Federer Into Stockolm Final; Baghdatis, Troicki Vie for Vienna Title

correction: baggy and troicki are in klemlin cup final in moscow not vienna

October 23rd, 2010 at 3:30 pm

you are right kimmi-wow i didn’t catch that one at first

October 23rd, 2010 at 4:13 pm

I hope Troicki gets this one. He’s never won a title and I believe his father is Russian. This would give Vik a lot of confidence for Davis Cup after defeating Tsonga.I like Bagdatis too though.

October 23rd, 2010 at 8:41 pm

Troicki has a very good chance but Baghdatis can be a tough opponent. I hope Troicki can win his first title. he has been playing really well.

October 23rd, 2010 at 9:04 pm

Ljubicic is an extremely frustrating player to watch. He has beautiful strokes and moves elegantly. Against Federer, at times he got too cute (esp. at the net) and other times he way overhit.

Since he was playing well, and Federer is off top-form, why didn’t he just try to win with got him there? Moreover, he was on a relatively fast indoor court, which really works for his game.

His lack of belief really hurt him.

October 23rd, 2010 at 9:12 pm

Oh, and kudos to Federer for homing in on Sampras’ record.

It’s pretty amazing that as dominant as Federer has been this decade, he’s still just pulling even with Sampras in this category. And this despite winning a great many more clay titles!

October 23rd, 2010 at 9:16 pm

sar, feeling precisely the way you are regarding the Kremlin Cup final, which I think could be a very excellent match. I think I want Troicki to win more because he has no titles, and Baggy has won at least one title this year. Love the Bagman, but pulling for Victor in this one.

I don’t know much about Mayer, but I am going to assume he has little chance against Fed tomorrow. Fed’s won their only two matches easily. Mind you they’ve not played since 2006. Anyhow, if Madmax is there, I hope for her sake Fed wins the title; she’ll be over-the-moon. : )

October 23rd, 2010 at 10:07 pm

mayer played well against nieminen. i was impressed with his volleys. he hit some great volleys in that match. when nieminen had a match point against him, he hit one of those volley to save it. he played well to beat soderling too.

it will be interesting to see how he plays federer.

October 24th, 2010 at 12:03 am

Is Mayer a doubles player Kimmi? I mean, does he play a lot of doubles like Llodra for example?

October 24th, 2010 at 12:21 am

i dont think he is jane. his profile does not show too many doubles matches. his doubles win/loss record this year is only 3-10. and has never won a doubles title.

i guess he is learning new tricks. i am hoping federer will be on a higher level for him.

he was hitting the ball pretty hard from the baseline, as i said earlier…some nice volleys and drop shots once in a while…maybe federer change of pace style might trouble him..who knows!

October 24th, 2010 at 12:57 am

Thanks for the info; you still have to like Fed’s chances. I think he’ll win. Baggy vs. Troicki is much tougher to call though.

October 24th, 2010 at 1:15 am

“Federer is just 2-4 in ATP finals this year”

Just? How many ATP finals was anyone else in besides Rafa?

Minimizing Feds accomplishments seems quite the norm lately. I guess it is his fault for setting the GOAT bar, so secondary stuff is unacceptable looking, whareas anyone else on the tour would take reaching 4 finals an accomplishment, in a heartbeat. The price to pay for the GOAT I guess.

October 24th, 2010 at 1:26 am

Don’t know why people predict it will be a walk in the park for Federer.

Every player doubly fancies his chances against Federer nowadays. Now that he’s no longer so dominant, everyone smells opportunity, and a chance for payback. Plus he’s a great scalp to claim; someone like Guillermo Canas will be remembered, if at all, only for having beaten Federer.

The title is one match away, there’s no reason to think Mayer won’t give his all. This could be the most important moment of his career, his first ATP final, and a chance to win his first title by beating the great Roger Federer. And he’s already dumped out Soderling, so he certainly won’t be lacking confidence.

This may be one of those very close matches which is decided by one or two points; not easy or straightforward at all.

October 24th, 2010 at 2:15 am

Roger Federer is definitely making a fool out of himself.
In the past his fans loved him and the neutrals respected him a lot. Now he has only the FEDTARDS on his side. Offlate people have started realizing what a SORE LOSER he has become.

There was absolutely no down of surfaces recently, atleast not after 2003.

Federer is desperately trying to protect his legacy, I guess someone has to tell him that it will be very difficult (almost impossible) for Rafa to beat his GS record. Federer has done a lot to stay at the top of the list of GOAT canditates. He need not back it up with his SOUR GRAPES comments.

As I said before there is no objective reason to state that the surfaces are slowed down after 2003.

October 24th, 2010 at 2:41 am

troicki is not having it easy. baggy with the first set. are we going to see the fight back?

October 24th, 2010 at 8:45 am

ah troicki took the second set, one more troicki

October 24th, 2010 at 9:15 am

ah this match is good. mayer is trying to go to the net as much as he can..fed trying to pass him. some great shots so far

October 24th, 2010 at 9:26 am

troicki breaks early in the third set. 3-1. just needs to hold three more times

October 24th, 2010 at 9:32 am

Mayer is very regular, moving Fed side to side and using a lot of slices into Fed’s forehand. SO fa a good match.

October 24th, 2010 at 9:37 am

mayer with drop shot return of serve…great point

October 24th, 2010 at 9:37 am

2 errors give mayer 2 break points..federer in trouble.

saved one

federer broken..too bad

October 24th, 2010 at 9:39 am

2 easy crosscourt Forejand errors and Mayer breaks. His serve is not out of this world but he is hardly missing any first serve. Fed will need nerves from Mayer to get back in this set.

October 24th, 2010 at 9:40 am

Well, back to even….

October 24th, 2010 at 9:43 am

2 break back points. federer breaks right back

mean while in klemlin cup..trocki has his frist match point at 5-2 baggy serving

back to duece

October 24th, 2010 at 9:44 am

baggy holds. troicki to serve for the championship at 5-3

must be nervous. this will be his first title. c’mon troicki

October 24th, 2010 at 9:47 am

0-40 for federer. break here can seal the set. first set in the bad for fed…

October 24th, 2010 at 9:48 am

Mayer played near perfect tennis up until those last two games. Hope 2nd set is equally competitive.

October 24th, 2010 at 9:49 am

2 matchpoints on his own serve for troicki. 40-15

and he wins it.

CONGRATS TO TROICKI ON HIS FIRST TITLE.

October 24th, 2010 at 9:50 am

i like when federer holds to hit the shot, waiting for his opponent to move…

October 24th, 2010 at 9:51 am

great defence from mayer…tough game for fed to hold

October 24th, 2010 at 9:58 am

This guy Mayer reminds me of Miloslav Mecir.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qlb5Py25DPM&feature=related

October 24th, 2010 at 10:04 am

I think that is Peter Forsberg sitting next to Sevrin Luti

October 24th, 2010 at 10:09 am

fed breaks. 2 games to hold now

October 24th, 2010 at 10:09 am

OK, fed to serve for the match

October 24th, 2010 at 10:15 am

3 match point…

October 24th, 2010 at 10:16 am

At least he improved to 3-4 in titles/finals this year. Congrats Fed on his 64th title!

October 24th, 2010 at 10:18 am

mirka smiling at the error from federer on his first match point

and he win on his second match point.

CONGRATS TO THE FED! YAY!!!

October 24th, 2010 at 10:18 am

NELTA – there is some similarities with mecir. the way he holds the racket on that BH especially, very unique..but effective.

October 24th, 2010 at 10:23 am

BRAVO Viktor on first title. First one is nerve wracking but got it done.

Congrats Federer for title.

October 24th, 2010 at 10:27 am

grrrr my live streaming just died during trophy presentation…

October 24th, 2010 at 10:30 am

Sar,
Indeed a great day for Serbia and its often underachieving and less celebrated son. I am really happy for him. The first is almost always the sweetest.
Super happy that Fed won comfortably to add one more title. Another landmark: His 64th career ATP World Tour level title ties Sampras for fourth place on the Open Era. He achieved this feat on his 92nd ATP World Tour level final……….He is 63-28 in finals, though 204 in 2010.
OPEN ERA SINGLES TITLES LIST:

1) Jimmy Connors 109
2) Ivan Lendl 94
3) John McEnroe 77
4) Pete Sampras 64
4) Roger Federer 64
5) Bjorn Borg 63

On a side note, as I am typing, Dimitrov is playing another Challenger final, leading 3rd set 3-2.

October 24th, 2010 at 11:06 am

Congrats to Troicki! Whoo-hoo his first title; he must be so happy. Good for him on an excellent run of play since the USO.

Also congrats to Roger for his win in Stockholm as well. Madmax will maybe fill us in on the live action?

Kimmi, I don’t know how you did it, but thank-you for providing running commentary on not just one of the matches, but both!!

October 24th, 2010 at 11:08 am

Way to go Fed! Another “SOUR GRAPES” title, lol

October 24th, 2010 at 11:10 am

Congrats to Troicki on his first title. Very exciting day for him.

And congrats to Roger.

Serbia should be in great shape for Davis Cup.

October 24th, 2010 at 11:11 am

Congrats to Roger. Also to Troicki for keeping it together long enough to win a title.

October 24th, 2010 at 11:14 am

Ah, Fed ties a Sampras record? Didn’t know that. Well then this win may be even more special to him! Good job. Shows that every win matters, big tournaments, little ones, whatever.

October 24th, 2010 at 11:14 am

To the poster who thinks the stat that Federer is “only 2-4 in finals,” is a putdown, well, yes it is. The guy won more than 20 finals in a row at one point, so you’d have to be a ridiculously sensitive Fed Head to get irritated at the comment that 2-4 (now 3-4) isn’t good.

To the people who thought Mayer would have a good shot at Fed, the guy has no weapons that can hurt him. Mayer’s strength is return of serve and mixing up his game, but he doesn’t have much firepower and is a bit of a headcase.

October 24th, 2010 at 11:15 am

your welcome jane. I had both matches on live stream..2 small windows on my desktop. glad when troicki won, then i had to concntrate only on fed match.

i am it – i am following dimitrov too.

he had a match point on the second set tie break but mahut came up with big serve and then eventually won the set.

third set is on serve so far 5-4 dimitrov. one break point for dimitrov came and went. good thing though, he is winning his service games easily so far…

October 24th, 2010 at 11:19 am

Kimmi, do you have a live stream for the Dimitrov match?

October 24th, 2010 at 11:23 am

blank

this site had the live stream. but now is showing error for some reason. keep trying, it might work.

my stream is working a.t.m coz i opened up when everything was working.

http://www.tennisform.com/default.asp?action=LIVEStream

October 24th, 2010 at 11:27 am

ah third se tie break.

c’mon dimitrov

October 24th, 2010 at 11:29 am

hmmm, not doing well, first mini break to mahut

October 24th, 2010 at 11:30 am

ok, mahut lost both points. now mini break to dimitrov

October 24th, 2010 at 11:32 am

mahut gets mini break back..ok who is going to win their serve..

ok, both wins their serve.

3-3 change ends

October 24th, 2010 at 11:34 am

mahut gets another mini break 5-3

October 24th, 2010 at 11:35 am

Thanks Kimmi. I’ll check it out!

October 24th, 2010 at 11:36 am

oh no. 2 match points to mahut

6-4

October 24th, 2010 at 11:37 am

Oh Dimitrov lost!

October 24th, 2010 at 11:37 am

mahut wins on his first match point.

great tournament for dimitrov. too bad he could not capitalize on his own match point.

hoping for more good things for him…

October 24th, 2010 at 11:38 am

Dimitrov better do well for the remainder of this year if he wants to have a shot at direct entry to AO’11. It’s a lot of work if he is to crack the top 10 next year, especially since he has stated that as his goal!

I am losing confidence in Djokovic and Murray. Their heads have been totally busted by Federer and Nadal over the last 3-4 years and with Nadal being super strong and Federer still remaining a threat, I am not sure how much of a chance they have left.

October 24th, 2010 at 11:59 am

blank – i dont know about cracking the top 10 next year. i think that will be a very tall order. he looks like he needs more time. if he is struggling to win these challenger tour level events, the ATP tour will be even tougher. he is doing the right things now though. ofcourse the win today would have helped, it would have taken him to top 90 ranking.

needs to grind it out some more before end of the year. hope he gets a shot at the AO main draw.

October 24th, 2010 at 12:13 pm

True Kimmi. I hope Dimitrov is just tired and can do much better when he is fresh.

October 24th, 2010 at 12:54 pm

Fed getting #64 is a nice accomplishment. I think he needs to play more 250 and 500 level events than he played in 2008 and 2009. Staying match tough without having to go to the well too often (like he might need to at a 1000 level event) can help him. I think Paris and London will be fun, but Rafa having a shot at a 52 week slam in Oz is really the next thing I am interested in for the men. I say this as a Federer guy, if Rafa holds all 4 at the same time it would be the greatest achievement I have seen in tennis.

October 24th, 2010 at 1:40 pm

troicki seems to be getting some game on…pushing nadal around, winning a title. let’s see if it lasts or if he’s just in a “berdych phase” a new term that we can use to describe players who have inexplicably good runs over a few tournaments and then fade away again.

nice win for roger. i just watched the murray/rog shanghai final yesterday. murray had some great passing shots and served well. roger has to work on winning more of those longer baseline rallies., but andy, like nadal and other players, tend to pummel the backhand wing of roger to draw the errors.

October 24th, 2010 at 2:31 pm

Hi Jane! Hi Sar!

Just got back from stockholm. It really is a beautiful city. So here is a bit of a summary of my day in a bit more depth, now that I am a bit more coherent! (I think!).

Took the underground from Saltsbojaden onto slussen and then changed to stadion. Walked through the turnstile to head towards the tennis hall which is a good 20 minute walk to the stadium. As I left the underground, there were flags of federer and soderling along the highway. At first, I thought I had gone past the building – (it was snowing by the way) – but stopped a cyclist to check that I was heading in the right direction – my heart was just pumped. I was told I was heading for the right direction!

I was really proud of myself for doing this, as I thought, what is the worst that could happen? I get lost and then I ask someone the way!

I passed the music hall, which was just on the corner, curving its way just past stadion central – so just carried on walking for a further 20 minutes.

If any of you have been to stockholm, you’ll know that the roads are wide, and you risk your life when you cross, even when the traffic lights say stop and the green man says you can walk across the road! you take your chances! I am telling you there was NO WAY, I was going to get run over yesterday – NO WAY!

So crossed the road and headed towards the tennis hall. Got there pretty early and there were 6 serbian guys ahead of me, travelled from serbia to see Federer! I couldn’t believe it! Spoke to a guy who was banging on the door – he didn’t even have a ticket! He was hoping to see the fed and started to talk to me in English – we shared stories and chewing gum! It was absolutely great. I couldn’t believe I was there!

Eventually, the ticket office opened (fairly small and uneventful), but next to it was the actual tennis stadium, centre court, wooden benches, and then the posh seats at the front of the stadium. The best bit about it were the kids, who were doing their gymnastics prior to the match as Niennemen was on first.

There were strip lights which were dazzling around the court and ripping around as if it was a race track.

The stadium, I would say was almost full – lots of music in between games and plenty of photographers there. It’s only a small court, very intimate but atmospheric.

After this match, there was only about a 10-15 minute wait, and then Luby came on first, then the fed. The atmosphere was just amazing. Federer simply was awesome. I now understand what it is like when you see the man live. I was simply star struck. It’s incredible what celebrity’ism’ does to you – it renders you speechless, it really does.

Great match. Great rapport between both players and you could feel the respect on court.

For the final today, I didn’t get to see it, my head is still in a whirl from yesterday, but some really incredible statistics from the fed, which I’ll post here. Apart from this, it’s great to share this with true tennis fans.

So Federer, who seems effortlessly to steal the limelight wherever his goes, continued his assault on the record books and in the tennis headlines. Ten years after his only other appearance in Stockholm, he beat Taylor Dent to reach 900 matches on the tour – 12 years after his first. He’s the only active played to reach this landmark and, even more startling, he has not retired from a single one.

The next landmark, if he won his quarter-final encounter against countryman Stanislas Wawrinka, was his 50th match win for the season. That, however, was not the news.

*That this would be the ninth straight year Federer had achieved 50 wins was. Only four other men in the Open era have managed it before, and with Federer still playing near the top of the game, his chances of making it 10 in a row—joint second with Stefan Edberg and Guillermo Vilas—look very good indeed*.

And there’s one more target in Stockholm. Should Federer win the title, he would overtake Bjorn Borg’s tally of 64 to join Pete Sampras at fourth in the Open era.

This is what federer said in interview:

“You never know when it’s your last one, that’s why you want to savour every tournament,” said Federer, who won for the first time in Sweden to take his tally to 18 countries in which he has lifted titles.

“Early on, I think that feeling of wanting to prove yourself to the world and all the doubters is a very strong one, so you’re very aggressive in your ways of winning and not enjoying them.
“Today it’s much more of the enjoyment part because I don’t need to prove myself to anyone anymore, except to myself.”

The 47th-ranked Meyer, who is still without a win from three career finals, said:

“Roger really deserved to win. I hope you get back to number one as soon as possible.”

Wow! what a great thought from mayer!

On the all-time list of winners, Guillermo Vilas clinched 62 titles, Andre Agassi won 60, Ilie Nastase won 57 and Boris Becker claimed 49.

The full article can be found here:

http://www.thesportreview.com/tsr/2010/10/roger-federer-stockholm/

October 24th, 2010 at 4:23 pm

Hi Max,

Thanks for such a wonderful report. Someday I hope to get to another European tournament. You sound ecstatic!!Being star struck is great, isn’t it? Glad you had a marvelous time.

October 25th, 2010 at 12:11 am

@madmax: congrats on seeing Federer play live, you’re really lucky! Sounds like you really enjoyed it.

October 25th, 2010 at 12:22 am

@madmax

One word. Awesome.

October 25th, 2010 at 12:45 am

madmax: really glad u got 2 c your Fed and he won! Must’ve known u were there ;)

October 25th, 2010 at 1:02 am

madmax, thanks so much for the report; I am super happy for you! I hope one day I can see Nole and Murray play live. It was snowing hey? Hope you kept warm with all that chewing gum ; ) It really works well as a substitute for teeth-chattering. Cheers!

October 25th, 2010 at 1:32 am

yes a great sentiment from mayer, worship your opponent a little more perhaps.

i think started daydreaming about fed getting back to no.1 straight after breaking him. because until then he was playing some really good tennis.

October 25th, 2010 at 2:14 am

Hi everyone. Yes. I cannot tell you 2 days on, it still hasn’t sunk in. I kept saying to myself “please don’t let me die before I get back to UK, so I can tell TX friends about the experience!). (plane rides – slight fear sometimes – ) but glad I lived to tell the tale.

I think it’s the fact that it is an actual live match – Niennemen was the clear favourite in the first match – the crowd was very partisan against mayer – felt for him – and so rowdy, shouting and screaming – I loved it! and well, as soon as fed walked on the court, you couldn’t hear a thing – the crowd just went wild. I wonder what it must feel like to be him, to be any player, the same when novak walks onto a court in serbia, the same when murray walks onto the court in UK, it’s that unbelievable feeling that you are a part of something.

And it starts all over again in 4 weeks time at the O2!

guy, who says it’s daydreaming getting back to no.1? Why not? Rafa was in the same position last year, holding position no. 3, for however long, then 3 years at no. 2 and now no.1, no different for fed. In fact more reason to go for it.

what would be really great next year, is we can get together and meet up at a match, share stories, (I think I might even buy guy a coffee!), how cool would that be?

October 25th, 2010 at 4:06 am