Playing tennis with federer is like playing tic tac toe.You never know how he manages to get the x’s in a straight line.He has the strategy and tactics to beat anyone except nadal(the hyperfit grinder)on clay.Thats rite clay the place where tennis is purely physical(with the same boring shots played over and over again)and the quickness, talent and instinct associated with the sport does not exist.Unfortunately federer or anyone cannot change nadal’s physique.Since thats not going to happen nobody can beat him on that surface unless someone takes a rod to his knees or unless he’s physically injured.But for fed I think he can keep going for another 2 years definitely at this pace.The only player who could possibly have a chance of beating federer at his own artistic game is richard gasquet.But this dude is still a kid and hasn’t matured enough to be consistent with his shotmaking.He still has a lot of work to do on his serve,forehand,footwork etc.Berdych could end up being maybe even worse than Safin.Djok is pretty good and could challenge fed.But when fed knows he’s being challenged then ya’ll know wats gonna happen to his opponent.I feel fortunate to be seeing this man play.The youngsters can try to be like him but they cant be better.They need too many talents in one body.Fed for life…….

November 18th, 2007 at 1:54 pm

I can’t agree more with Ryan. However, I think Federer can beat Nadal on clay, if only he can erase the psychological effects of his frequent loss to him on that surface. He did in Hamburg this year. Moreso, Nadal appears to be fast fading away and I don’t see him having the kind of run he had this year in the 2008 season.

Generally in life, CONSISTENCY is the key. Roger has been very consistent. He is a complete player with a bundle of talents, sufficient to dismantle any opponent when applied rightly. If he continues this way, he would still be a dominant force to reckon with in Tennis for the next few years. That of course would depend on his health, mental fitness and ability to absorb shocks – like back-to-back losses to Canas and Nalbandian this year – and turn them around for the better.

I’m sure he will garner up more titles next year, but even he doesn’t win any title again or quits tennis (can’t see it happen), I think at this stage, he is a TRUE CHAMPION of champions that has left footprints on the sands of Tennis time.

Long Live Roger!

November 18th, 2007 at 3:04 pm

The old theory that one ought to go to the Quarter Finals of any major tournament certainly has held up yet again.

I think we have a pix of tennis for the rest of this decade. There is more serious competition out there for the greatest person ever to have picked up a racquet. But at the end of the day, Federer wins. Q Fs is where to spend our ticket money.

November 18th, 2007 at 3:06 pm

Femi,reading your article I do have to agree with you.Yes theoretically fed does have the game to beat nadal on clay as the great Borg said. I think nadal could lose that heat that he’s bringing on clay after a while and in the back of fed’s mind i guess he really wants to see how for how long nadal can keep it up and compete with him.The goals for fed are mainly to beat pete sampras record, win the french and stay no.1.As long it doesnt affect his ranking , I guess fed doesn’t mind being beaten in masters(he still repeated the all slam final feat this year despite that) and he would only be really shocked if he is beaten in the slams.I guess he knows its tough for guys to finish him off in a slam in 5 sets.Nadal came so close in wimbledon and still lost.But he might definitely look out for nalbandian.He is experienced and dangerous.But on whole fed will be kicking ass for the next 2 years atleast……

November 18th, 2007 at 4:26 pm

When Fed hits top form, nobody on earth can defeat him, even on clay, he is on another leaque, he is in a different class. The way he played yesterday was like saying what General Zod was saying in Superman II, “Is there anyone on this planet who could challenge me?”. Nobody means Nalbandian, Djokovic, Nadal (even on clay), and other players on earth. However, the question is, “Can Fed hit top form in all of his matches?”.

November 18th, 2007 at 5:28 pm

Where are the Fed detractors in this blog?
What a way for Fed to silence all those pointing out his fading away, that he is on the decline etc.
I doubt that Nalbandian could have handled Fed in this Master Cup the way Fed played after losing to Gonzo.
I hope in 2008 Fed not only matches Sampras record but also surpasses it and wins RG.

November 18th, 2007 at 5:32 pm

st4r5
Fed has proved over and over that he can raise the level of his game when it matters, that is, Grand Slam’s QF, SF and Finals.

November 18th, 2007 at 5:35 pm

wow. what can you say to that? i liked this match much more than the nadal match. roger’s 1st serve percentage was too high against nadal to get into any juicy ralleys.

against david there were so many good quality exchanges – you had to gasp at what these two were returning.

frustrating no doubt for david, but he sure did hustle.

funny how roger ends the year the same way he started at the AO – playing impeccably.

unbelievable how that guy plays tennis.

November 18th, 2007 at 5:49 pm

I doubt Nadal is out of steam. I expect him to dominate the clay season yet again. I’d be SHOCKED if he didn’t. He’s only 26 and his list of goals is down to like 3 things: win the French, break Sampras’s record, and win the Olympics. Anything else is really just a bonus. I mean 6 straight Wimbledons? He probably, no, DEFINETLY wants it, but I don’t think it’s his top priority. Win a 5th straight US Open? Win a 4th Australian Open? Complete a Golden Slam? All bonuses. That’s how great Federer is. And he’s only 26.

November 18th, 2007 at 5:57 pm

The most important thing from this Master’s cup is that Fed can still reach the God’ly level which we have seen from him so often and he has not just ‘Lost’ it after 4 years of dominance. Probabaly he lost a few too many matches compared to last 3 years, but he has won the important ones.

Also some of the matches that he has lost were close ones.. like 2 tie-breakers against Djok, and 3-setters again Nalby, Canas and Gonzo. Infact he has improved his record against Nadal.. Last year it was 2-4 (0-4 at one stage), this year its 3-2, so its infact 5-2 against Nadal in their last 7 matches. This result should only give him more confidence for 2008. He has just lost 9 matches compared to 15+ matches by other players.

November 18th, 2007 at 10:29 pm

Federer is well aware of his record against Nadal. That’s why, somehow, his 4th year as the undisputed number 1 is his breakthrough year. Haha. There’s gotta be another word that fits better. You can’t overlook his straight set losses, though. But they’re insignificant now. In the end, the slams count the most and he dominated those. I still think he needs a coach. Obviously he can win when he really wants to win, but I think he needs a coach to make sure he still beats the players he should beat without going away. His first loss to Canas and his loss to Volandri are examples of matches he just kinda went away. A coach could help him keep his focus on players and tournaments that aren’t as significant. Plus if Nalbandian is still on the way he was at the 2 masters, Federer’s gonna need a coach to help him approach Nalbandian. Not that I don’t think Federer can beat him, I just think that Federer’s below par play isn’t good against an on Nalbandian that’s always blabbing about how he has nothing to lose. I think he’s pretty much figured out Nadal. I could be wrong but whenever they meet on nonclay events I expect Federer to win. I wouldn’t mind seeing him wreck Canas and Volandri a few times, too. As for Djokovic. I wanna see him get a few wins over Federer to actually spark up a rivalry. Maybe not at the slams but elsewhere for sure. Murray needs to move up, too, but Federer needs to win their next match, he doesn’t need another player with a winning record against him. And last but not least, LET’S GO SAFIN!!!

November 18th, 2007 at 11:11 pm

Federer is the master of the art. I see gasquet as one player who can challenge him on hard courts if gasquest can mature fast. He’s as artistic as Federer and one of the few who has a one-handed backhand in the game. He even prefers backhand to his fore-hand! I’ve seen him a few times getting around the ball to whip it with his backhand while all others do that to their forehand…

I hope he will learn and mature faster to challenge Federer and others.

November 18th, 2007 at 11:16 pm

Well.. Gasquet sure has a beautiful backhand.. which is even better than Fed’s backhand. Yeah, he is talented.. but nowhere near where Fed is. His forehand isnt lethal, he loops the ball often dont hit too many winners with it. His volleying is okay, but service motion is not very clean. And mentally he isnt there yet.. so i cant see him challenging Fed on hard courts. But yeah, there is scope for improvement and hope he improves fast.

November 19th, 2007 at 1:34 am

Now looking back did fed give all those set points to Djok just to make him realise how it feels to lose a match that way? Coz thats what djok did to fed in montreal.

Fed has a habit of giving his opponents a taste of their own medicine.He serve and volleyed and took a whole game by aceing sampras in that wim 2001 match.He outaced roddick in many matches.

He doubled bageled hewitt to make people think is hewitt that gritty after all? Even in wimbledon 07 final 5th set, nadal has a better 5 set match record than fed but still fed beat him in that 5th set when nadal had so many chances.

He outplays baseliners like agassi, davydenko, taking the ball probably earlier than them.Even against ferrer the best returner fed ended up returning better than him.

When he took on gasquet in wim 07 it was an artistry match where fed again proved he’s more artistic.(ok richard was tired and it could be more interesting next year).The way he beats up opponents in their own games point by point is wat makes him the most complete player ever.

November 19th, 2007 at 2:28 am

No. it is for sure Fed is still the King to beat. However, we all saw how Fernando did to Fed to win the match the first game in Shanghai. He beated him by being more aggresive, purely. I am not sure if the bunch of rivals like Nadal, Djok, Andy, and Gasquet etc. had enough confidnce to beat Fed. However, if they still want to achieve that, they got to try something different, like hitting the ball harder, flatter, like there is no tomorrow, like what Fernando did to Fed to honour what he said before the game…. no one could beat me more than ten times in a row.

November 19th, 2007 at 10:41 am

Gonzalez played the match of his life. He usually misses those go-for-broke shots. That type of game just isn’t reliable. But hardcore aggression like that is a good way to beat Federer. Safin has a game where he just smacks the shit outta the ball and when he’s actually playing well he can beat or atleast challenge Federer. But, I mean flat shots? That’s the opposite of Nadal’s game. Murray and Djokovic can flatten it too but it’s just not their games. It’s too risky and inconsistent of a style to be effect.

November 19th, 2007 at 6:32 pm

Yes, That game cud probabaly beat Fed, but its more likely to make more unforeced errors. Its a low-percentage game and if Nadal plays like that against Fed he might even lose his French Open to Fed in future.

November 19th, 2007 at 10:17 pm

Hey, what else these guys have got to lose ? It is obvious by playing their normal games they have got no chance to beat Fed, not even a set. For the sake of the sport, their pride and for audience, why not try something else. I am neutral but just bored by seeing these guys being toyed by Fed. Win or lose, we saw how Gonzalez played the match of his life and won the match, and how that excited Fed to escalated his game to higher level. This is what we want, right ? I think even for the die-hard Fed’s fans, how boring it would be every time the result was two-zero, three-zero etc.. A great player also needs great rival, or even more rivals. In fact, after half-way of the Fed/Ferrer, I already switched to other channel…….just couldn’t bear to watch anymore !

November 20th, 2007 at 8:49 am