Will It Be Roger Federer Winning A Sixth US Open Two Sundays From Now?

Since Federer won 2012 Cincinnati, I give Djokovic/Murray the upperhand at 2012 US OPEN….

That is their advantage….and not because Federer cannot win….

August 26th, 2012 at 12:37 am

Two questions for Sean: Do you think Fed will win 20 majors? If so, which do you think will be 19 and 20?

August 26th, 2012 at 12:49 am

Boring. Always the same.

August 26th, 2012 at 4:03 am

“Men threaten Australian Open boycott”. This article is from the London Times by a reputable tennis writer.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/tennis/men-threaten-australian-open-boycott/story-fnbe6xeb-1226458318191

August 26th, 2012 at 4:44 am

Boycott the Australian Open!?!?! Are they f*cking nuts?!?! NOOOOOOO!!!!!!! My dad and I are supposed to go to Australia in January for two weeks to watch the AO. This would be a catastrophe =O

August 26th, 2012 at 5:45 am

It depends on Murray’s form and someone other than Novak being in finals. We know Roger and Novak are in good form, but what about Murray? He is a big question mark. If he can find form anywhere close to what he had at Wimby or Olympics, I can’t see Roger get past him in the semis.

If Murray does not show a good form, then I think if Novak is not in the finals, then Roger could take the title. A below average Novak almost took a set off Roger at Cincy. I can’t imagine what he can do when he is in good form. If he reaches USO final, I don’t see anyone in the draw has a chance against Novak.

August 26th, 2012 at 6:12 am

Nirmal,

Murray showing his good form as he did in the Wimbledon or Olympics, then Roger is finished. That is a big “IF”. But coming to Wimbledon, why Murray lose inspite of showing his best form as you put it ? That was because Roger played his sublime Tennis which is difficult to breach even by an in-form player leave alone Murray. So, it is basically on Roger’s racquet. If Roger shows the form as he did in Cincinnati where he impressed me with his exploits at the net, then he must be surely favoured to lift his sixth open title. But it all depends the kind of form a player is in. It is not at all certain that the top Three will sail to the semis. Ofcourse so far they have been consistent, but we saw at Wimbledon what happened to Nadal. If you ask me my pre-tournament favourites, I would put it as Novak, Roger, Murray and then the dark horses namely Tsonga, Del Potro and even Raonic, necessarily in this order.

August 26th, 2012 at 6:28 am

If fed serves well and plays like he did in cincy I don’t see anyone beating him. In that form he’s just an absolute monster.

August 26th, 2012 at 7:05 am

Raonic can step up, but it’s seems he’s still too young.

…………………………….

He’s just not good enough.

Sampras won the USO at 19 years old.

Raonic is 22.

The generation of players born in the early 90s is just not good enough.

A lost generation.

Federer, Djokovic, Nadal and even Murray might win slams for years to come since the next generation is not good enough.

August 26th, 2012 at 8:45 am

If federer plays his best he’s just unbeatable on any court post-wimbledon, save montreal/toronto. He’s the GOAT of grass, fast hardcourts and indoors.

Federer played below par tennis the last 2 USopens and novak, the 2nd best hard courter, this side of 2000, still required to save match points. If federer plays anywhere like his wimbledon form, he will be winning USO for the 6th time. The USopen, like the wimbledon, is federer’s to lose. Will he bring his 04-08 form or will he bring the form of last 2 years? We will see.

August 26th, 2012 at 8:54 am

Us Open is Feds best slam. Especially the latest years. The last three years he lost but he could have won them all. He should have won maybe 2.

SO Roger has shown us that his form this year / summer is the best since 2006/2007 it will take some match to beat him.

Nadal knows this and elected not even to play this tourney.

August 26th, 2012 at 10:29 am

Michael,

Yeah, the assumption is the top guys make the semis just for the discussion. Let’s not forget the indoor setting of Wimbledon. It does add a bit of advantage to Roger, where his less margin game can take off pretty well. I’m not saying he would not have won the title on outdoors, but he is almost invincible when he needs to focus only on hitting the tennis ball.

2nd set of Cincy pretty much showed me once Novak gets his teeth into the match, it’s pretty tough for Roger to get into momentum. He was lucky to scrap through at the 2nd set when Novak started to get his form. I don’t think he can get out from a 5-setter like that.

I believe for now, Novak is still the better outdoor HC player. I just hope Roger proves it wrong. Let’s see.

August 26th, 2012 at 11:35 am

@sienna. Why, in almost every comment you make, is Nadal mentioned??? Are you a fan?? No!! Just keep fawning over Fed. Geez, Have you forgotten Nadal is not playing in the USO this year!

August 26th, 2012 at 12:13 pm

Djokovic is a better hard court player than federer?

If djokovic wins, it will not be because he is a better hard court player, it will be because he is 6years younger than federer.

When djokovic wins 10 hard court slams and has a 60 match winning streak on hard courts, then come and tell me he is a better hard court player than federer.

Remember how safin and hewitt wiped the floor with sampras in 2000 and 2001 usopen finals? Does that mean they are better hard court players than sampras. not unless you are an absolute moron!

August 26th, 2012 at 12:29 pm

Giles thanks
Is it not allowed? I did not know that.
I will keep trucking on just for your amusement. As long as there are people here who twist the facts I will be asking questions and mentioning the hickups on this site.
Btw LanceArmstrong will be robbed of all his tour victories.
Without being actually proof of doping.

If Nadal was an all american he should be scared for his slamwinnings.
Thamericans should be so strict with us baseball or american football or atletics.

August 26th, 2012 at 12:45 pm

Yes Roger Federer will win The Open 2 week from day.

August 26th, 2012 at 12:51 pm

Submit your bracket here:
http://www.tourneytopia.com/RacquetBracketUsOpenATP/tennisxrocks/default.aspx.

The deadline to enter is 8/27/2012 11:00 AM Eastern Standard Time.

My whole family has picked, sweetpatrick, colino7, christian_miami, kimberli25 and grandmajoan

August 26th, 2012 at 1:18 pm

For the few brave and bold who want to pick WTA
Submit your bracket here:
http://www.tourneytopia.com/RacquetBracketUsOpenWTA/tennisxfansforgirltennis/default.aspx.

The deadline to enter is 8/27/2012 11:00 AM Eastern Standard Time.

August 26th, 2012 at 1:29 pm

August 26th, 2012

Will It Be Roger Federer Winning A Sixth US Open Two Sundays From Now?
by Sean Randall

Uh oh, Fedfans, I would be worried. Sean has picked Federer. Will he win or will the “Sean Jinx” come into play?

August 26th, 2012 at 1:37 pm

I did my picks kimberly. so far one bracket each. maybe later tonight i might add some more. I was very bold to pick kvitova to the final…hoping!!

the sean jinx only came into play in the olympics. i think he was good for wimbledon and cincy. here is hoping he is right again in two weeks time.

August 26th, 2012 at 1:50 pm

To me, Novak seems to be the player to beat at the US open. He has easily been the best hard court player for some time now. This is best of five and the courts are slower than Cincinnati. The draw has been kind to him and not so kind to his main challengers for the title. The super Saturday is a big factor and it does not help old players even if they use the CVAC pod. The Cincinnati bagel is totally irrelevant. Assuming he reaches the semi final stage, Roger is highly unlikely to prevail against two brick walls like Andy and Novak within a period of twenty hours or so. Murray has the tougher path but he is my second favorite after Novak. Del Potro could, assuming his wrist is fine, pose a challenge to Novak but I don’t think he will beat him over five sets. In the end, Novak should beat Andy to win the title.

August 26th, 2012 at 3:42 pm

kimmi-i picked djoker and serena. Colin picked fed and serena. Kaiser and grandma picked Murray and sweetpatrick picked isner.

August 26th, 2012 at 4:27 pm

People tried to convince themselves federer will not win wimbledon. Go check nirmal kumar and other clowns’ posts during the beginning of Wimbledon.

Now they are trying to convince themselves federer will not win USopen. LOL!

if federer wins USO, he will be 7slams ahead of rafa.

if nole wins, he will be within 5 slams of rafa and will have a better record than rafa at both hardcourt slams.

If murray wins, he will equal rafa’s USopen count.

seems to me rafa is the loser irresepective of which of these 3 win. LOL!

August 26th, 2012 at 5:10 pm

Well, i want to think a new name in the WTA will win the US Open, but had to pick Serena again.

One bracket each only, Kimmi?!? oh no, i hope i’m not the only one with 2 brackets in the group! Had to pick 2 different winners. WTA i did one very uninformed bracket really fast.

August 26th, 2012 at 5:12 pm

Hoping Murray plays out of his mind great and makes the final. We’ve seen glimpses of how talented he is over the years, but not so much when he makes a GS final. He is due. He needs that 1st GS! come on…

I went with Gas-K in that section like Sean did. :O

August 26th, 2012 at 5:20 pm

El Mago im a more than happy Rafa fan,after all the guy has 11 GS,and regardless of whatever happens next,nothing will ever change that,even if he retired tomorrow,im sure his fans are delighted with his achievements lol.

August 26th, 2012 at 5:26 pm

”Nirmal Kumar Says:
It depends on Murray’s form and someone other than Novak being in finals. We know Roger and Novak are in good form, but what about Murray? He is a big question mark. If he can find form anywhere close to what he had at Wimby or Olympics, I can’t see Roger get past him in the semis.”

So dude, you do not see roger going past murray if murray shows his olympic form??? well, to be honest, you must be newly watching roger’s tennis then. in that olympic final, roger’s energy was completely sapped coz he played a long semi with JMDP, or else it would have been a hell of a match.

And to be honest to others, the game always rests on fed’s racquet when he is ON. No murray, no nole, only federer when he’s on.

I’d take fed’s best over any other’s best any day. if fed’s even close to his best, he’ll win this easily, otherwise someone else gets it.

and your djokovic is better than federer comment is one of the most hollow and baseless comment i had ever seen here.

August 26th, 2012 at 5:26 pm

and what a laughable comment, everythinmg depends on murray and nole’s form, as per self-proclaimed fed fan nirmal kumar. nothing depends on roger really, eh? LOLZ!!!

August 26th, 2012 at 5:30 pm

nirmal kumar, you don’t see roger getting past anybody includong nadal, nole or murray if they’re anywhere even close to their best in any slam, no? i mean, you’ve even see roger play or are here for predicting his loss without any valid reason to back up your comment???

ok, lemme put some FACTS before you. actually it’s only roger who can play well below his best and can still pick up slams anywhere and anytime. fed, even while playing much below his level, has always kept his matches close and respectable against others(even in clay vs nadal!). but we all know what kinda shellacking your other faves receive even at the hands of much lower ranked guys even at their fave surfaces in slams, and how many times!!! was it really necessary to state the obvious here?

August 26th, 2012 at 5:39 pm

I dunno whats up with people saying federer is fave to win only on fast courts blah blah. reading their comments, you’d actually think that djokovic is equal or better than fed in slow courts, LOL. so far fed has not been in form whilefacing djokovic at AO 08 and AO 11, that’s why i guess people are claiming here as if nole is better on slow hard, huh! had the fed with form of AO 07 or AO 10 clashed with nole of 08/11, i wouldn’t have to go through reading such claims. hope fed faces nole while both playing are playing their respective bests at AO, then I bet fed will destroy nole.

August 26th, 2012 at 5:46 pm

I dont believe in the theory that a match lies on this players racket or that players racket blah blah,pure and simple i think its just a question of whos the better player on any given day,Novak,Murray,Roger are all really good HC players,which makes the USO so difficult to call,Delpos won the USO but his fitness is a question,Novak and Roger have had good results recently,and Murray has gotten the better of both of those players back to back,maybe he is due a major,who knows?personally i cant see any one else other than those 3 winning the title with Delpo been an outside possibility.

August 26th, 2012 at 5:48 pm

”sienna

Nadal knows this and elected not even to play this tourney.”

one of the dumbest comments ever.

———————————

”El Mago Says:
People tried to convince themselves federer will not win wimbledon. Go check nirmal kumar and other clowns’ posts during the beginning of Wimbledon.

Now they are trying to convince themselves federer will not win USopen. LOL!

if federer wins USO, he will be 7slams ahead of rafa.

if nole wins, he will be within 5 slams of rafa and will have a better record than rafa at both hardcourt slams.

If murray wins, he will equal rafa’s USopen count.

seems to me rafa is the loser irresepective of which of these 3 win. LOL!”

firstly, being within 5 slams of rafa is nothing. rafa is rafa, he’s still way ahead of nole in overall achievements. the guy’s been unlucky to face absolute best federer in wimby 06 and 07 finals, otherwise against any other of the current guys, he woulda won it then.

and so far as murray equalling rafa’s USO count, it is still a PRETTY PRETTY “IF”. moreover what else he would equal remains to be seen.

so the only f***ing moron is who says rafa is a loser, irrespective of what happens here.

nadal’s place in history is assured in the top echeleons, the sooner the morons realise it, the better, i so much wish swiss maestro was here. the morons mocking rafa and lifting others up woulda been stuffed up their ar## right now.

dunno how big-headed donkeys invaded this forum who even had the foolishness to call everyone else wolves. what the ####!

August 26th, 2012 at 6:00 pm

well alison, sometimes it does, just like the matches on clay rest on rafa’s racquet all the time, similarly a real ON roger has the matches on his racquet on every other surface. m talkin about slams here in particular. rafa’s best on clay is better than everyone else, similarly federer’s best on the every other court, indoor, fast/slow HC or grass is better than everybody else. even guys like JMac, jim courier, borg agree!

August 26th, 2012 at 6:05 pm

and laver and pete too believe that fed is better than everybody else on every surface barring nadal on clay!

August 26th, 2012 at 6:06 pm

If Federer ends up playing Djokovic at the Open and Federer has match points, I hope he actually makes good on one of them this time!

August 26th, 2012 at 6:07 pm

by the way i love fed, muzza and delpo. fed has won so much already, he will probably win slams in future as well. so for the time being, the best thing will be muzza winning.

allez muzza!!!
you’ve waited long already!!!
now go for it!!!

first choice muzza
second choice fed
3rd choice delpo obviously! ;)

i just hope muzza wins that elusive slam here so that i can wholeheartedly root for fed for the rest of his career to win each n every slam in sight. my guy delpo already has one, now muzza gotta have one!

August 26th, 2012 at 6:11 pm

Latest Vegas Sportsbook odds for outright US Open Winners – ATP and WTA:

Men
Novak Djokovic
3/2
Roger Federer
5/2
Andrew Murray
4/1
Juan Martin Del Potro
10/1
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
28/1

Women
Serena Williams
1/1
Petra Kvitova
10/1
Samantha Stosur
16/1
Maria Sharapova
6/1
Kim Clijsters
16/1
Victoria Azarenka
5/1

August 26th, 2012 at 6:15 pm

@Huh

I am sorry to dissapoint you. Nadal is not part of the best 10 tennisers in the history of the game.
As a matter of fact he has a lot of winning to do to even be considered amongst them.

Nadal is amongst the 3 best claycourt tennisers in the history of the game. I leave it to personal preference to place him in that categorie. Personally I would say 3 but I really dont give a sh…t

August 26th, 2012 at 6:18 pm

Nobody that has won 11 slams is a loser. Considering that Federer and Sampras are the only players in the Open era that have won more slams than Nadal that was a lame thing to say.

August 26th, 2012 at 6:26 pm

Federer could become the first player to win 10 HC slams if he wins the USO. Not even Graf was able to win 10 HC slams.

August 26th, 2012 at 6:30 pm

^Well said^.

August 26th, 2012 at 6:30 pm

bored with hurricane isaac which is a non event except the weather is awful, was going to order some sugarpova for the kids (as i would never consume such a thing) but most of the good flavors are already sold out.

August 26th, 2012 at 7:15 pm

Huh Says:
I dunno whats up with people saying federer is fave to win only on fast courts blah blah. reading their comments, you’d actually think that djokovic is equal or better than fed in slow courts, LOL
———-

The reason for the digs at Fed because some posters know that djokovic can never be like or equal to the Fed. Look at the many articles and stats we see here in djokovic’s favor, whenever anyone begins to show Fed’s stats and the discussion on Fed is sidetracke. Then we’re told that there are tennis matches being played, yet nothing on how the players played in those matches or the outcome is ever mentioned. The very subtle digs is what gets to me.

Fed is good on fast and slow courts. On fast courts, he has the ability to drive through the courts, and his serve placement wins him plenty of free points. On the slow HC, Fed can take his time to set up to hit the returns. djokovic has the same advantage, except he looks as if he’s scrambling to return by slapping the ball and hoping it is out of the opponent’s reach. Fed’s return is more effortless and purposeful. calculated

August 26th, 2012 at 7:35 pm

Murray doesn’t have a chance. Olympics victory was largely due to Federer just not showing up after a 4.5 hour match that took everything out of him. That’s not likely to happen again.

Djokovic could certainly beat Federer, if both get there and Fed has a long semi. Otherwise, I think Fed has the edge since Djoke is not what he was last year. He is just not playing at that level, while Federer is remarkably playing better than last year.

All depends on the old man’s fate. If Federer can get through to the final without too many long matches, he wins. At 31, he needs some luck to get through.

But Murray isn’t going to cut it.

August 26th, 2012 at 8:02 pm

@El Mago

Why dont you focus on rooting for your favourite at US OPEN then throwing shots at Nadal….He is not even competing….

But lest we forget….

At 26….Nadal achieved so much more then Federer at the same age….

1)Olympic Gold Medal
2)Davis Cup
3) 11 GS(Federer had 12 then)
4)21 Masters(Highest in open-era till Federer equaled at Cincinnati, at 31?)

5)Nadal truly owns clay….you could not really say the same for Federer on grass….(Based on records)

If Nadal was injury free after FO….you could only imagine….

Everyone is so caught up with Federer….

We easily forget what Nadal has achieved thus far….

He might be the GOAT soon….

August 26th, 2012 at 9:57 pm

Happy Roger Federer Actually Likes Tennis: “I’m a very positive thinker, and I think that is what helps me the most in difficult moments.”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444327204577613512763592978.html

August 26th, 2012 at 10:08 pm

WSJ interview: Federer on Tennis and Everything Else
http://blogs.wsj.com/dailyfix/2012/08/26/federer-on-tennis-and-everything-else/

August 26th, 2012 at 10:09 pm

@Mike – August 26th, 2012 at 9:57 pm

you are right. Nadal can be goat soon, but only if Fed changes his name to Nadal..

August 26th, 2012 at 10:51 pm

Let us also not forget that nadal is closer to retirement @ 26 than fed is @31. That is an unique achievement too for a 26 year old!

As far as winning the slams, nadal is 3rd in his own era in achievements @ AO and USO and 2nd @ wimbledon. If you include Year end, he is 3rd in that too.

Fed on the other hand is number one @ all big tournaments except that lovely clay tournament where mcenroe, becker and sampras never even won. Even in such a pathetic slam, Federer is 2nd best of his generation.

August 26th, 2012 at 10:56 pm

LOL @ DC!

priceless man! way too funny!

August 26th, 2012 at 11:03 pm

All evened out mate…LOL

Two things Federer will never break….

1) Fed/Nadal (Head-to-Head) records
2) Will never win FO against Nadal unless RAfa Breaks a leg….or Rafa walks over to Fed and willingly hands him the trophy….LOL!

Apart from those two fcts, what nearly Everyone Forgets the Most is….

“Federer has never beaten Nadal at any GS since 2007….Never”

Hows that for a record!….LOL!

August 26th, 2012 at 11:44 pm

Nadal has already broken his leg. Unfortunately federer seems not at all inclined to consider a name change!

Nadal is a mere footnote, no one will even remember him. Djokovic will end with more slams than this one-dimensional player!

Losing 7 finals in a row. I dont think even andy roddick has lost 7 finals in a row. and 3 GS finals lost in a row. LOL! how are those for records? :)

August 26th, 2012 at 11:53 pm

Man, why are folks still talking about rafa when he isn’t even playing?

His fans do not even mention him, at least the regular posters, so why are others bringing him up when he isn’t even playing?

Why knock a guy who is out injured and isn’t competing?

And why speak about his future with certainty, when the ONLY certainty is you don’t even know about your own future let alone rafa’s!

It’s beyond pathetic now- this whole rafa bashing charade.

Almost to the point where one questions whether posters actually are a fan of fed or just OUTRIGHT HATE rafa!

JUST GROW UP.

Stick to your fav and enjoy the tennis, since its beyond tiresome this constant fedal comparison.

August 27th, 2012 at 12:02 am

^10 things Rafa will never break;

1) Winning 17 Grand Slams in 10 years (2003–12) an all time men’s record.
2) A winning h2h record on all surfaces (other surface other than dirt )
3) USO slam count
4) Wimby Slam count
5) AUS Slam count
6) Win anything under a Roof
7) Win a Slam at 31
8) Do it all with a wife and 2 kids
9) Be # 1 in the world at 31
10) Never break the record of winning each of the four Grand Slam championship finals in straight sets.
11) 8 consecutive non-clay Grand Slams (2005 Wimbledon – 2007 US Open)l all time record.
12) Federer has faced twelve different opponents and defeated eleven of them in Grand Slam finals (all except Juan Martín Del Potro), an all-time men’s record, (1. Philippoussis, 2. Safin, 3. Roddick, 4. Hewitt, 5. Agassi, 6. Baghdatis, 7. Nadal, 8. Gonzalez, 9. Djokovic, 10. Murray, 11. Söderling). Sampras has also faced 12 different opponents and defeated 9 of them in Grand Slam finals (all except Edberg, Safin, and Hewitt), (1. Agassi, 2. Courier, 3. Pioline, 4. Martin, 5. Ivansevic, 6. Becker, 7. Chang, 8. Moya, 9. Rafter). Borg has faced and defeated all nine different opponents in Grand Slam finals, (1. Orantes, 2. Vilas, 3. Nastase, 4. Connors, 5. Pecci, 6. Tanner, 7. Gerulaitis, 8. McEnroe, 9. Lendl). For Rafa, it will never happen.

Oh wait there is more, but I only said 10. My bad. Hehe…..LOL!

August 27th, 2012 at 12:11 am

Ok nuf is nuff, but when someone starts comparing rafa’s records to feds, c’mon. Rafa is NOT done, and lets respect what fed has accomplished!

August 27th, 2012 at 12:16 am

Nirmal,

Let’s not forget the indoor setting of Wimbledon. It does add a bit of advantage to Roger, where his less margin game can take off pretty well. I’m not saying he would not have won the title on outdoors, but he is almost invincible when he needs to focus only on hitting the tennis ball.

True, Roger is surely a class apart on Indoor courts. But those are very few in numbers out of the tournaments that are played. Wimbledon is playing with the roof on only for the past three years and Roger was able to win only in 2012. The majority of titles he won at Wimbledon were played without roof and he lost only to Nadal in the finals in a cliff hanger which could have gone either way.

2nd set of Cincy pretty much showed me once Novak gets his teeth into the match, it’s pretty tough for Roger to get into momentum. He was lucky to scrap through at the 2nd set when Novak started to get his form

Yeah, Roger was somewhat lucky to scrape through in the tie break. But there were no net cords or things like that. I thought the key point of the match was when Roger was serving in the second set tie break at 5-6 and Novak preferred to lob a ball rather than a passing shot when Roger was at the net. Finally, he gifted a weak lob which Roger smashed for a winner. This happens. If you call this as luck, then what you have got to say about the 2010 and 2011 US Opens which Novak won by sheer luck against Roger in the semis. Infact the 2011 bout was even closer when Roger was having the match in his hands when he was serving at 40-15. But he amazingly lost. So, lady luck smiles on everyone and Novak was extremely lucky in 2011 in many matches he won where he should have lost.

I believe for now, Novak is still the better outdoor HC player. I just hope Roger proves it wrong

Now Hard courts are divided into two according to the court speed. If it is fast, then Roger is the favourite and if it is slow, the likes of Murray, Novak and Nadal emerge as favourites. But considering the overall record, Roger plays well on all courts including the hard courts where his record is just phenomenal. Novak has much to catch up if he is to be ranked with Roger.

August 27th, 2012 at 12:20 am

Skeezer,

Of all the records you mentioned, you missed the Semis and quarter streak at Majors which is the most invincible record of Roger in his collection.

August 27th, 2012 at 12:23 am

@Mike,

nadal’s got 21 MS at the age of 26 while federer has 21 at the age of 31. Well nadal’s 16 of 21 MS are on clay. Just think if there were a grass season of 3months having 3 grass court masters, federer’s number wouldn’t be 21! Or would it be? Use ur head, u will get the answer :)

August 27th, 2012 at 4:09 am

Good grief, this is getting absurd. Now we’re discussing who’ll win the title, before the tournament even starts.
WE CANNOT PREDICT THE FUTURE!
In two short weeks we”ll know who has won. In the meantime, let’s stop the pointless (and very boring) arguing and enjoy the tennis.

August 27th, 2012 at 4:31 am

Nadal is a mere footnote no one will remember him hmm,then why do all the past and present players call him one of the best players ever?as for Andy Roddick i dont believe he ever made 7 finals in a row,so i dont see the comparison completely pointless.

August 27th, 2012 at 5:55 am

Great posts fom Skeezer and Brando Rogers the best ever and Rafas one of the best ever,and we should just leave it at that,the Fedal wars are really getting sooo tiresome,Rafas name should be banned till he starts playing again (sigh).

August 27th, 2012 at 6:03 am

some federer fans here really obsessed with bringing down rafa, whereas the actual thing is, as brando said, they just need a life from their astrological predictions of nadal’s success/failure in future. actually they would do very well to stop this nonsensical rafa dommsday prediction stuff and predict what lied ahead in their OWN lives, if they actually can!

August 27th, 2012 at 7:16 am

Huh thats so refreshing,and one of the most sensible and unbiased posts ive read on this forum in days.

August 27th, 2012 at 7:20 am

and sienna, its fantastic that you give a s##t to other’s comments, but same can others do about yours too, right? thats cool!

and to say categorically that rafa doesn’t belong to top-10 despite his career stating otherwise is well… your opinion. i agree to disagree.

———-

and has fed won back to back clay-grass-hard court slam?
has fed won any tournament 6 or 7 times in a row?
has federer achieved golden slam earlier than nadal?

actually nadal never gave up against federer(don’t care for what reason that may be), that’s why he threatened and dethroned federer from his top rank and has a super-impressive winning record against federer in slams. leads every major rival in h2h comfortably.

and what’s up with this nadal losing 7 times n a row to nole in slam??? has not fed lost 7 or 8 times in a row to nadal at slams now??? so where’s the problem?? at least nadal did not lose more than 3 toimes in a row to nole in slams.

and if that’s what nadal has done, that means he is absolutely great. he needn’t be the greatest ever, but he still is great enough and doesn’t fear even the greatest. i’d take that happily to give him required credit even though nadal is one of my least faves coz of his less smooth playing style. but regardless of his style, nadal is capable of beating any great player on a given day in any important match. he’s been there, done that! enough said.

August 27th, 2012 at 7:34 am

Fed will NEVER achieve the career golden slam! Rio 2016 – he will be too old to achieve it! After all, it was not on his “bucket” list so I guess it doesn’t matter too much to him.

August 27th, 2012 at 7:47 am

@hUH

Rafa loing to #100 opened the eyes of the Rafateam. Uncle T stepped it up and said we donot want to loose anymore matches like this. WHen you do you will certainly get laboured for being 1 surface champion. And rightly so I may add.

So the break is of course great he already planned on it, but after the slams. This way he can have his break and get on with semifinal on clay Davis cup.

They just didnot wanted to loose again like Rosol match. Which of course would have been inevitable given the state of Rafa’s play on the fast courts.

August 27th, 2012 at 7:55 am

“Nadal is a mere footnote, no one will even remember him. Djokovic will end with more slams than this one-dimensional player!”

…………………….

Disagree.

August 27th, 2012 at 8:05 am

Murray doesn’t have a chance. Olympics victory was largely due to Federer just not showing up after a 4.5 hour match that took everything out of him. That’s not likely to happen again.

Djokovic could certainly beat Federer, if both get there and Fed has a long semi. Otherwise, I think Fed has the edge since Djoke is not what he was last year. He is just not playing at that level, while Federer is remarkably playing better than last year.

All depends on the old man’s fate. If Federer can get through to the final without too many long matches, he wins. At 31, he needs some luck to get through.

But Murray isn’t going to cut it.

……………………

Murray might not even reach the SF. Raonic or Tsonga could beat him.

USO is not Murray’s most consistent slam, that would be Wimbledon.

Federer’s path to the final might not be as dangerous as it seems and in the final he would have great chances of beating Djokovic. Federer is playing better than in 2011 and Djokovic is playing worse. I have not seen the Djokovic 2.0 version this year. Even the 2.0 version barely beat sub-par Federer in 2011. This year would be another story.

The Cincy bagel shows where they are at the moment.

August 27th, 2012 at 8:13 am

Even in a potential Federer-Murray SF, Roger would be the favorite. Murray has only played a couple of HC matches while Federer looks in better HC form after winning Cincinnati in dominating fashion. I don’t think Murray will be able to beat Federer so soon in another BO5 match like he did at the Olympics. If Federer keeps his Cincinnati form he won’t need more than 4 sets to beat Murray.

August 27th, 2012 at 8:23 am

Last chance at the brackets only 90ins left.

August 27th, 2012 at 9:28 am

Sienna Says:
@Huh

“I am sorry to dissapoint you. Nadal is not part of the best 10 tennisers in the history of the game.
As a matter of fact he has a lot of winning to do to even be considered amongst them.

Nadal is amongst the 3 best claycourt tennisers in the history of the game. I leave it to personal preference to place him in that categorie. Personally I would say 3 but I really dont give a sh…t”

For someone who doesn’t give a sh….t, you sure act and write like you do.

You poor, Rafa-obssessed soul……

I know someone who doesn’t give a sh…t about you @sienna, it’s Rafa! To him, you do not even exist darling…………think about that the next time you get a Rafa-itch, which is quite often judging by your posts…..

August 27th, 2012 at 9:58 am

@Skeezer

us Rafa fans (at least me) gladly admit Roger is a better all around player than Rafa. However, we can have a few stats of our own that we like too:

1. 7 french opens and counting (no chance Fed)
2. 8 consecutive titles at a master tournament (no chance)
3. Never losing a french open final when appearing in more than 3 (the only way this could chance is if NADAL loses a FO final as Roger is 1-4 in FO finals)
4. denying an opponent NCYGS 3 times
5. 81 match winning streak on clay, longest single surface winning streak
6. Olympic Gold Singles Medal (doubt it on clay in Rio would be his last chance at 35, not happening)
7. win consecutive grand slam titles on clay, grass and hardcourt (this one is a longshot but possible that Rog could do it)
8. Won at least 1 clay court masters for 8 years (never)
9. Winning Head to head overall v. Roger Federer

BUT OF ALL THE MOST IMPORTANT STATS

10. 8-2 record v. Federer at grandslams with wins on each surface, Clay (5-0), Grass (1-2) and Hard (2-0).

Roger is a better all around player, but on clay he is levels below. Not even in the same league. And unfortuantely for Roger, from all the losses on clay Nadal has been able to draw something out and translate the result to other medium to slow outdoor surfaces.

So there! :O

August 27th, 2012 at 10:30 am

It is ok for you to hate me.
I donot care. All I care about is honesty and a clear view on history. So atleast nadalista agreeing with me about Rafas place in history is a bonus.

I forgive the retorics but am glad about the acknowledgement.

August 27th, 2012 at 10:46 am

ESPN.com has as their “pulse” question “Is this the most open men’s draw in the Open Era?” Unbelievably, 42% of people have said yes! Have those people forgotten the Aussie Opens of the 90s with winners like Petr Korda and Thomas Johansson?

August 27th, 2012 at 10:49 am

@skeezer,

Which tennis player kick Roger ass more than my rafa ?? Have you forgotten to put on your long list.

August 27th, 2012 at 11:10 am

Boring, wiki n bookish all have those statistics!

August 27th, 2012 at 11:12 am

It’s surprising how Nadal has fallen off the radar so quickly. During a US Open special yesterday they were talking of past champs and his name wasn’t even mentioned. I found that very very strange.

August 27th, 2012 at 11:43 am

Stella Says:
It’s surprising how Nadal has fallen off the radar so quickly. During a US Open special yesterday they were talking of past champs and his name wasn’t even mentioned. I found that very very strange.

Strange? Rafa was not even a real contender on this surface. So why is it we need to elaborate onhim taking the time off?

August 27th, 2012 at 11:47 am

Thanks for those stats about Rafa Kimberly,nothing against Dave or Skeezer with their stats about Roger,and i agree Rogers a much better all round player,but its nice to know Rafa has some records all of his own,can i add also that in 2008 he won the chanel slam and the gold medal in the same year,and was the 1st player to do so.

August 27th, 2012 at 12:12 pm

http://tennisabides.com/2012/08/27/us-open-day-1-predictions/ For a few professional and personal reasons, I have not written much lately, but I have picks for today’s matches up as well as 2 US Open polls – check them out if you have the time

August 27th, 2012 at 12:13 pm

Rafa was not even a real contender to win the title on this surface,so why do we need to eleborate on him taking time off,exactly then why talk about him then,by talking about him your elaborating,seems some people cant seem to shut up talking about him.

August 27th, 2012 at 12:28 pm

Kimberly:
us honorable Federer fans doth protest. While we gladly admit Signor Nadal is probably the greatest clay courter of all time — or perhaps second greatest next to Max Decugis (who not only has 8 French championships but also three Olympic medals, including the much coveted Olympic gold for mixed doubles)….

However, we believe that you are very wrong to falsely claim “on clay he (Federer) is levels below. Not even in the same league.”

We need to inform you about a critical deficiency in Signor Nadal’s clay record relative to Mr Federer’s clay record. In this critical clay dimension Signor Nadal is levels below. Not even in the same league as Mr Federer.

You see, Mr Federer has 6 Masters titles (8 finals) and an astounding 88% win-loss in the combined Hamburg-Madrid Clay Masters. These are all full-status Masters titles.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Federer_career_statistics#Singles_performance_timeline

Signor Nadal managed to win only 2 Masters titles (5 finals) and and only 82% match winning percentage at the Hamburg-Madrid Clay Masters. [The Committee has decided to strip one of those 2 Masters titles on account of Signor Nadal’s annoying whinning about altitude and blue clay in Madrid. The same Madrid where he has played many dozens of matches as a junior.]

We didn’t make a big deal about this before, because, hey, they are only Masters titles. Below the level of the World Tour Finals year-end championships, which six is the record (not sure if Signor Nadal can manage even one WTF (Borg won three year-end championships, 2 Masters Grand Prix and 1 World Championship of Tennis Finals, so there is hope).

*****

On a related issue, Federer fans are puzzled by your gloating over “8 consecutive titles at a master tournament” and “won at least 1 clay court masters for 8 years”. After all, Monte Carlo is only a sub-Masters-lucky-not-to-be-ATP500 event, not worthy of mandatory commitment status. When it was a still a mandatory event, Monte Carlo tended to be the weakest of the Masters events because it was right at the start of the clay season. In 2007 the ATP had sought to downgrade the Monte Carlo tournament to an ATP 500 event but eventually agreed to just remove it’s mandatory player commitment when the Masters 1000 series was started in 2009.

Federer’s six full-status Hamburg-Madrid Masters titles are worth more than Nadal’s eight Monte Carlo titles (three of which are like sub-Masters-lucky-not-to-be-ATP500 ATP500)

*****

“7 french opens and counting”.

We know that a French Open title is not as prestigious as a Wimbledon title.

We also know that seven FO titles is not as prestigious as seven total Wimbledon titles and five straight Wimbledon titles.

*****

Honestly, no young tennis player dreams of winning an Olympic gold medal. It’s Wimbledon they dream of. Gold medals are for players who don’t have a complete resume. For players with a comprehensive resume, gold medal goes to the bottom, in the ‘other’ category.

*****

We’ll get to that “8-2 record v. Federer at grandslams with wins on each surface, Clay (5-0), Grass (1-2) and Hard (2-0)” shortly

August 27th, 2012 at 12:35 pm

Dave i think the point is Rafa has records all off his own,no offence but do Federer and his fans have to have everything?cant Rafa and his fans have something thats just his own? Seriously dont get me wrong i love your posts but sometimes its never ending stats on Rogers ever illustrious career which is greatly appreciated,but it is nice to see another poster noting another players career achievements,for a change,sorry no hard feelings.

August 27th, 2012 at 12:47 pm

“7 french opens and counting”.

We know that a French Open title is not as prestigious as a Wimbledon title.

We also know that seven FO titles is not as prestigious as seven total Wimbledon titles and five straight Wimbledon titles.

_______________________

Not the point. The point is it is a grandslam, and it is a major achievement that Roger will never equal. Doesn’t matter if Roger has other achievements Nadal won’t equal. My point is there are four grand slams and at one of them Nadal has a record that no one in the current crop will beat.

August 27th, 2012 at 12:49 pm

Dave-if you combine their records at Hamburg and Madrid its 3-2 in Rafa’s favor. But why bother breaking it down if we are discussing overall clay prowess. Look at the overall clay record, it’s 11-2 and 5-0 in grand slams and 7-0 in best of five matches. If that doesn’t count as levels above i’m not really sure what does.

August 27th, 2012 at 1:02 pm

The ole guy fed was chomping at the bits trying desperately to win the Gold medal but was stopped in his tracks first by Delpo keeping him on court for four and a half hours and second, by Murray outgunning him. Will he make it to Rio 2016? Doubt it!!

August 27th, 2012 at 1:27 pm

Federer has 7 Wimbledons, 5 US Opens and 4 Australian Opens. He has titles in 3 out of 4 slam events which Nadal will most likely not touch. Nadal can claim one grand slam event to his credit. It think Federer can live with that. We, his fans can live with that. Even Nadal can live with that. It is only some of his most fanatical fans who cannot.

August 27th, 2012 at 2:14 pm

where is Mark these days ?

August 27th, 2012 at 2:22 pm

Let’s not forget the Year end. Fed 6, rafa = 0. fed 4 matches. rafa = 0. fed 8sets. rafa =1.

Even Olympics fed has a Gold and silver. Rafa just a gold. Last I checked Olympics counted fed’s doubles gold the same as rafa’s single gold.

August 27th, 2012 at 2:22 pm

^
Well said!

August 27th, 2012 at 2:23 pm

You guys didn’t mention how Federina had his ass kicked by Rafa in exhibition matches, too!

August 27th, 2012 at 2:24 pm

I meant Polo at 2:14

Mark is hiding away. Since Fed won Cincy Marks hiding in his cave. As soon as Fed loses a Match Mark will be back hating.

August 27th, 2012 at 2:25 pm

Polo this Rafa can live with that,and more to the point doesnt even care,im more than happy enough with Rafas legacy even if he retired tomorrow,hes done just about everything,the only thing i would like him to do is win a WTF before hes done hmm???

August 27th, 2012 at 2:29 pm

Federina’s successes in recent years are mainly contributed by Rafa’s bad fortunes.

August 27th, 2012 at 2:30 pm

That’s been the problem for Rafa. one-dimensional, one-surface game. yes, it is great he achieved 4slams on other surfaces, but 7 wimbledons and 1 fo will always count for much much more than 7 FOs and 2 wimbledon. Why? because Wimbledon is the World Cup of Tennis. I would place even USO above french.

French Open tennis has always been considered pong tennis and not real tennis. It is like saying marathon or 10k or 5k is the showpiece event of track and field. No they are not. the 100m is. Similarly in tennis, Wimbledon is the real SLAM!

Wilander and lendl won more slams than becker, but becker will always be adored more for his wonderful tennis on the lawns. Yeah, lendl and wilander can drag him down to their level and beat him on the dirt, but on grass – talent and shot-making will outshine boring defensive games.

Too bad the racquet technology is not rewarding aggressive play at wimbledon as it used to in the 90s. ATP/ITF must make sure defensive players dont wimbledon too much. It is like italy/germany winning World Cup football. Brazil/spain/argentina or france – now they play real football.

August 27th, 2012 at 2:31 pm

Rafa’ bad fortune? Who knows what he is doing.

As they say ” as you sow, so you shall reap”. Rafa had no misfortune. He deserves every bit of misery that comes his way. He has earned it.

Just as there are lot of reasons to like rafa, there are many many more reasons to hate him too. He will never be as loved as Federer.

August 27th, 2012 at 2:39 pm

2006 Aussie Open, Rafa pulled out. So Fed played Bagdatis in final. 2009 French and Wimbledon. 2012 Wimbledon, Olympics(He had his chance, too bad he is Murray’s bitch in the final), and this US Open. And you should why Federina cried at Aussie Open 2009 final.

August 27th, 2012 at 2:42 pm

El Mago, has rafa done something personally wrong to you? come on give the guy some credit. Ask fed, how hard he finds rafa to play.His game, movement …Fed is super no question about that.But dont take away anything from rafa.The guy is already a legend. Btw I am a fed fan.

August 27th, 2012 at 2:48 pm

^Jatt from this Rafa fan thanks that was a nice thing to say,hope your fav has a good tournament^.

August 27th, 2012 at 2:51 pm

Fed would always be consider a replacement slam winner, when his real rivals are not in his draw. And watch out for Simon Gillies, Ali, Murray and Nole. This is what I called a real draw. Not Davydenko, Ferrer, Warink and those who are not capacable of beating him.

August 27th, 2012 at 2:52 pm

BTW anyone out there watching the tennis Andy Murray has started a bit slow going a break down immediatly before breaking back,hope he gets through un troubled in straight sets without too much bother,go Andy.

August 27th, 2012 at 2:56 pm

lol, rick is still there to remind everyone about federer’s luck, lol ;)

reminds me of our long good ole’ fights here ;)

August 27th, 2012 at 2:57 pm

I’m a Federer fan and for me there is no doubt that he is the best tennis player I’ve ever watched. That said, I have no problem respecting Nadal’s achievements and there is also no doubt in my mind that Rafa is one of the best players to ever play the game. And that to me, gives even more credibility to the Federer era.

And on top of this, we have Djoko who already has 5 slams and will probably go down as one of the best players in history as well. Let’s appreciate what we have instead of knocking other players down to feel better about our own favs. We have a top 3-top 4 (hopefully Murray will win that 1st slam soon) of legend, let’s enjoy the sh*t out of it while it lasts!

August 27th, 2012 at 2:57 pm

well, if people are going to NEEDLESSLY put up federer’s record to show his overall superiority to rafa, then it’s only natural that rafans will also bring up rafa’s record somehow.

and not bad to say that rafa is levels above fed on clay, actually he’s. though fed plays “better than even the best nadal” on clay for short stretches of time, and blows rafa away for a set, on clay, it’s that much that fed can do. clay’s a thing which awards endurance, fed never is able to keep it up and we all know what record fed has against rafa on that surface. so in the end, there lies the difference. rafa’s way more suited to play clay than fed, so he’s definitely levels above fed there.

August 27th, 2012 at 3:05 pm

Maso well said Ditto to that.

August 27th, 2012 at 3:06 pm

fed’s better than rafa on each and every surface, but that’s not stopped rafa from beating fed at slams. so let’s not bring up our personal disappointments/frustrations here, and give nadal his due. fed obviously has far better records and in truckloads in comparison to rafa, but rafa too has some very few “absolutely ridiculous records” of his own. the fact is rafa specialises in proving the arm-chair critics wrong! so he gets credit from the “true legends”. therefore it hardly matters if som tennis-x guy or gal is displeased with His Humble Highness Nadal!

August 27th, 2012 at 3:11 pm

in my previous post i meant to say
“so let’s not bring up our personal disappointments/frustrations here to diss rafa, but give him his due.”

August 27th, 2012 at 3:15 pm

It’s ok guys, there are people who like ugly games too. after all, the italians and germans cannot cheer brazil or argentina or france, can they because their teams play ugly?

If you guys had a better appreciation of tennis, you will not be rooting for ugly games. I dont support player X or team Y because they win. I support them because they play sport as it should be.

If tomorrow, they find out nadal is doping, you guys will have egg on your face, much like all those cycling fans. but doping or not, federer’s game will still be like mozart/beethoven symphonies. federer is in the league of michael jordan, pele, phelps, bolt and many more athletes but among all those no body brings entertainment and joy and majesty to their sport like Federer.

August 27th, 2012 at 3:16 pm

“We have a top 3-top 4 (hopefully Murray will win that 1st slam soon) of legend, let’s enjoy the sh*t out of it while it lasts!”

now that’s some cool stuff by maso B-)

August 27th, 2012 at 3:17 pm

alison, I think we care and argue more about our favorites as to how they stand against other players than they do about each other. All they probably want to do is play and win as much as possible. The more people argue here, the sillier they appear. I, myself, do get silly sometimes.

August 27th, 2012 at 3:29 pm

Polo i try to stay away from the Fedal food fights,as you say they get silly sometimes,as you find alot of the arguments go round and round in circles,the only thing i try to do is give a fair and unbiased opinion the best way i can,its not always so easy though,im currently watching the Murray match ATM,which is very competitive,strange no ones even mentioned it,as people seem too busy arguing.

August 27th, 2012 at 4:04 pm

Im sure its a matter of time before Murray wins his 1st GS,hes having a tough match so far,took the 1st set but Bogomolov is staging a good fight back in this 2nd set,Murrays down a break.

August 27th, 2012 at 4:08 pm

Murray breaks back on serve now.

August 27th, 2012 at 4:17 pm

Sorry to dissapoint you Noogie but im not going anywhere,as the saying goes sticks and stones.

August 27th, 2012 at 4:35 pm

JMO but i think Murray may be trouble if he plays like this against the better players in the draw,the ones who are better at holding serve,its been a very hit and miss performance,he will get away with this against lesser players,but as the opponents get better,i think he will have his work cut out,just hope he can perform better from here on in,still a wins a win.

August 27th, 2012 at 4:48 pm

Andy’s through in straights. Some breaks of serve but a good enough performance for round 1.

August 27th, 2012 at 5:03 pm

Jane have to disagree,i thought it was an up and down performance from Andy,it will do,a wins a win,i think he can play much better than that though,he was lucky his oponent couldnt hold serve,sorry JMO.

August 27th, 2012 at 5:15 pm

Yes, that’s why I said “good enough for round 1” – I agree he’ll have to raise his game further on. I missed set one and most of set two alison. What I saw was serviceable, but you’re right – not near Andy’ best. But he’s still through in straight sets. He gave a great on court interview I thought.

August 27th, 2012 at 5:17 pm

Jane yeah too right hes still there a wins a win,1st round matches can be tricky animals,im sure he will be better next round,and it was a great interview,he sounds very positive too.

August 27th, 2012 at 5:25 pm

I am praying for a Federer/Djokovic final. They are the two best right now.

August 27th, 2012 at 5:38 pm

Rick has been drinkinlotto much. Needs to cut down on the Rafa Kool aid

August 27th, 2012 at 7:20 pm

7 french opens and counting”.

We know that a French Open title is not as prestigious as a Wimbledon title.
—
Yes, Madrid title is not as good as one from Basel.

Yes, having 1 kid at a time is not as good as having 2 at one time.

Make it up as you go along.

August 27th, 2012 at 8:25 pm

Don’t know this guy that Cilic is losing to, but wow, kind of surprised?

They were talking up Young’s talent at the beginning of his match with Fed, and indeed he’s shown flashes of it intermittently, but now they’re pretty much pointing out everything he does wrong – errors, tactics, and especially a weak second serve. Listening to this sort of interesting, but the two Macs really do talk steadily. Fed’s forehand is looking sharp thus far.

August 27th, 2012 at 10:19 pm

“Max Decugis (who not only has 8 French championships but also three Olympic medals, including the much coveted Olympic gold for mixed doubles)….”

Who remembers “Max Decugis”?

My point exactly.

——–

@polo 2:14 post. So true :)

August 27th, 2012 at 10:28 pm

Fed is OK but not spectacular, few errors. he seem to be running around his backhand a lot. The serving is very good though.

August 27th, 2012 at 10:30 pm

“Hello”. Fed with a Backcourt overhead spinner winner. Yes folks, sublime shotmaking, he will be missed!!!

August 27th, 2012 at 10:33 pm

Wow, what was that curve.
Fed is feroucious today. Like how he is driving his backhand return latelly.

August 27th, 2012 at 10:33 pm

federer hitting FH down the line very well. I love that last down the line FH.

second break now.

August 27th, 2012 at 10:34 pm

skeezer – he is not going anywhere yet :)

August 27th, 2012 at 10:35 pm

Cilic and Simon too is struggling – could have two early “upsets” – had a couple in the ladies today with Lisicki and Goerges.

August 27th, 2012 at 10:38 pm

Wow what an outburst by Donald young, now I know why people don’t like him.

August 27th, 2012 at 10:40 pm

Young gets himself out of position a lot.

August 27th, 2012 at 10:43 pm

hmm, this is looking to be over. young looks like he us giving up.

August 27th, 2012 at 10:52 pm

Very strong serving from Fed too, which has been the case pretty much all year this year.

August 27th, 2012 at 10:53 pm

ok, he is not giving up. he is only one game behind in the third.

August 27th, 2012 at 10:54 pm

this simon match looks to heading to five sets.

August 27th, 2012 at 10:55 pm

unbelievable knack of making life complicated even against the worst players roger!! when will you learn? Donald Young should have been thrashed 6-1 in this 3rd set and you are struggling to serve out the match…horrible

August 27th, 2012 at 11:12 pm

donald hit some great cross court BH. hope he finds his game. he is great talent.

August 27th, 2012 at 11:13 pm

Good win for Fed, but a respectable loss from Donald too – he really showed some oomph at the end there. One of the Macs said they think he lacks a rigorous training system but he returns well, has a good first serve and forehand. The backhand and second serve could use work. You can tell he’s hungry to do well, but he gets frustrated.

August 27th, 2012 at 11:15 pm

gannu – give federer a break. i think he knew he was not in danger today. apart from that horrible game in the second set, he was very solid on his serve. also young played well in the third set. he deserve those 4 games.

August 27th, 2012 at 11:16 pm

Gannu,

easy there. Its the 1rst rd.

Great start Fedster! Keep winning, others can’t!

——-

Fed all class, saying Nole in the post match presser was “man of the year” last year….and praising Andy again at with the Gold….
.haters take note~

August 27th, 2012 at 11:19 pm

looks like Cilic is going to win in five. simon also.

Are they going to play the whole night till they finish?

August 27th, 2012 at 11:22 pm

Kimmi, I agree, it was a very solid match from Fed overall, and Donald showed his potential, particularly in set 3.

Simon and Cilic seem to often get embroiled in these 5 setters at slams, don’t they? I guess they’ll both likely be playing past midnight, win or lose.

How Calgary? Okay so far I hope. :)

August 27th, 2012 at 11:28 pm

young is just not a percentage player at this pt and all good players whatever their particular style of play are percentage players. like when he is pulled out of position he pulls the trigger and mostly misses.

August 27th, 2012 at 11:33 pm

I know cilic is the five setter guy. he he he I hope he wins today.

Calgary is OK, Its funny that it is only 9sh now. I would be sleeping by now in toronto.

Went mountain bike last weekend, was great but tough. When the USO is finished I want to visit Bunff and Lake Louise, lot’s of people here tells me it is good place to visit. could have gone sooner but I can’t miss USO for the whole day next weekend. I am a tennis junkie..I know!

August 27th, 2012 at 11:36 pm

Kimmi, yes! Banff is so lovely. Definitely good places to visit.

August 27th, 2012 at 11:41 pm

i think the mcenroe’s, mainly John, were unprofessional in their commentary. they couldn’t stop ragging on donald, who btw, was playing the GOAT on ashe! give him a break!

anyway, keep going fed!

August 27th, 2012 at 11:46 pm

Kimmi
I just flew back from Calgary- and Lake Louise and Banff this morning. Lake Louise is absolutely incredible. Also, check out Johnson Canyon nearby. Went downhill biking at Kicking Horse- its a little further afield but was awesome. I’m sure there’s great trails to be had everywhere from Calgary to Kamloops.

August 27th, 2012 at 11:50 pm

tennis vagabond – thanks. i will make sure to check out the johnson canyon, i am writing it down in my note book as i type.

i don’t think i will take a bike there, but if i can rent one nearby will be great. i enjoy mountain biking (though it is tough) but once you get at the top is magnificent view. my favorite is biking back downhill.

BTW, thanks for spelling correction both of you. now i know it is banff not bunff :)

August 28th, 2012 at 12:09 am

simon finished! big sigh! hope cilic does it too. Matosevic is giving his all in this fifth set.

August 28th, 2012 at 12:11 am

Dari, unthought the commentary was in bad taste too.

TV and kimmi. Jealous to here of your travels, I have been stuck inside with Isaac the non hurricane thatnshutnthe city down for three days

August 28th, 2012 at 12:18 am

ugh! kimberly, sorry to hear. hope it goes away soon. also i hope it stays away from the USO. It is ridiculous that at this moment (12:30 am) players are still on court. i mean, who would stay that late to watch them?

August 28th, 2012 at 12:32 am

Yes, years ago my husband and I were with friends on those bike trails and some mountain goats – real goats not tennis ones ;) – crossed our path!

dari, I thought it was strange how the Macs went from praising him at the start to then tearing him apart, and he was, clearly, trying his best. I think they did raise some constructive points (e.g., re: his fitness) but they definitely could’ve toned it down. I thought the guy put in a very respectable performance. I find P-Mac in particular emphasizes the negatives in his commentary in general whereas J-Mac tends to be a little more soft-hearted, perhaps because of his own extensive experience?

August 28th, 2012 at 12:33 am

eventually! cilic serving for the match.

August 28th, 2012 at 12:37 am

congrats to cilic! i hope he saves energy in the next round and finish in 3 sets, he will need it.

August 28th, 2012 at 12:42 am

I dont hate Federer….never have….only a fool would….

Thing is….when people start calling Rafa a;

1)Loser
2) Mere Footnote(wont be remembered)
3) Rafa will retire at 26!!
4) One-Dimentional Player

Thats the problem….

August 28th, 2012 at 12:48 am

jane- john did have more positives here and there and there were spots where they seemed to try and correct themselves, but it was just a huge downer for the match and really, i would feel bad if donald or his family ever saw that match with the Mac’s commentary.

i agree about the fitness and hard off-court work, but overall, there was a very negative tone, which pretty much killed the match for me. least enjoyable first round fed uso match i can remember. and don’t even get me started on fed’s white socks with that beautiful dark navy outfit.
will mute the matches next time if necessary!

kimberly, hope you guys are safe in the storms!

kimmi- people do stay, even on a monday night, if you can believe! sounds like you are having fun in your new… “province” do they call it up there? ;)

August 28th, 2012 at 12:51 am

Missed andyM’s match today, but by all acvoubts he didnt make it easy on himself or fans, huh? Hope for a shape-up next round, as his draw is packed!

August 28th, 2012 at 1:03 am

It is still early days to pick up the favourite for the US Open. But as of now, it looks like Roger is continuing his Cincinnati form and Murray is looking a bit lacklustre as he has been on hard courts throughout this year.We are yet to see Novak in action. At the moment, I would say it is anybody’s Open.

August 28th, 2012 at 1:34 am

Federer must be raring to go this time not only for his 18th GS but also to reverse the curse of match points this year. Since the last 3 years, he has lost in an heartbreaking manner in matches he could have won easily, do you think this time he will be able to put behind all those memories and still win?

Roger Federer and the Case of the Wounded Tiger: http://tinyurl.com/9cbuext

August 28th, 2012 at 1:39 am

Mike,

Rafa is not a footnote – he is the best clay court player ever!

However, he is the LEAST multi-dimensional of ALL players that have ever won 5+slams. And he certainly can’t last very long given the condition of his knees and his immensely physical style of play. And then all those time violations, delaying tactics – don’t really help make you his fan, do they?

Wouldn’t you agree Mike? Anything factually incorrect about what I have said above? Of course, you can get all emotional and go goo-gaa over Rafa, but facts are facts right?

August 28th, 2012 at 12:20 pm

“Max Decugis (who not only has 8 French championships but also three Olympic medals, including the much coveted Olympic gold for mixed doubles)….”

Who remembers “Max Decugis”?

For crying out loud, this Rafa bashing has gotten to the point where you have to drag up a player that won his titles from 1900-1914……over one hundred years ago????? Seriously?? Conveniently forgot to mention from ALLLLLL your Rafa bashing research that back then it was an only French players allowed… so obviously not all of the top world tennis players could have played anyway.

Fed has alot of records, but so does Rafa and the need to denigrate Rafa’s achievements defies logic, unless you are a fanatical obsessed fed fan. And for those who try to claim that a singles Olympic Gold medal is not worthy or dreamed of by budding tennis players…..are you able to read minds of all the athletes to know this? By the way, another record of Rafa’s….one of only TWO men in the world to hold the GOLDEN CAREER SLAM along with Agassi. I’d say that puts that singles Gold right up there on importance scale sincle doubles gold doesn’t give you a Golden Career Slam.

August 28th, 2012 at 12:55 pm

I did not know there was a player with more garros victories.

So that is how the collective memory works.
I feel that is just history thatwill only remeber that 1name.
We only remember the one with the most slams.
Nothing else Rafa with his one trick will soon be forgotten.

August 28th, 2012 at 1:15 pm

^ well said.

August 28th, 2012 at 1:22 pm

My comment was for juljo 724.

August 28th, 2012 at 1:24 pm

I hope djokovic wins more slams than nadal and pushes him down to no.3 in his own generation.

Djokovic for the USO!

August 28th, 2012 at 2:35 pm

Just in case anyones actually watching the tennis,Raonic and Giraldo are into a 5th set,Giraldos now serving to stay in the match,great match from both,Milos at match point now,Milos comes through,after looking to be out of it going two set to one down,real true grit from the young player.

August 28th, 2012 at 2:45 pm

No, Djoko will win this Us Open easily!

August 29th, 2012 at 11:46 am

Kimberly: “if you combine their records at Hamburg and Madrid its 3-2 in Rafa’s favor.”

It is not in Rafa’s favor. However way you combine it because Federer has 3 Madrid Masters titles (to Nadal’s 2 titles) and Federer also has 4 Hamburg Masters titles (to Nadal’s 1 title).

I was referring to the May clay masters slot for Hamburg-Madrid (so I’m only counting the clay version of those Masters). In total Federer won an open era record 6 clay Masters in that Hamburg-Madrid May clay masters slot, since (a) Federer won 4 Hamburg Masters on clay from 5 finals (both are open era records) and (b) Federer won 2 Madrid Masters on clay from 3 finals (open era records for the clay version of Madrid).

I’m not counting Nadal and Federer’s Madrid Masters titles before 2009, because those were indoor Masters events in mid October. Both Nadal (2005) and Federer (2006) have won the Madrid indoor hardcourt Masters. However, the Shanghai hardcourt Masters took over the Madrid October hardcourt Masters slot in 2009. See “Madrid (Hard)” and “Madrid (Clay)” of “ATP World Tour Masters 1000” in Nadal’s performance timeline chart.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafael_Nadal_career_statistics#Singles_Performance_Timeline

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Kimberly: “Look at the overall clay record, it’s 11-2 and 5-0 in grand slams and 7-0 in best of five matches. If that doesn’t count as levels above i’m not really sure what does.

The overall clay record is actually 12-2, not 11-2.

I don’t care much for using Nadal-Federer’s head to head record as an indicator of “levels above” because the opportunities are not balanced for both sides. If Federer had an equal opportunity to play Nadal on all surfaces and when he was subpar, I’d take it more seriously

– Levels above? That’s debatable. For example, read WSJ’s Carl Bialik: Federer-Nadal on Clay Is Closer Than You Think, written on the eve of the 2011 French Open final. “(Federer’s) also reached the finals of many other clay tournaments during that span. There he usually has met Nadal, and usually lost. But what’s obscured by Nadal’s 11-2 record against Federer on clay is how close many of their meetings on the surface have been. Nadal won just 71% of sets, just 56% of games and just 52% of points. In 18 of the 41 sets they’ve played on clay, Federer has either won or forced a tiebreak. In 12 of the 13 matches, Federer won at least 44% of points. The 13th, Nadal’s demolition of Federer in their most recent meeting in Paris, in 2008, looks more like a fluke against their overall record, no more typical than the one match — Nadal’s win in Rome in a fifth-set tiebreak in 2006 — in which Federer won more points than Nadal in a loss. Federer also earned 46% of all break-point opportunities in their matches on the surface. His chief problem in many matches was converting his opportunities — he’s won 32% of break-point opportunities, to 43% for Nadal. To some extent, these stats are a reflection of the nature of tennis scoring to magnify small differences between players into an apparently one-sided match… And Federer’s failure to convert break points against Nadal may not be a failure of nerve, nor a fluke: Many have suggested Nadal has an advantage on break points because, as a lefty, he can serve out wide on the ad court to a righty’s backhand.”
http://blogs.wsj.com/dailyfix/2011/06/03/federer-nadal-on-clay-closer-than-you-think/

– Federer’s record indoors against Nadal (4-0, loss of only one set) is much more one sided and levels above than Nadal’s record on clay against Federer.

– Federer, even subpar, has shown up regularly on Nadal’s clay surface — Fed reached 17 finals of 33 clay tournaments he played since 2004 (14 finals of 22 clay from 2004 to 2009). Nadal is such a specialist and has an advantage on on clay because of his movement, his topspin and the homogenization of clay surfaces. Yet Nadal used to avoid Hamburg Masters, presumably because it was the most different from the European clay surfaces he played on — the clay was so slow and heavy due to dampness, which reduced the impact of his topspin. When Nadal finally showed up at the 2007 Hamburg Masters, Federer beat him in the final (Rafa struggled against Hewitt in the semifinal). In 2008 Hamburg, Nadal struggled against Potito Starace and Djokovic before meeting Federer in the final. At the time, Roger was stuggling in a slump precipitated by his mononucleosis illness, yet Nadal still resorted to a dubious medical timeout late in the first set when Roger was ahead.

– Federer at his peak, even when subpar in form, reached many more finals than Nadal at his peak (e.g., Fed reached 33 finals in 37 tournaments on all surfaces between 2004 USO to 2007 Dubai). Yet Federer, when top form, got less chance to play Nadal on non-clay surfaces because Nadal, when subpar, is less able to reach finals of non-clay tournaments he plays or even stay on the tour when he isn’t in top form. Even Nadal’s 5 hardcourt victories mostly came on the slower, higher bouncing hardcourts of Australian Open and Miami. So basically when Nadal finally meets Federer in non-clay tourneys (only 14, 8-6), Rafa is usually in top form playing his best tennis on surfaces he likes. As well, almost every season Nadal tends to take dubious injury breaks or pulls out of the tour whenever he seems to be on the verge of losing form or it’s a surface he hates (indoors) and when Federer tends to be at his best (e.g., 2009 and now). Federer in recent form would probably have relished playing Nadal on grass of Wimbledon and faster hardcourts of US Open — but Rafa is nowhere to be found. And probably not coincidentally, when Roger was in a slump or playing subpar, Nadal seized his opportunity in the non-clay surfaces (e.g., 2008 and 2010) until Federer, Djokovic or Murray got hot again.

August 29th, 2012 at 1:16 pm

@Dave. You can twist and turn it any way you want but you still will not change the head to head as at this moment in time.

August 29th, 2012 at 1:46 pm

The simple truth is that Nadal has the edge over Federer when you talk about how they do against each other. As a Federer fan, I accept that. Federer has so many other achievements to be happy for and proud of. I am satisfied with that.

August 29th, 2012 at 2:11 pm

Giles: I challenge you to put your money where your big mouth is and show us how you believe I am twisting anything. Let’s see you twist up some arguments.

Of course, up to this moment in time that past record cannot be changed. But that doesn’t change the fact of how that 18-10 H2H record was achieved — mostly on clay, mostly because subpar Nadal is simply not good enough to reach more finals to face Federer when Nadal is subpar, and Nadal got to win 5 straight when Federer was in a slump (precipitated by mono and back injury) between 2008 Australian to 2009 Rome. There are several other arguments why such head to head comparisons are flawed.

Regardless ultimately, in the open era, head-to-head records are not important. There are official precedents for why this is so, e.g., Agassi being declared best player in 1999 by ITF and ATP, despite his 1-4 against Sampras that year. What matters most is what big titles they won, number of total titles won and how long they were No. 1.

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Giles: “Will he make it to Rio 2016? Doubt it!!”

Never say never with Federer. By 2016, the rankings and winning slams should no longer matter much to him. He could invest six months playing clay tournaments and preparing his game for Rio. If his body holds up, and the draw falls favorably, it may be doable. Assuming the Olympics really matters to him.

I question how committed Federer really was to winning this year’s Olympics. His performance throughout the Olympics was one level below Wimbledon, and he admitted this. It’s almost as though he celebrated too much and took too long a vacation after his priorities were met — winning Wimbledon and regaining the No. 1 ranking. Murray returned to the practice courts four days after losing the Wimbledon final, while Fed was still on vacation.

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Kimberly: “But why bother breaking it down if we are discussing overall clay prowess.”

Because you were all over the map in discussing his clay prowess (e.g., 8 consecutive titles at a master tournament)
. Thus I’m entitled to break it down since the Hamburg-Madrid clay masters is a clay record that Federer owns. Another clay record that Federer will likely reach, at least temporarily, is most French Open matches won (currently he is 54, just 2 off Gillermo Vilas’s record of 56). As well, for now, Roger has more of Spain’s Masters titles than Rafa. [Btw, the Monte Carlo Masters is not even played inside Monte Carlo or even Monaco, but across the border in neighboring France.].

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Kimberly: “Not the point. The point is it is a grandslam, and it is a major achievement that Roger will never equal. Doesn’t matter if Roger has other achievements Nadal won’t equal. My point is there are four grand slams and at one of them Nadal has a record that no one in the current crop will beat.”

My point was valid — even among grand slams, some are more prestigious than others in the context of tennis history. Bjorn Borg in 1977 even skipped the French Open to play another event.

And your point is valid that no one in the current crop will equal Nadal’s 7 FO. Of course Nadal has several important, valid records of his own that no one else has (I consider his overall clay record slightly superior to Borg’s, even though there was less homogenization of the clay surfaces in the 1970s). No one in tennis history owned every record.

But Nadal is no footnote in history nor is he as one-dimensional and untalented as some people believe… nor is he as great, multidimensional and talented as others claim.

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juljo724: ‘Who remembers “Max Decugis”?’ is a bad argument. Not only does it show disrespect for tennis history, it is also a slippery slope: in one hundred years from know, someone might say “Who remembers Rafa Nadal?” because standards are different in the year 2112. Federer may have won seven Wimbledon titles (including five consecutive) but we also remember that Sampras won seven titles but William Renshaw (1881 to 1886, 1889) was slightly better than Federer despite just playing one challenge match in six of his seven championships. History is important. Tennis did not start in the 1970s.

It’s nonsense that only French players were allowed in those days as even British nationals (Fassitt and Warden) won the French championships in the early 1900s. You really have only one plausible argument regarding Max Decugis (which you did not make) but even that is negated by how some modern sources routinely include those pre-1925 French championships among Jean Borotra and Henri Cochet’s major singles titles (e.g., Tennis Channel’s 100 Greatest).

golden career slam is just a made up term with little history behind it. Although the basic term was first invented when young Steffi won the true ‘golden slam’, but because Steffi was so young it wasn’t bandied about as much at the time. The ‘American marketing machine’ went into overdrive to popularize the term because of Agassi, as a way to distinguish him among the greats and from Sampras. But Agassi was lucky to win his 1996 gold medal as 7 of the top 10 players skipped the 1996 Olympics (inlcuding Sampras, Muster, Courier, Chang, Becker, Kafelnikov, Krajicek, even Todd Martin, etc.), Agassi at World No. 6 was the top seed, and Agassi faced a very weak draw of low ranked players. Agassi’s gold medal was worth as much as a mediocre ATP 500 tournament today, even Dubai gets much better draws than 1996 Olympics. So really, what’s the big deal about a ‘golden slam’, except that Nadal won it? I’ve already posted detailed arguments why, at this point in tennis history, an Olympic mens singles gold medal does not have much cachet in overall tennis history. In tennis history, there are several other non-slam tournaments that have had greater history, roster of champions, participation and prestige than Olympics mens singles — both in its recent and early Olympic history.

In any case, sensationalizing the Olympic gold goes against the Olympic spirit epitomized by the founder of the modern Olympics Pierre de Coubertin’s statement that “The important thing is not to win, but to take part”. Since Federer took part in 4 Olympic tournamnents while Nadal took part in only one Olympics (2008), Fed took part in more Olympics — that’s worth more than any Olympic gold, lol.

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alison: there was some tongue-in-cheek in my post, if anyone bothered to stop and really look. If I wanted to make a more solid rebuttal or argument, I could have.

I think Nadal should focus on trying to win this year’s WTF especially if Federer does win the USO, as Roger might take his foot off the gas a bit after USO. If Novak wins USO, both Fed and Djokovic will be fighting for points down to the WTF. Nadal has basically got two months to prepare his game for the WTF.

August 29th, 2012 at 2:16 pm

I’ll second that post of Dave on the h2h.

I further like to add that Agassi (all time great?) has fully admitted in his bio OPEN that he tanked a match purposely to avoid playing and losing another player. In order to protect the h2h against that same player.
er at that time is tanking matches to protect h2h surely h2h as we know it is biased and a terrible measurement to define greatness among players.

August 29th, 2012 at 2:29 pm

Dave Says:
…I question how committed Federer really was to winning this year’s Olympics. His performance throughout the Olympics was one level below Wimbledon, and he admitted this. It’s almost as though he celebrated too much and took too long a vacation after his priorities were met — winning Wimbledon and regaining the No. 1 ranking.

Exactomundo. a year or so ago he was asked which prices he would loved to win before he retires. Olympic, Davis Cup?

Fed without hesitation answered.. I would love to win Wimbledon. Just saying where his priorities are. Sure Olympic was important why else play, but the real history is in the slams. esp wimbledon.

August 29th, 2012 at 2:33 pm

What happened was Federer lost the Olympic gold. It does not matter how committed he was or not. It does not matter whether the Olympics was that important to him or not. All I know is he did not get the gold medal. I would have wanted him to win gold but he did not. I’m sure Federer himself preferred to have the gold. Whatever is mentioned afterwards is just rationalization. Not by Federer but by some of his fans who feel the pain more than Federer does.

August 29th, 2012 at 3:01 pm

“I question how committed Federer really was to winning this year’s Olympics”. You are kidding, right? He desperately wanted to win the singles Gold, it just was not to be with Delpo upsetting the apple cart and keeping fed on court for four and a half hours in the semis. In fact he is so desperate to win that Singles Gold that he is already talking about Rio 2016!

August 29th, 2012 at 3:02 pm

Dave thanks for the reply,ive personally never had a problem accepting that Feds the best,the more complete player etc etc,the only problem i have is when people try to downgrade Rafas acievements as if they were nothing,i know you didnt do that and im not saying you did,the only thing i want is for Rafa to be regarded as a great player in his own right,which you did i know,theres a lot of truth there in the line when you said hes not as 1 dimensional as some claim,nor is he as multi dimensional as some claim,fair enough theres a lot of truth in that statement,i wish some of the fellow posters talked with as much sense as you do.

August 29th, 2012 at 3:16 pm

The Djoker will reach the final easily, while Murray and Federer besides his probable encounter in semi, they had difficult matches before the final. Novak is the favorite number 1 by far.

August 29th, 2012 at 3:57 pm

Steve 27, I think Murray’s draw is potentially the toughest, and the potential semi on Fed/Muzza’s side is clearly tougher one, but I feel that Nole, too, has some difficult (potential) matches along the way, as follows

3rd round: Julien Benneteau (FRA, 31)

To me, Benneteau can be tough – he’s pushed both Fed and Nole before at the slams.

4th round: Aleksandr Dolgopolov (Ukraine, 14), Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI, 18), Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)

All three of these players can be tricky and can create difficult matches. For example, Wawa just pushed Fed in Cincy and he’s beaten Murray over 5 sets at this very slam.

Quarter-finals: Juan Martin del Potro (ARG, 7), Andy Roddick (USA, 20)

There are possible injury concerns here, but as you can see, Nole’s potential QF opponents are the ONLY former USO Champions in the draw besides Fed and Nole themselves. So Nole’s QF could be difficult.

Semi-finals: David Ferrer (ESP, 4), Janko Tipsarevic (SRB,8), John Isner (USA, 9), Richard Gasquet (FRA, 13)

Ferrer can work his opponents very hard, and he’s done well at the AO and USO before. Isner’s serve is never easy to face/deal with. So either of these guys won’t necessarily result in an “easy” match – they present their own unique challenges.

Just my thoughts on potential match ups.

August 29th, 2012 at 4:58 pm

alison: You’re welcome. Rafa’s achievements are not nothing, they’re very substantial. But they need to be placed in context of other great players in tennis history. For example Borg retired in Rafa’s age in October 2011, with 63 ATP titles (including 24 indoor titles, 11 slams and 3 year end championships) and more weeks at No. 1 (109 to 102). And I can easily show how Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, Pancho Gonzales and a few others had better overall records.

Second, maybe Nadal is mutli-dimensional enough — and isn’t able to be more multi-dimensional — because it already takes a lot of talent to generate so much topspin and the way he moves, which no one else can do. If it was so easy to do what he did, why isn’t anyone else doing it? In any case, many other all-time greats are not much more multidimensional than Nadal anyway.

You might like this: Nadal v Federer in 2006 Dubai , their only match on a slightly faster hardcourt… though 2012 Dubai court was probably faster than 2006 Dubai (all their other hardcourt matches were on the slower, higher-bouncing courts of Australian Open 2, Miami 3, Indian Wells 1).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAOYNSSSrFQ

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Giles: “he is so desperate to win that Singles Gold that he is already talking about Rio 2016!”
You need to stop believing your wild imagination that when Federer gives ambiguous replies to press questions about Rio 2016 that it means he is desperate for gold. Don’t confuse what the press writes about Federer saying with what Federer actually says and actually does.
– Remember, Federer admitted that he told the press four years ago he would play at least until the London Olympics in order to get them off his back regarding retirement. He’s probably doing the same here.
– At the Olympics, Federer basically said that he was unsure whether he will compete in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. “I hope so. I said it before the tournament that it’s not impossible that I could take part in Rio. But in the meantime I could retire and come back. It’s that long of a break (laughter)… So we’ll see about Rio… We’ll see how it goes.” But a lot of idiots in the press and readers assumed he was definitely taking part. With Federer, sometimes you have to learn to read in between the lines. The noncommital answer Roger gave gives him freedom to play for another four years or retire anytime before that if he wishes.

You also need to stop believing your wild imagination that Federer is desperate for gold.
– During the Olympics, when asked how strongly he desires an Olympic gold to complete his collection of trophies, Federer replied: “It’s not front and center in my mind. But, of course, I’d love an Olympic gold in singles. But I am very happy with an Olympic silver in singles, and I already have the gold from Beijing.”
– Federer did not sound desperate to win an Olympic gold last year after winning the WTF:
Q. After a spectacular end of the season, regarding 2012, is a gold medal in singles your biggest dream for next year?
Federer: “…Be unfair to the other tournaments to pick London Olympic Games as my number one priority because I have priorities first before that. But I clearly don’t want to miss it and I hope to be healthy when the Olympics do come around.”

http://www.asapsports.com/show_interview.php?id=76253

Federer stated a fundamental truth: he has to prioritize because nobody can win everything he wants. Federer has consistently said winning Wimbledon and returning to No. 1 are his primary priorities.

We also have to see what Federer actually did, how much commitment he showed to winning. The press presumed that because Fed spent 4.5 hours battling Delpo it showed how committed he was to winning the Olympics. But Federer is a fierce competitor who has spent over four hours battling in several non-slam matches in his career, so nothing unique. To me Fed’s commitment was shown before the Olympics, whether he left no stone unturned in his preparations. Frankly, I thought that Murray showed more commitment to try to win the gold. Andy was back on the practice courts just four days after losing the Wimbledon final, while Federer was still on an Italian island enjoying a vacation. Murray practiced with players like Djokovic, while Federer arrived late and practiced twice with Lleyton Hewitt (the type of player totally unlike a Murray, Djokovic, Delpo, Isner who might trouble Federer). etc, etc. I said all this even before the Olympics started. Annacone wasn’t even there. Did Federer do everything possible to prepare for the Olympics? I don’t think so and it showed in the level of his play throughout the tournament. He played better at Wimbledon and Cincinnati than at the Olympics. The difference might have been a few extra few days of practice needed to be at his best (unless he was overconfident or, unlikely, injured).

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Sienna, your two points at 2:29 pm and 2:33 pm are accurate.

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Polo: “It does not matter how committed he was or not.”

It absolutely does matter. Best performance and success tends to come to those who are committed to the goal.

Analyzing the failure to achieve a goal is a standard activity in any high-performing business organization. Understanding failure is no different for any high-performing business organization than it is for a high-performing tennis player.

Anyone who applied your philosophy in a high-performance business organization would be fired for incompetence. If an organization fails to achieve a goal, you can’t just say “duh, what obviously happened is that our company failed in that goal: we lost the business. All I know is our company lost the business. I would have wanted our company to win the business, but we did not. I’m sure the company’s president would have preferred to win the business It does not matter whether the business was that important to our company or not. It does not matter how committed or not our company’s staff was to that goal. No point analyzing why we failed. Whatever is mentioned afterwards is just rationalization. Not by our company staff but by outsiders who feel the pain more than we do.” This kind of ‘head stuck in the sand’ attitude to failure is just a type of unproductive rationalization.

Btw, “some of his fans who feel the pain more than Federer does” is the similar kind of dubious, illogical speculation that you applied to me, before the Olympics started, for arguing that the Olympics was not as significant/important a tennis event (as some people sensationalized it was) and that Federer would be better served skipping the Olympics and focusing on the US Open. It turns out I was right in retrospect, as Federer could have made more ranking points (140 more points and another title had he won Washington ATP500 or 640 more points had he won Toronto Masters 1000… instead of that silver medal at Olympics) for much less effort and for less benefit to Murray. Just because there are Federer fans who are using rational thinking does not mean that we are in more pain or more scared than Federer. Your worldview does not represent the standard for Federer fans.

August 30th, 2012 at 1:36 pm

Federer’s 31st birthday bash thrown by Anna Wintour
http://guestofaguest.com/new-york/events/anna-wintour-hosts-roger-federers-31st-birthday-dinner-at-the-beatrice-inn

August 30th, 2012 at 3:05 pm

An excerpt from Dave’s book:
“Federer would be better served skipping the Olympics and focusing on the US Open. It turns out I was right in retrospect, as Federer could have made more ranking points (140 more points and another title had he won Washington ATP500 or 640 more points had he won Toronto Masters 1000… instead of that silver medal at Olympics) for much less effort and for less benefit to Murray. Just because there are Federer fans who are using rational thinking does not mean that we are in more pain or more scared than Federer. Your worldview does not represent the standard for Federer fans.”

And you represent the standard? Who decided that? You?? If you are so smart, then I wonder why you aren’t working for fed and telling him how he should think (are ranking points more important than Olympic medals?). Less benefit to Murray? Geez, why don’t you just come out and say Murray shouldn’t have won, instead of just unselfishly finally congratulating Murray on his achievement at the Olympics?

August 31st, 2012 at 12:56 pm

Another gem from Dave’s newest book:
“Polo: “It does not matter how committed he was or not.”

It absolutely does matter. Best performance and success tends to come to those who are committed to the goal.”

So according to your brilliant logic, fed must not have been too committed to winning Slams in the year and a half prior to Wimbledon 2012 since he didn’t win any of them. Guess his goal was different.

August 31st, 2012 at 1:19 pm

LMAO….I’m a Fed fan but lol, Dave beats me by miles….my god.

At the end of the day fed lost those games against Nadal and he lost everyone of his opportunities to win the singles gold at the olympics….no need to be so defensive about it. His other achievements speak enough of his greatness and GOAT status, in my opinion, of course. But the difference is that I know it’s my opinion and that no one can say I’m right or wrong. I don’t need to degrade in any shape or form what others have achieved for me to stick with my opinion of Fed.

And no matter what anyone says Nadal is one hell of a player and his achievements are also extraordinary. I don’t even like the guy and I will gladly admit that

Anyways Dave….maybe you should write a book. You clearly enjoy it.

September 2nd, 2012 at 8:24 pm