Roger Federer forgets his Davis Cup disappointment
Agence-France Presse Last updated on Monday, 13 February 2012 22:34
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Rotterdam: Roger Federer on Monday began putting his weekend Davis Cup disappointment well behind him as the popular Swiss made a return to the Rotterdam Open for the first time since winning the 2005 title.

The world number three and his family flew to the Dutch port city only a day after Switzerland suffered a 5-0 thrashing from the United States in Davis Cup play in Fribourg.

Adding insult to injury was the mis-translation of Federer’s French remarks into English after he and Olympic gold-medal partner Stanislas were beaten in doubles.

While Federer said: “I played a good doubles, and Stan not a bad one,” the remark was reported in English as Federer saying his partner played poorly.

But the Swiss said the matter has been put to rest along with any lingering memories. “It was a tough weekend for us, we were clearly not at our best at home,” said the 30-year-old, who begins Rotterdam play as top seed on Wednesday night against Frenchman Nicolas Mahut.

“It was a disappointing result. But I had a day to recover on Sunday and that helped. The Stan comment was taken completely the wrong way.

“I’d never say that, and I’ll move on quickly. I spoke with both (captain) Severin (Luthi) and Stan to make sure there is no misunderstanding.”

Federer will be competing at the Ahoy stadium for the seventh time in his career and is keen to come good after seven years away.

As the lone member of the tennis top four to play Davis Cup and planning to carry on this here week and later in Dubai, Federer said that he is working with a purpose this month.

“I tried to make Rotterdam happen in 2011. but it’s happening now. I just felt it was the right thing to do.

“I’m feeling healthy and have had no problems with my back (pain) from Doha. I’m perfectly fine after Davis Cup.”

Federer leads the field, with Czech Tomas Berdych seeded second ahead of Argentine Juan Martin del Potro, making his debut at the indoor event.

Del Potro skipped Argentina’s weekend Davis Cup date, which ended as a 4-1 rout of Germany.

The number 10 was pleased for his teammates but had not been willing to risk his fitness after just getting back to rhythm following two tough seasons of wrist injury drama and recovery.

“We’ve never won the Cup and it’s something we really want. Going from indoor clay to this carpet could be dangerous for me,” said Del Potro.

“I didn’t want to risk it this time, I’ve had bad experience with injuries. it was a precaution but still a tough decision.”

On court in the first round, French fifth seed Richard Gasquet became the first man into the second round as he defeated Italian Flavio Cipolla 6-3, 1-6, 6-1.
http://sports.ndtv.com/tennis/news/item/185360-roger-federer-forgets-his-davis-cup-disappointment

February 13th, 2012 at 1:43 pm

Damn Arrogant One. Mr. Ice cool, You put out the fire quickly. I figured as much.

February 13th, 2012 at 2:03 pm

@HR

Don’t you think a great deal of humility was required to put out the fire if there was any? Arrogance will only add fuel to the fire.

February 13th, 2012 at 2:20 pm

Well well well
Rafa at AO and now roger having to do a little backtracking/ clarification.
Meanwhile novak saying all the right things and cleaning up on court. Must be nice ;)

Less talk, more win- go Rog!

February 13th, 2012 at 3:29 pm

Oh that damn press!! Yeah, right.

February 13th, 2012 at 3:39 pm

In retrospect, it is all our fault. As we should know, The Arrogant One is PER-fect, and so makes no mistakes in life. How will he call out Stan after Stan played badly. No way.

We all owe an apology to the Arrogant One.

Wawrinka was not well.
For the Arrogant One, the losses were “good losses” and moving in the positive direction.

Nothing to see here. Move on.

February 13th, 2012 at 4:01 pm

Is good to accept the mistakes in life, Roger, if you missed the right thing is to apologize, is not big deal, not always trying to be perfect to everyone.

February 13th, 2012 at 6:27 pm

I believe roger. onwards and upwards. good luck at rotterdam.

February 13th, 2012 at 7:18 pm

ESPN reports: http://espn.go.com/tennis/story/-/id/7565208/us-sweeps-switzer/and-davis-cup (pg 2)

Roger say, “I played well enough in doubles, but Stanislas not so much”, adding that Wawrinka “didn’t have his best match in singles. It’s a shame (pity) because of that defeat we weren’t able to put the US under pressure”.

How about “because we both lost our singles matches we weren’t able to put the US under pressure”. Anything wrong with Roger accepting just a little responsibility. It’s always easy in retrospect, 48 hours after the fact to go back and blame the press. The truth is, it’s quite possible Roger doesn’t have a clue about what he actually said.

February 13th, 2012 at 8:14 pm

Anna…you didn’t read the other report? This quote was ‘mis-quoted’. Here is what Roger ACTUALLY said:

While Federer said: “I played a good doubles, and Stan not a bad one,” the remark was reported in English as Federer saying his partner played poorly.

February 13th, 2012 at 8:24 pm

Fot – Roger said, “I played good, and Stan not bad”. So is that like Roger played good and Stan played so-so? Doesn’t that imply the reason for the loss was Stan. Why compare his play to Stans at all? What about the rest of the quote?

February 13th, 2012 at 9:27 pm

From what I got out of it – he wasn’t comparing his play to Stans. For me, I got out of it that he said neither he nor Stan really played bad, but the Americans were just too good. (completing that quote.)

February 13th, 2012 at 9:40 pm

Anna, you are just like me, I have this thing called NDS (nadal derangement syndrome. I never beleive anything Nadal says and he is never humble (in my humble opinion). go figure. Never thought I could have something in common with someone like you.

February 13th, 2012 at 10:27 pm

Thanks for this post. Now I feel better.

February 13th, 2012 at 10:57 pm

Wow some here have Rafa wedgie, and it’ seems Fed’s fault! Give it up, at least Fed was man enough to attack the subject again to clear things up that the media exploited which was really a non issue. Only the Anti_Feds continue to pummel a non issue. Trying to continue to skew something that even Fed has stepped and denied in a second interview.

IMO was just a false crack to exploit the man. I mean c’mon how many times has his interviews( more than any other modern era player, btw ) been fueled and powered with class and respect for his fellow players, even when he dominated? The repetitive spewing of singular posts about this topic and get shot down time and time again. So what is the real reason you are contesting this? Is the Rafa fan jealousy factor in “effect” again? Shall we compare his interviews and controversy to others?. Does Fed have to come to your front door and give you a cookie and some milk to make you feel better?

Comparing to other favs ( including your owns ) his interviews are spot on and a model that is worthy of the all time record holder of Slams……by a friggin mile. That is called “class”. He could have just let the sleeping dogs lie with the false propaganda and misinterpretations, but no, “class” prevailed and he stepped up.

This topic sucks already( Tired of the Rafa pissing contest too, btw ). Swiss lost. USA deserved the win. Go USA! Lots of great tennis to play coming up. Bring it on and hope we all can get back to more of debating the tennis play already. Not, I don’t like the way he “talks”. These same type probably thought Johnny Mac was a worthless piece of Sh!t that never deserved to be talented. Guess, what, he was very deserving and still ranks among the best ever. These guys have there personalities, love it or hate it, but what will be remembered and admired is what mark they will leave on the court. Does anyone remember Borg for his unsuccessful tennis clothing line?

February 13th, 2012 at 11:42 pm

I got goaded into investigating the GOAT problem again – here is part 1 of what should be an in depth investigation of my least favorite topic – http://tennisabides.com/2012/02/13/men-who-stare-at-tennis-goats-part-1/

February 13th, 2012 at 11:53 pm

Federer should man up and accept the truth. It was reported that he criticized Stan multiple times, not once.

Stan didn’t attend the 3rd day.

February 14th, 2012 at 12:36 am

Dan, this GOAT thing might turn out to be premature, wait until Novak finishes his run :-)

February 14th, 2012 at 1:19 am

@wog boy

Whoa there. Premature? Wait for what? What is is now, not what we all may think is gonna be. What is now is 16 slams vs ….errr 10. And Nole …5? Long ways to go there partner…meanwhile a little respect to current 16 Slam GOAT.

February 14th, 2012 at 1:50 am

Skeezer, I do give respect to others same way they give respect to me ( or my man Novak), I still remember respect your man gave to mine after USO SF, you have to admit not much respect was given to the man who beat him fairly and squarlyy, but then again your man never does that when he loses. One more thing that comes into account for GOAT is how you are going to finish your career, and BTW no need for that kind of reaction it was more a joke ( look at the smiley face at the end of my post) don’t worry nobody is going to take 16 GS from your man but he is going to be remember as sore loset, same as the GOAT at this moment. Happy now?

February 14th, 2012 at 2:32 am

As always, this article will support whatever position you have:
http://tennis.si.com/2012/02/13/roger-federers-davis-cup-criticism-lost-in-translation/

February 14th, 2012 at 4:02 am

About Roger’s statements, my take:

I am sometimes too concise in my posts, and I should have try to translate Roger’s statement about Stan’s game when I quoted them. It could have be enough to put his word in a sane angle.

He said: “it is a pity Stan didn’t win the first rubber…” not “it’s a shame Stan didn’t win…@ and “I played quite well the doubles and Stan played well too…” and not “Stan didn’t play bad too…”.

The problems were with “c’est dommage” and “pas mal”, and if the journalist were relying on a translator, not on Google, there would have been less fuzz (I need a translator too, but, hopefully, there is Google).

But, anyway, it was on the limit of good taste.

Skeeze, about the sheep, goat, whatsoever:

Come on, a win now in Roland Garros will be enough to put Novak (or Rafa) in the conversation, though it will be quite difficult, and it is improbable. And with each of his win, Roger’s and Rafa’s legacy become bigger, not only his.

February 14th, 2012 at 4:31 am

Translation or mistranslation of a word or two is NOT the issue here.

The issue here is that Federer & Stan and the whole Swiss team were sitting at the press conference after losing the doubles match, and Federer was getting questions about the doubles, and he just kept on talking about Stan’s poor play in his singles match against Fish!

If only Stan didn’t screw up, if only he played better against Fish, if only he won, I would have also won against Isner – that was the gist of Federer’s words. Nobody asked him about that, but he kept reverting to it.

That constant harping on Stan vs. Fish, with Stan sitting next to him in embarrassment, was what made Swiss journalists surprised and angry. That, and Federer’s claim he played well in doubles – with which they vehemently disagreed.

This has been reported at length in several Swiss papers, notably in La Liberte, in the article titled “Federer: Disturbing Words”:
http://www.laliberte.ch/sport/federer-les-mots-qui-derangent

The AP snippets translated in English are just a few quotes, that do not convey the whole tenor of the presser – that of Federer repeatedly bashing Stan for losing against Fish.

February 14th, 2012 at 5:56 am

His denial is pathetic. Truth to be told, he was plain exposed by these losses and tried to find someone to blame. The pattern of blaming Stan was there before the double. Here is one excerpt of his English interview (posted on daviscup.com); you can hear the audio clip as well.

“I did play, actually, a pretty good match, things just didn’t go my way, they didn’t go for Stan either, but he didn’t have a good match, I agree with that.”

February 14th, 2012 at 7:47 am

^ I don’t know about anyone else, but i find nothing wrong with the quote above, it’s actually one of the better comments which could be made.

February 14th, 2012 at 9:11 am

All I can say is that the Davis Cup is a team sport event. Win or lose, credit or fault goes to the whole group. Nobody should be singled out for whatever happens.

February 14th, 2012 at 9:34 am

dari Says:

Well well well
Rafa at AO and now roger having to do a little backtracking/ clarification.
Meanwhile novak saying all the right things and cleaning up on court. Must be nice ;)

Less talk, more win- go Rog!

February 13th, 2012 at 3:29 pm

Is that because no one really cares about what Nole has to say?

February 14th, 2012 at 9:47 am

I think this is Federer clearly blaming Stan:

[Federer] claimed not to be too disappointed while pointing a finger at Wawrinka, who slumped back in his chair looking every inch the junior partner in the relationship.

“I played well enough in doubles, but Stanislas not so much,” Federer said, adding that Wawrinka “didn’t have his best match in singles. It’s a shame, because of that defeat we weren’t able to put the U.S under pressure.”

February 14th, 2012 at 9:52 am

Fed fan think criticized his “god” is similar a hater. come on people, use more your brain, and are not as susceptible all, no everything has to be white or black?. Think a bit before commenting, if Federer is wrong is good to apologize. It’s pathetic read attacks or insults always when you do not agree with such person or his statements, internet is great but it is unfortunate when it becomes a pack that can not stand that someone thinks differently just because one disagrees with the tennis that their fans love.

February 14th, 2012 at 9:53 am

Smart people will always look forward to what Nole has to say……………..
While the Number 1 is having fun and skiing in Mt. Kopaonik in his native Serbia, your Roger is busting his chops to get some measly points just not to slip down to number 4 spot or even lower.
And his talk of getting back to No. 1,

THIS WILL NEVER HAPPEN ….

There are so many younger, good tennis players that will see to that.
And maybe he can take some responsibility for his lousy play at Davis Cup, instead of blaming always someone else, and not giving a credit to other players when credit is due.

So sick of that persona and arrogance…………….

February 14th, 2012 at 10:01 am

@Robert:

I read that article in La Liberté, and a lot of others. It is not the point. I agree that Roger should have limited himself to speak about his own performance. Wawrinka was there to speak about his.

But, so what? What’s the point of all that whining? So what if Roger has no tact, if he is arrogant, or whatever else you can think of?

He is a great tennis player. That’s what really counts.

February 14th, 2012 at 10:17 am

and a very bad looser, also. that also counts.

February 14th, 2012 at 10:23 am

this GOAT thing might turn out to be premature, wait until Novak finishes his run :-)
—
Or until they make the Egg illegal.

February 14th, 2012 at 10:41 am

^ I don’t know about anyone else, but i find nothing wrong with the quote above, it’s actually one of the better comments which could be made.
–
If you live in a cave, everything is dark. You have get your head out to see what is right and what is wrong.

February 14th, 2012 at 10:42 am

Novak will be running for a long time to come, wait and see, he is just starting.

I can never get enough of matches between him and Rafa, what a great champions these two make, hope they will play for a long time to come……

As for Roger, as great as he WAS, let’s face it, his play level has dropped he is trying, nobody can deny that, but he simply is not good as he used to be, sorry just my opinion.

Time has come for Nole, Rafa,Murray, Delpo, Dolgopolov, Raonic, Tomic, Berdych, and other guns to shine…….

Great day all,

February 14th, 2012 at 11:05 am

HR,

You crack me up ;). Only one I ever saw here who reponds to there own posts. Lol.

February 14th, 2012 at 11:31 am

No, I didn’t respond to my own post. I was responding to someone else. should have removed the ^ sign. As you know, Humble is very busy recovering/healing from my many injuries.

February 14th, 2012 at 12:01 pm

Raven – No need for personal attacks. I admire many of the players and none of them have anything to do with my opinion in this matter. Don’t you think it’s a little naive to think every criticism of Roger has to come from a Nadal fan? Flaunt your NDS all you want Raven, but believe me their’s no sisterhood between you and I.

February 14th, 2012 at 12:15 pm

I think the point Federer was trying to make was that Wawrinka lost a *very* close match (9-7) in the 5th set, and had he won it, the subsequent matches (though not necessarily the end results) would have played out quite differently.

February 14th, 2012 at 12:55 pm

Thank for the explanation RZ. It does support the contention that Federer was blaming Wawrinka for Switzerland’s loss to the USA.

February 14th, 2012 at 1:10 pm

Polo, there are many ways to interpret it. I think it’s an honest appraisal. Fed didn’t have much of a chance against Isner after the first set; Wawrinka had more chances against Fish but didn’t capitalize. This doesn’t excuse Federer’s lack of clutch play in either the singles or the doubles, but it’s true that Wawrinka had a 2 sets to 1 lead and then let himself get blanked 6-1 to force a fifth set. The “feel good” vibe from Fish’s come from behind victory certainly played into Isner’s victory rather than creating a feeling of doom or pressure.

February 14th, 2012 at 1:57 pm

“Comparing to other favs ( including your owns ) his interviews are spot on and a model that is worthy of the all time record holder of Slams……by a friggin mile. That is called “class”. He could have just let the sleeping dogs lie with the false propaganda and misinterpretations, but no, “class” prevailed and he stepped up.”

Way to go, skeezer! Fed’s the most brave “mentally weak” man, on and off court.

People ignore conviently that he said many things about his own missed chances too in the talk. Why he talked about Stan’s play at all? He was talking about their DC matches which Stan was part of! And Fed considers himself a team leader. He does not shrink from being leader, thru high or low. No?

I take that “play not his best” line as an ultimate compliment from Fed the team leader to his team pal Stan.

February 14th, 2012 at 2:34 pm

No worry, Sean. You have many commerades, and we had fun.

February 14th, 2012 at 2:57 pm

Ok, then. Federer does give the best, most honest, most gracious, most fair, most intelligent interviews. There should be no reason for any man whatsoever to interpret his interviews otherwise.

February 14th, 2012 at 2:57 pm

“Fed didn’t have much of a chance against Isner after the first set”

Not sure I agree here; Fed had break point chances in set three, no? Maybe if he’d've won that set he’d've turned it around? He would’ve needed only one more set. Both Nole and Rafa had to go the full five sets to bear Isner on clay. Granted, Fed is older and not quite as good on the return, and those two things could’ve made the difference in the end? But Fed had chances after the first set – just wasn’t able to capitalize on that day for whatever reason. It happens; it’s not a big deal imo. Fed has nothing to feel badly about as he went out and played. Maybe he lost heart after being unable to capitalize on his chances in the third? Anyhow…

It’s done and now he’s in Rotterdamn. So we’ll see how he does. I think it’s a faster hard court isn’t it?

February 14th, 2012 at 3:02 pm

Oops, to “beat” not to “bear” Isner, although that kind of works too. ;)

February 14th, 2012 at 3:04 pm

Hello, Jane. There you go: if only your guy Novak palyed this past stupid DC weekend, media would not have chased down our 30 year old guy like hungary dogs after a bare bone.

February 14th, 2012 at 3:40 pm

@HR:

:-)

HR has style and knowledge, though he is picking on my man more often then before. I guess that is the price you have pay when you are #1 .
I wish I can send you picture from Mt. Kopaonik, how about 90 ski instructors greeted Novak on arrival, by making sign NOLE #1 with their bodys on the snow. Nice gesture for the man who is promoting country so nicely.

Cheers HR, get well soon :-)

February 14th, 2012 at 4:09 pm

“have to pay” and “have pay”. ;(

February 14th, 2012 at 4:10 pm

Jane, don’t necessarily disagree with you. My overall point is that Stan’s match was much closer and really should have gone in his favor. (Again, that doesn’t excuse Federer for his loss, but his match was never as close).

February 14th, 2012 at 4:14 pm

I see what you mean RZ.

Hey Twocents: nice to see you popping in for a bit. :)

February 14th, 2012 at 5:22 pm

Slam winners for 2012 and 2013

The next 7 slam winners will be:

Nole 3
Murray 2
Nadal 1
Del Potro 1
Federer 0

So for the rest of 2012 and 2013, Nole will win 3 slams, Murray will win 2 slams, Nadal will win 1 slam and Del Potro will win 1 slam. Federer will win 0 slams.

February 14th, 2012 at 6:02 pm

@jamie,

If only you could be right…

February 14th, 2012 at 6:53 pm

ha ha ha ha ha , I have to laugh at jamie posts. Everyday is anoe prediction after another. at least he is consistent that federer will not win any.

February 14th, 2012 at 7:07 pm

What Stan himself had to say:

http://www.lematin.ch/sports/tennis/Il-ny-a-pas-de-probleme-dans-lequipe/story/17570178

rf.com translation by clairouille:

“First of all, I’d like to thank all the supporters who were there all w-e long in Fribourg. Like always, our fans were fantastic. But of course, this defeat in DC is tough to swallow, our disappointment is huge.

In fact, I’m sorry not to have been there with the team for the last matches on Sunday, but I was too sad and too exhausted, it was too hard for me to come back courtside. It didn’t go well on court, but off-court, we lived a very beautiful week.

To rectify what was said and written, we talked, and there is no problem between Roger and me, nor with anyone in the team. Really, at heart there is no problem. I’m the first to accept criticism regarding the level of play – that I wasn’t up to it, that Rog’ didn’t play so well- however, I don’t agree at all with those who accuse Swiss Tennis and the captain of lack of professionalism for the preparation of the tie. We chose to play the USA on clay, and we would make the same choice 1000 times.

At first, the clay was too hard, but Severin spent all his evenings on the court during the week prior to the tie, to make it better. Unfortunately, it wasn’t our w-e. Tennis is a cruel sport, it is what it is. But it doesn’t change anything for the rest of the year. The disappointment has passed, we have to start again. I’m flying to Buenos Aires at the end of the week.”

He and Roger go way back and are just fine. I can’t believe how the anti-Federer’s hang on to this stuff and trump it up out of proportion.

Good luck in Buenos Aires, Stan!

February 14th, 2012 at 7:08 pm

anoe = one

February 14th, 2012 at 7:08 pm

Jamie, should be interesting. I like the prediction of Murray winning 2. The real question is are those 3 Djokovic slams all this year?

Carlo, thanks for the article.

February 14th, 2012 at 7:40 pm

Thanks Carlo for posting that.

February 14th, 2012 at 7:58 pm

carlo thank and yeah, good luck to stan and roger.

February 14th, 2012 at 8:03 pm

But Anna I like the sisterhood thing with you. When you say something negative or sarcastic about Roger I think negative about your fave, don’t really care who it is. Our bond is too strong, Anna. Don’t fight it.

And what is wrong about defending our fave, Roger. You guys seem to think you can take pot shots at him, say all kinds of nasty, sarcastic, hateful things about Roger. If we, Fed fans speak up, then we are delusional, or not facing reality. I suppose, Fed fans should be meek and take all the insults against Fed quietly. God knows, only you speak the truth, because only you know what the truth is about Roger.Talk about delusional.

February 14th, 2012 at 11:05 pm

I think Roger’s comments have been blown out of proportion by the Media as usual.

February 14th, 2012 at 11:19 pm

Wog boy
Wish I could have seen the ski instructors doing that!

February 14th, 2012 at 11:22 pm

Sar, if you go on YouTube and look for Nole No1- you can see it , nicely done video klip, nice music and beautifull nature. You will enjoy it and the other Nole fans and posters.
Enjoy it :-)

February 15th, 2012 at 1:11 am

@jamie – federer dont need to win more slams – already got 16 and how many world tour finals???

February 15th, 2012 at 4:41 am

…. as for the nr 1 thing – dont need to get back to number 1 as well – he was nr 1 !! – for how many weeks…??????
wait till whoever break all those records and then we can discuss the GOAT thing again – till then FEDERER – GOAT!!!

February 15th, 2012 at 4:47 am

Aww, its a pity that all of these “statements” and such are happening. Bit much in the drama department lately.
At any rate, hope all recover from the loss from suisse team, and us team members (especially John!) use the great performance as a spring board.
Rog plays tonight in Rotterdam!

February 15th, 2012 at 6:56 am

Thx for posting, Carlo!

February 15th, 2012 at 7:36 am

Kimmi: Fed is done winning slams.

February 15th, 2012 at 1:56 pm

RZ: Nope, those 3 Djokovic slams are for 2012 AND 2013.

February 15th, 2012 at 1:58 pm

By the end of 2013 the slam tally will be:

Federer 16
Nadal 11
Nole 8
Murray 2
Del Potro 2

February 15th, 2012 at 2:07 pm

Hahaha!!!

February 15th, 2012 at 2:44 pm

But, Jamie, I thought the world will end on Dec 21, 2012 according to the Mayab calender. This gives me hope. I hope the psychic is right about everyone except Roger.

February 15th, 2012 at 11:01 pm

I meant Mayan. These old eyes.

February 15th, 2012 at 11:02 pm

“us team members,” why congratulations dari… However always thought u were a girlie…;)

February 16th, 2012 at 1:10 am

even if federer did shift the blame to stan, it’s not a big deal.
he supports fellow players in other ways.
like his great work on the player council.
just ask rafa and davydenko.

February 16th, 2012 at 9:43 am

Well,

I dunno what people are complaining about. Federer said he played a good match, which means John played even better to defeat him despite roger himself playing well. That’s a compliment to Big John. At least he didn’t say that he played a bad match and that’s why he lost(others are expert at saying this craftily after every major loss!). And if Federer said, stan didn’t play a good enough match and lost, even that’s good as he’s implying that stan could have definitely played even better than he actually played to lose to Fish, and if that happened Stann woulda won. It’s much better to say that Stan couldn’t somehow play his best and therefore lost to Fish, instead of saying that Fish is going to beat Stan even if Stan is at his best.

At least Federer didn’t blame any supposed injury for his loss, unlike the glorified ones who could no way lose when they played their best match, and we’ve readymade issues for losses, HAHAHA! ;)

February 16th, 2012 at 12:53 pm

And it’s much better if the pathetic fans of other players stop giving their worthless lecture of etiquettes to Roger Federer. I mean, your favourites are way much more classless thsn Roger in demeanour, on or off-court. It’s there for all to see! So stop whining about Federer’s class/classlessness!

And I love Stan, and I am happy to hear that all’s fine between him and Roger. May be the detractors need to get a life of their own and some rest! They need it badly after the energy and attention they have worthlessly spent towards blaming and demonising Federer.

And who gives in a shit as to what the armchair critics think! It’s an achievement based world! All that matters is what you have accomplished! If havin a good heart was all what everything was all about then, it’d have been really good, but unfortunately that’s not the case. Achievements are what people will see at the end of the day, in most matters, except if ot a case of becoming a monk/ascetic whatever! And in tennis, as in many other sports, those who’ve done will be most respected! It doesn’t matter if somebody has a heart of gold in tennis, if he has won few slams! But it certainly matters that even if you are termed arrogant or whatever other decrying, that you have won more important things than anyone else! So wake up! Nobody’s going to call your guys as worthier tennis players even if they keep smiling all day long, and doing humanitarian job, your guys will be remembered only dependng on their on-court exploits! End of Story!

And good or bad or whatever, but don’t comment on a thing you don’t freaking know! I mean, you people can neither imagine nor ever get to know the kind of popularity Roger has or respect that he commands for his great tennis and great personality WORLD OVER…

February 16th, 2012 at 1:22 pm

Some people — including the tennis media — need to learn French and take a deep breath before jumping to conclusions in order to bash Federer.

French-speaking Canadian tennis writer Stephanie Myles — she’s from Montreal (where French is the first language — writes:
“L’affaire Federer: lost in translation… A mis-translation, between Swiss-German, and French, and English passing through Majorquin for all we know by the time it got to the news desk, a word dropped, and Roger Federer’s words cause a fury.

The Associated Press quoted Federer thusly in French: “I played well enough in doubles, but Stan not so much.”

What Federer actually said was “pas mal” – literally translated, “not bad.”

In some places, that turned into “bad”.

In fact, colloquially here in Canada, when you ask someone how they are, we usually answer, “not bad!” And in our case, that actually means “pretty good!”

…In fairness, French is Federer’s third language. He speaks it fairly well, although not perfectly…”
http://blogs.montrealgazette.com/2012/02/14/laffaire-federer-lost-in-translation/

The Montreal Gazette is the only English-language daily newspaper published in French-speaking Montreal, Quebec (Canada).

There you have it. Federer actually praised Stan as playing ‘pretty good’. But when French is mis-translated by incompetent morons, you get an incompetent mistranslation.

Not a single major Swiss newspaper — either Swiss German or Swiss-French — bothered to report this non-incident. This indicates what Federer said was not considered an issue. Contrary to what happens in Serbia or Spain, there is very little hero worship in Switzerland. If they thought Federer was shifting the blame, they would have made it an issue. The Swiss newspapers focused primarily on the choice of bad clay courts in fribourg and Severin Luthi’s captaincy.

You have to find tiny Swiss-French newspapers like Fribourg’s La Liberte — with a circulation of only a few thousand — trying to sensationalize the issue to deflect attention from the poor quality of the clay courts in Fribourg. Le Matin is a little larger — circulation 60,000.

February 16th, 2012 at 3:31 pm

Hehehehe what’s new? Only shows that everybody’s STILL interested with the mighty, the tennis superstar, the legend
Roger Federer!
If my statement is not true, nobody will give a damn on whatever he says! But truthfully, that’s not what i’m seeing! Hahahaha

February 16th, 2012 at 9:33 pm

Ajet, love your post. What gives people the right to hurl insult after insult at Federer. This holier than thou attitude is complety wacko. For God’s sake, this is a non issue. He has explained himself, Stan has explained it too. Some of you people just don’t want to believe it, and want to hang on to this idea that Federer is arrogant and a poor loser, and a terrible person. Why can’t everyone’s player be perfect, except for a few times when their frustration and disapointment gets teh better of them. Happens to everyone.

And Roy, Federer did speak up for the players. He was looking out for the lower ranked players that may be Rafa and Davydenko were not thinking about. Just ask Rafa why he wants a two yr ranking system. Oh yes! it is because he was worried about players being injured, no?

Any way, all this hatred towards federer is so crazy and pathological. It just is crazy.

February 16th, 2012 at 10:36 pm

^hatred? Naw, just jealous. Bigtime. Fed has the keys to the all time record books, others in this era don’t. So they just try to skew things, drum the beat of whatever sounds good for my fav, and try to further jusitfy there own inferior favs accomplishments against the all time GOAT.

Get used to it. Its a typical propoganda to bring down the Maestro. I would love to debate the shortcomings of all other favs vs. Fed interviews. Bring it.

February 17th, 2012 at 12:32 am

thanks raven. :)

February 17th, 2012 at 12:02 pm

@Dave:

I wrote above that what Fed said didn’t matter, and I don’t care about anything Roger has to say. I care about his tennis, and I like to watch him play.

But don’t twist what he said: it was made worse in the translation, but it certainly wasn’t correct.

February 17th, 2012 at 12:53 pm