Very interesting article:

http://www.tennis-prose.com/bios/federer-djokovic-take-their-act-feud-to-wimbledon/

July 4th, 2012 at 8:02 pm

Somebody said here a while back that federer and djokovic had dinner at Basel last year or the year before while waiting for the tournament to start.

from what fed is saying it seems like they didn’t.

July 4th, 2012 at 8:14 pm

Hope he plays well on friday and give himself a chance to win.

July 4th, 2012 at 8:15 pm

just heard the commentator saying djokovic has won 6 of their last 7 meetings. hmmm, time for fed to get another big one. Go fed!

July 4th, 2012 at 8:25 pm

mat4,
Thank You,it is really interesting article.It looks the poster is more optimistic then me.I hope he is right.You were right for today,hope You are going to see on Friday what You want to see.

HAJDE NOLE,

July 4th, 2012 at 8:35 pm

Yes, Roger seems to be in good form. But I am hesitant to come to such a conclusion based on his matches against Xavier and Youzhny who are his bunnies. For me, Roger’s best is still far away. I do not think he is reproducing the form that he displayed in all the five Wimbledon finals that he won with ease. May be, he reserves his best for the final stages and so we need to wait and watch. Youzhny played bad in my opinion but it may also be that Roger made him play bad. Now Roger has his task cut out against Novak. He cannot outrally him. If he wants to win, he has to come to the net more often and Roger is so good at the net game. All importantly, his first serves need to click.

July 4th, 2012 at 8:47 pm

““And I hope you believe me…” Well, of course, we don’t believe you, you big liar. That’s like Carmelo Anthony saying, “I liked playing for Mike D’Antoni, and I hope you believe me.” What a throwaway line and obviously untrue. Federer has never liked Djokovic, respected him always! Please. The last three majors that he’s lost to him, he barely looked the Djoker in the face when shaking hands at the end of the match.”

@mat4 – The person who wrote that article must not like federer. very biased imo.

July 4th, 2012 at 8:48 pm

Who and why raised the question abou something that happened morethen six years ago, was it Federer? I didn’t see reporter asking it. If it was Federer to bring it back two days before SF, that is like him, he always does that. Remember Murray at AO final, then Nole at AO SF, … I love to play Nole because result always depends on me…”
Well I said before and I am saying now he is master in mind games. The only one that didn’t work was one with Nadal.
Keep it up Roger, what else happened six years ago that is important to revoke before SF?

July 4th, 2012 at 8:55 pm

I forgot to say, mind games are not illegal but ….

July 4th, 2012 at 8:58 pm

Kimmi, I think it was me, and if I recall it was during Basel 2009 (or 10) and I could swear I read it somewhere at the time, or maybe it said Novak’s and Fed’s parents. But I guess it didn’t happen. Must have been a blog or some other unreliable source. Anyhow, it doesn’t really matter.

July 4th, 2012 at 9:26 pm

@Kimmi – Do not make this forum so cheap by calling Fed as a big liar. the guy has done nothing wrong to you man. You should give him the benefit of the doubt and just enjoy the great tennis on Friday.

July 4th, 2012 at 9:28 pm

Jake – it wasn’t me who said that. I just took a quote from the link mat4 post above. I just thought the writer of that article was very biased. he definetely does not like federer.

BTW, federer is one of my favorite.

July 4th, 2012 at 9:34 pm

jane – ah, i thought i read it somewhere. hmmm, i don’t know why this was brought up.

July 4th, 2012 at 9:41 pm

I guess we have to read the full interview. I think somebody must have asked him something . I dont believe federer would start talking about something that happened years ago from nowhere.

July 4th, 2012 at 9:43 pm

I can’t find Nole or Fed’s full interviews on the Wimbledon site Kimmi, but presumably there must have been a question that lead to that answer.

July 4th, 2012 at 9:44 pm

Mr. Ironman, you’d better make double check your battery, real or fake, full or half,,,before enter the battle field otherwise…………

July 4th, 2012 at 10:25 pm

This is a pretty even match (Fed vs Novak)

It really comes down to whos feeling and playing well on the day….

But for the first time, I think Federer has more to lose in this match….Djokovic has absolutely nothing to lose here….

July 4th, 2012 at 10:35 pm

Lisa,

But for the first time, I think Federer has more to lose in this match….Djokovic has absolutely nothing to lose here….

I do not think so. Roger has already won the title six times and he has become the new World No.2. It is Novak who has more to lose here since if he loses to Roger, he may cease to be No.1 and that is a big fall.

July 5th, 2012 at 12:07 am

Thos equestions are irrelevant. Fed doesnot care if he has the most to loose. He is aware of that everytime he steps on the court.
For 3 years he was haunted by Nadal just to come back at when he was overtaken finally by the spaniard. And now is the same thing only with a different player.

Fed has planned this returning to #1 very carefully and methodical.
He tried to get this fatr in 2010 but the Djoker was on fire. He had his TMF year.

Djoker is now not in TMF mode. Funny that it has to play out like this. actually very much opposite like 2011. Djoker 2011 was put down by Fed at Garros but the lesser variant 2012 did the job done in 2012 Garros.
So that semi loss did actually help Fed because he was now spared from a grueling final and therefor he is fresh on final weekend of Wimbly.

This is the perfect timing and the perfect adjustment as opposed to 2011.

You feel in your vains when he enters the court. He looks so coole and confoident we havent seen him like this for well over 4 years.
This is the return of TMF.
The return of the King.

July 5th, 2012 at 2:10 am

He tried to raise to the top in 2011 but his year started after UsoPEN. Just like last year… Therefor you say 2010 but it is 2011 year of course.

July 5th, 2012 at 2:13 am

Roger himself said few years back, that if you win one gs in a year, that’s a great achievement. Infact this was conveyed to Roger by Sampras. I believe he said this in 2010, when after many years he won only one GS.

Looking at this statement, we could see that both Novak and Rafa already have one GS each. Now the pressure is completely on Roger’s side for the remaining GS.

Just dissecting both Roger and Novak game, I’m wondering where does Roger give Novak the trouble. What part of his game is going to trouble Novak for 3 sets. Yeah, Serve is one, but he rarely has a good serving day against Novak.

I would be happy to hear from someone how Roger can beat Novak in a 5-setter.

July 5th, 2012 at 4:34 am

As a Roger fan, one may want him to win this match badly. I think this would be the last straw which remains to be broken from Roger’s back if he loses this match. It will take away all the confidence he had built for past year.

Last year USO, he could take it in the right spirit since he won against Novak at FO. But this year it has been terrible. He lost to Rafa when he was playing his best tennis for past 4 years. He lost to Novak badly in his last 2 matches against him. I doubt Roger can take anymore losses, unless in his mind he is convinced that he is going to be 2nd tier player when it comes to Novak and Rafa in GS. I thought for Rafa winning FO was important, else it would have been sort of calamity for his career if he had lost. I believe the same could be applied for Roger too.

I just wish Roger takes this one, though the odds are against him. Novak has shown that he can play badly for a few games or probably a set. He has not shown that he can play badly for 3-sets yet. I wish he has a bit off day in the semis and Roger plays his best.

July 5th, 2012 at 4:42 am

Nims,

Looking at this statement, we could see that both Novak and Rafa already have one GS each. Now the pressure is completely on Roger’s side for the remaining GS.

There is no pressure on Roger whatsoever since he has already accumulated 16 majors. That is enough when players like Murray are struggling to win a single major.

Just dissecting both Roger and Novak game, I’m wondering where does Roger give Novak the trouble. What part of his game is going to trouble Novak for 3 sets. Yeah, Serve is one,

Roger’s varied game on Grass can surely trouble Novak. His backhand slice and elegant drop shots are quite effective and ofcourse he should serve well. If these things get going in his game, then beating Novak would be easy.

but he rarely has a good serving day against Novak

I do not think that is so. But still tomorrow might be another day and history may not repeat itself.

I would be happy to hear from someone how Roger can beat Novak in a 5-setter.
Roger can definitely beat Novak in a 5-setter. He has done that many times before.

July 5th, 2012 at 5:03 am

There is no pressure on Roger whatsoever since he has already accumulated 16 majors.

Then why do Roger play tennis? I don’t understand. You are telling me Roger does not have any pressure anymore on GS matches. It sounds absurd. I don’t think you can play tennis without any pressure. Is it even possible? You say the guy does not want to be No#1 player. That’s why he played through the pain against Malisse. It’s ok to made some wild assumptions, but this is beyond what I could understand. Roger whats to win GS, that’s why he is playing tennis.

Roger’s varied game on Grass can surely trouble Novak.

Note, Roger does not play his varied game anymore. If you think his slice is the only varied game, Novak would eat his slice anyday. It did not trouble Bennet, so not sure how it’s going to trouble Novak. His slice is great against SHB players, but with DHB, it’s not as effective anymore. He does not have much advantage over Novak in this. I think Novak would get to most of his drop shots without much effort. I don’t think it’s going to be an effective shot, since Novak plays very close to baseline.

Roger can definitely beat Novak in a 5-setter. He has done that many times before.

Let’s look at what he has done in past 2 years. More relevant would be last 1 year. We are not talking history here to care much about records which are 3-5 years old.

Michael, historically Roger is a bad matchup with DHB players. He had trouble at the begining of his career (Hewitt, Nalby), then even post his 2008 he had consistently troubled by Novak, Murray, Simon. If you take most of his losses, they would be against DHB players. And tomorrow he is up against possibly the best DHB player of all the above bunch.

SMH, what does Roger do to win against Novak? That’s what keeps bugging me.

July 5th, 2012 at 5:44 am

Nims,

Then why do Roger play tennis?

You have taken my reply out of context. What I stated was there is less pressure on Roger when compared to some of the other players as he has achieved so much in sport and has little to prove about his greatness.

Note, Roger does not play his varied game anymore. If you think his slice is the only varied game, Novak would eat his slice anyday. It did not trouble Bennet, so not sure how it’s going to trouble Novak. His slice is great against SHB players, but with DHB, it’s not as effective anymore. He does not have much advantage over Novak in this. I think Novak would get to most of his drop shots without much effort. I don’t think it’s going to be an effective shot, since Novak plays very close to baseline.

So far both Novak and Roger haven’t played on Grass and therefore we do not know what is in store tomorrow. I bank on Roger’s legacy in Wimbledon and his history there. He has beat some great players during the course of his triumphs. If Roger’s slice doesn’t work anymore against DHB players, then how come he is able to beat players like Del Potro, David Ferrer, Tsonga etc. often ??? So we cannot infer too much from match ups. I think his drop shots will work well on Grass as they die on the court and it will be difficult for Novak or for that matter any player to pick it.

Let’s look at what he has done in past 2 years. More relevant would be last 1 year. We are not talking history here to care much about records which are 3-5 years old.

In the past two years, he has infact done well against Novak in Slams. He was match points up in both the 2010 and 2011 US Opens. He beat him at the French Open 2011 and broke his streak of wins and then in the Australian Open 2011 although it was a straight set victory, it was a pretty close match.

Michael, historically Roger is a bad matchup with DHB players. He had trouble at the begining of his career (Hewitt, Nalby), then even post his 2008 he had consistently troubled by Novak, Murray, Simon. If you take most of his losses, they would be against DHB players. And tomorrow he is up against possibly the best DHB player of all the above bunch.

Against Hewitt, Nalbandian what is the H2H of Roger ?? Now against some of the other players like Davydenko, Del Potro, David Ferrer, Roddick, Soderling or even Murray, Roger does boast of a very good H2H and so I am unable to make out how you say that he is not good against DHB Players ???

what does Roger do to win against Novak? That’s what keeps bugging me.
May be tomrorow you will have the answer.

July 5th, 2012 at 8:16 am

Well originally I thought Novak was the favorite but I have changed my opinion after some reflection. This is federer’s best surface and with all due respect novaks worst. Federer’s game is so natural on grass. And I think he got unlucky last year with at Wimbledon and djokovic at the us open.

July 5th, 2012 at 8:32 am

It’s not that much grass by second week is the thing!

Anyway, hoping for the magic. Go Rog

July 5th, 2012 at 9:31 am

Is Murray tsonga gonna play first? I am flying on Friday and would love to be completely unaware of results/happenings during novak and roger match.

Murray, make it happen!

July 5th, 2012 at 9:33 am

COMPLETELY AGREE with dari. Grass? what grass?

Did anyone not see how the clay court expert (he’s good on hard courts for sure) ferrer pushed murray to the brink yesterday?

I mean come on, it played like a slow HC.

Those who are backing fed due to his expertise on grass cannot be labelled foolish, BUT at the same time reality is that they’re isn’t really much grass right now on court. Just look at the baseline.

Either way, IF novak wins then he would have beaten fed at the AO, FO, WIMBY and USO in the last 18 months- simply closing the argument as to who is the SUPERIOR ONE between the two now. I’m not even sure that is an argument even right now, BUT a friday win for novak will make it a case closed in this regard.

I think historically people have though that nadal is probably fed’s toughest matchup, well IF novak wins on friday then fed will have TWO foes who cause him great problems for sure.

It would be a funny world that exists, when people say that their is someone OTHER than nadal who causes fed alot of problem’s. LOL- who would have thought……

July 5th, 2012 at 10:43 am

I’m surprised to hear people repeatedly calling Grass as Novak’s weaker surface, when he has won a Wimbledon title, but he still does not have a FO. It sounds amazing that a guy holds GS on a weaker surface.

Typically weaker surface is attributed when the guy struggles big time on the surface and does not hold a title. But Novak is in semis now, he has already won the title last year. He has been in semis before. What more does he need to do.

July 5th, 2012 at 11:35 am

Michael,

If you look at the other way, he has less time than others to cover up. He is already 31 and he is aware of it. He needs to get things done pretty quickly compared to others. Yes, he is more relaxed now no doubt but the way he has been losing matches does not prove that he is free of pressure. It’s the other way around. He has not been handling the pressure well. He is losing matches which he would have never lost before.

I don’t think plays tennis differently in grass. He plays the same type of tennis, except its more effective on grass. He used to come to net more before, but now he is not doing it. So basically there is nothing in his game to call a grass court specialist. He plays typical baseline game, relying on serve.

Yes, it’s absolutely proven that guys who have beaten Roger recently have all had 2HBH. Berdych, Hewitt, Tsonga, Del Po, Murray and Novak. All have 2HGH. I believe Simon has a positive H2H against Roger. Hewitt and Nalby had a positive H2H against Roger till he took off in 2003. I understand in the period of 03-07 he was not troubled by anyone, but I mentioned that clearly. Even in his best days, guys who beat him other than Nadal were 2 HBH players like Safin, Nalby. Davydenko and Ferrer met Roger mostly during his prime, so they could not do much. But look Davy troubled Roger at 2009. He beat him like 2-3 times consecutively, and gave a very tough matchup in AO 10. But having 2HBH alone is not enough against Roger, the guy has to be a good mover. The combination of 2HBH with good movement troubles Roger, mostly post 2008.

I’m not sure if having MP is a great achievement. Tennis cares only about winners. Tsonga also had MP against Novak, but who cares now? It’s an excuse we can always make, but look at their last 2 matches. It was pity seeing Roger on court. I think Novak has grown in confidence against Roger. Now he knows there is nothing in Roger’s game which is going to trouble him. He seems to be supremely confident and he knows he can turn the match around from any position.

July 5th, 2012 at 11:48 am

Schedule is out. Roger vs Novak is the first match tomorrow on CC.

July 5th, 2012 at 2:08 pm

I am a bit surprised by the reactions to Dan Markowitz article: it doesn’t mean to be objective and balanced. It is a personal point of view, an exercise of style, and it is based on the fact that Roger had to give a politically correct answer where he obviously avoided the truth.

Anyway, most pundits give Novak an advantage. I am not quite confident, for my part, and I believe it will be a tense and close encounter.

July 5th, 2012 at 5:40 pm

^Lets hope so, hoping for a great match between these 2, fun players to watch!t

July 5th, 2012 at 5:57 pm

Skeez… now honestly: what would you prefer to watch: Novak playing like crap and Roger winning in three, or a tense match where you don’t know the winner until the last two points?

Honestly, I can’t stand close fights any more. I’d rather have a Roger playing like crap and Nole winning easily than a battle for ages, even if my fav wins.

I thought that with age I would not care any more. But boy! last month defeat in RG hurt more than Connors defeat against the Swede having won the first two sets 6-0, 6-4.

July 5th, 2012 at 6:09 pm