I’d love to get involved in the discussions, but refrain from so doing because of the bullying and crude comments.

Hewitt is great on grass. When he was younger and faster, he could out run everyone. Amazing how time alters power.

____________

Joker:

(Jane and shital please don’t be offended by this, but I have to answer on behalf of Roddick)

You mentioned Djokovic will shred Roddick’s serve to pieces, their H2H is 2-2. What did Roddick do in Dubai? I didn’t see his aces being shred to pieces, and to Fed in Miami? Take a chill pill, please. Enough for today.

jane:
My apologies, I misspelt your name. Sorry.

Agassifan, true if Sampras played right now he’d never ever play Nadal on clay - assuming both were ranked among the Top 4. Yet in some ways that fact almost helps Pete’s cause because we would then never get the visual of him losing to Rafa the way we got to see Roger undergo such beating last week Sunday.

No worries about either the misspelling or the Djoko comment. Djokovic and Roddick, if they meet, would have a tough one. There’s no obvious favorite on fast surfaces, perhaps grass in particular. We all know Andy is formidable on the stuff. I’d be happy to see either of them take home Wimbledon glory!

Shital,

“Fed plays one of the worst Grand Slam Finals ever, and I should call it a great match (he made efforts?) to please the like of you? Show me a single article written by a tennis expert or analyst that defends Fed’s effort and calls it a great Final.”

The interesting thing is that if it was anyone else in that final, there would be less defending of the scoreline. If it was Novak, for instance, and he lost like that, you can bet that many people on this blog would be calling him a wimp or a “joke” or whatever. But not so with Roger. In fact, if you look at the previous thread, most of the discussion is about GOATs and not routs! And that’s what bugs me. Seems like denial.

Call a spade a spade: even if a person is Roger’s number 1 fan, that final was shocking in its lop-sided-ness.

And that’s all I am saying on it. As Von says, the FO is over, so we’ll see what happens on grass, hardcourts & carpet.

Sean,

Yes- time will tell if Rafa can maintain the intensity he’s shown early this year, and if he can hold up physically. He could stand to gain some points in the latter half of the year, particularly on hardcourts outdoors, in Cinncy and at the USO.

Von,
When Roddick plays Djoko, I stay in the middle, at least publicly. So, no need to worry about me either. I have always been supportive of my homey, my home state boy.

Good news. Djoko just took the 1st set easily !

Roger looked good today against Baggy. Halle loves Fed. He supports that tournament every year. I bet Queens Club would love to steal him away for one year. Federer is very loyal.

Djoko’s doing well so far - good stuff.

Amy,
You are a Fed fan, and you are sweet there in your comment. Not every Fed’s fan is obnoxious.
I did not get to watch Fed-Baggy match, but looking at the score, Fed played pretty good. Of course, the Queen’s Club would like to have Fed, and it is good for both Hall and Fed that they stick together. The “loyalty” part seems to fit in more for Fed’s preparation for Wimby, though.

Congratulations to Djoko !
Smile, Jane, it was an impressive win, 6-2, 6-2.

Yes, jane and Shital, your guy is through to the semis. Good for him. Next up is Gasquet and Nalbandian. I’ll reserve comment for later on those two. One never knows what to expect from them.

____________

Shital:

I’m happy to know you like A-Rod; didn’t know he was your homey. Nebraska Cornhuskers, is it?

jane:

“If it was Novak, for instance, and he lost like that, you can bet that many people on this blog would be calling him a wimp or a “joke” or whatever.”

Agree. Just look at the comments when Roddick gets routed by Federer. it’s nauseating — and it continues forever, as per the previous comments today.

I’m smiling! Thanks Von & Shital.

I see James Blake won the first set in his match.

I am looking forward to seeing how the Nalby vs. Gasquet match goes. Which one will go on walkabout first?

Oh common!
Please Roger is afraid? Of course not. He plays in Halle since 2002 and he won it 4 times and he never played in Queens, so please, SHUT UP! He’s playing unbelieveble on grass and I’m sure he won’t lose his Wim title. As for Rafa, yes he’s the king of clay, there’s no doupt, but when it comes to hard courts and grass courts he doesn’t play well. He is not running for every ball, he’s commiting more errors, so I don’t think he deserves to be #1. If anyone should replace Roger that would be Nole, because he knows how to play on every court just like Roger. But now is Rog fully recovered from mono, he played really great on clay. It really wasn’t his day at final for sure, because he wasn’t serving well. But on grass he’s playing really great, so, lets relax and watch. See how Roger is comming back, stronger than ever. I think he can and will be #1 for many years.
Good luck Roger!
I love you sooo much…
Sonja