Roger Federer: “Winning Solves Everything”

2013 Wimbledon’s Quater-Final Matchups;

1) Djokovic vs Del Potro

2) Murray vs Tsonga

3) Federer vs Berdych

4) Ferrer vs Nadal

Here we go!

June 16th, 2013 at 5:44 pm

2013 Wimbledon’s Possible Semifinal matchup;

1) Djokovic vs Nadal

2) Federer vs Murray

Here we go!

June 16th, 2013 at 5:48 pm

Micky, keep in mind that the tennis grand slam tournaments don’t have the typical seeding structure where in the quarters it’s #1 vs. #8, #2, vs. #7, etc. Seeds 1 and 2 are on opposite ends, but Seeds 3 and 4 could be on either side of the draw, so it could be #1 vs. #3 in the semis. Same with seeds 5, 6, 7, and 8. They can be placed in quarter.

June 16th, 2013 at 6:21 pm

^sorry, that should be “any quarter” at the end of my post above.

June 16th, 2013 at 6:22 pm

@ Micky ,

If semi as your prediction. They’ll be blockbuster. Finger cross my Rafa will go through this time.

June 16th, 2013 at 7:30 pm

Winning solves everything. Actually, winning once every 10 months solves everything to be exact. 9.5 months won’t cut it.

June 16th, 2013 at 11:05 pm

Finally, the great Swiss has something to smile about this year.

June 16th, 2013 at 11:49 pm

Great to see Roger discover the winning ways once again. It is his 77th title and he equals John which is another feather in his cap. This is a good start to his Wimbledon campaign. On the other end, I am happy for Andy too who has won the Queens Club very convincingly. He had to compete with a tough field and he came out triumphant. Wish him all the best for his first Wimbledon title which the whole of Britain is yearning for. He is definitel a favourite for the title.

June 17th, 2013 at 12:47 am

When everything is done and dusted Nadal will become the greatest player ever to play the game..He is only 27 and with another 4-5 years he will be in his prime…by the time he is done he would have won 12-13 french opens and may be 2-3 other slams outside clay which may bring his tally to 19-20 slams..federer might win another slam but I don’t see him do that in near future.

June 17th, 2013 at 1:53 am

Michael congrats to your favorite on his 77th career title,quite a fantastic achievement,and i agree the whole of Britain is yearning for a British Wimbledon champion,and it would be great never again to here the expression Fred Perry 76 years blahdy blah(YAWN),and i believe the other 3 will be there towards the end too,im with Kimberly/Brando in that i would put Andy favorite,with Roger second,and Rafa and Novak as joint third,of all the top players Andys the only top player Rafa hasnt played since his return from injury so a match up between those two would be interesting,Rafas not played Andy as a GS champion either.

June 17th, 2013 at 2:12 am

And here’s me thinking @Michael’s fav is joker! Duh

June 17th, 2013 at 4:07 am

@hippy chic, you at least no longer hear them mention Bunny Austin anymore since Andy made to the Wimby final last year. Fred Perry next!
Andy has the game to win this Wimby. I just hope he shows some Scottish determination and belief against the top players, esp Rafa. Last year he took down the Djoker and Fed to win the Olympics gold, so he definitely can win this. He’s gotta give his best to try to win it this year. Next year isn’t gonna get any easier.

While I think that Andy can and should win this Wimby, I’m gonna be rooting for Rafa. And I hope he can win another Wimbledon. Vamos Rafa!

June 17th, 2013 at 4:31 am

Vamos Rafa indeed!!

June 17th, 2013 at 6:08 am

Well done Roger!

Now on to Basel for the next one in 2013!

June 17th, 2013 at 7:07 am

Alison, Thanks. By the way, this Wimbledon I am rooting all the way for Andy to win his first home title. He can definitely do it. His only impediment is his lack of confidence. If he can overcome that, then he is totally a different player. I think this queens club win will give him the necessary momentum in his quest for the elusive title. Let us hope for the best. That said, though my heart feels for Andy, my head says the Champion would either be Novak or Rafa.

June 17th, 2013 at 7:13 am

Giles, Ofcourse my favourite is Novak or the Djoker as you wish to call him. But, I think Andy deserves the title this time around. It is time he delivers. He has kept Britain too much in waiting. They are terribly impatient. He is definitely in with a great chance. But the favourites should be Novak, Rafa and Andy necessarily in that order.

June 17th, 2013 at 7:16 am

C’mon Roger! Just in time for the rest of grass season and the fall hard-court season. Hope he can keep the momentum going for the next several months.

June 17th, 2013 at 7:22 am

@Michael. I only made my comment cos Alison posted to you “congrats to your favorite on his 77th career title”. That’s all!

June 17th, 2013 at 8:04 am

If he considers beating bunch of non-ten-top players a great achievement…good for him, I guess he lowered his standards over the years.

June 17th, 2013 at 9:15 am

queen – it’s the winning that counts,that’s why Nadal started his comeback in South America. He wanted to win. With the confidence generated by his victories, he felt emboldened to enter Miami.b.t.w., Tommy Haas has absolutely been playing like a top tenner this year.

June 17th, 2013 at 11:30 am

@queen:

Any player, whether they’re top ten or not, needs to get wins under the belt to start building up confidence again. Federer hadn’t won a title in nearly 10 months, so yes, changing that and finding the way to win again probably will do him a world of good.

We all know that Nadal considered beating a bunch of non-top-twenty players during his return to the tour earlier this year to be a great achievement — and it was, given the circumstances.

Everything is relative for these guys, so if Federer believes that he’s now got the confidence he needs to win Wimbledon, then I’ll be the last to doubt it. Plenty of folks gave Nadal a hard time for getting pumped up after winning small tournaments in South America. Now look — he just won RG again.

What would you rather Federer say after a win like this?

June 17th, 2013 at 11:37 am

@the_mind_reels, As Nadal would say, it doesn’t matter who you have to beat, your goal is the title. Federer achieved that for the first time in ten months. Fans may see them as great, perfect but they’re human with doubts. Imagine, you’ve won a lot of tournaments and suddenly you just don’t win any for several months. Winning this is definitely going to help Fed as he looks to defend his Wimbledon title. Just the right thing to happen at the right time. He’s gonna be more confident now for sure.

June 17th, 2013 at 12:15 pm

@James…That’s also why after RG, many were saying that either Rafa was going into Wimby with great confidence or hoping that Nole was not too down on himself and played great at Wimby.

June 17th, 2013 at 12:24 pm

I agree with t_m_r and grendel. Confidence is huge at the pro level and nothing build confidence more than success. Granted, if Rafa or Roger enter a club tournament just to get a win, that’s one thing. They went out and beat polished pros to get the confidence. Agassi did this after his wrist injury and it worked miracles for his confidence.

A win’s a win.

June 17th, 2013 at 12:35 pm

SG1 says, “A win’s a win.”

So true, whether it’s 8 clay Slams or 7 grass Slams, etc…..

These guys are out there by themselves and have to build themselves up and keep the ‘ooomph’ going, unlike a team sport where you have others on the team to hopefully give you that winning spirit and attitude.

June 17th, 2013 at 12:56 pm

To reply to absolutely stupid comments like queen, is the equivalent of arguing with a fool.

While Halle is no Wimbledon, atleast Federer has won a grass title in the last 2years. Infact he has won 2 titles since 2011 and was in the finals in 2 others. In those 3 grass losses, Federer lost to a terrific grass-courter like Tsonga in 2011 wimbledon, after being 2sets to love up. 2012 he lost to tommy haas, a great talent who gives the best player on planet (for last 2 years, Nole), all sorts of fits an has beaten him twice on grass. The Olympics final, let us just say if a guy like nadal played the semi-final that federer did against Delpotro, we would not have seen him on tour for a few months, if not a whole year. Federer was man enough not to withdraw and take his chances against the 2nd best Grass-court player for the last 18 months – Andy.

Let us keep things in perspective. Federer’s rivalry, right now, is not so much with Nadal, Nole or Andy as it is with the greatest sports-rival of all time – Father Time. That he continues to orchestrate superb brilliance, like very few icons in sport do, by bageling these top players [Nole – cincinnati 2012, nadal, 2011 O2] and beating players in front of their own home crowd – murray in wimbledon and O2, last year and haas in halle, and gets revered and adored for it.

Remember, it is easier to win a sports match/tournament than win people’s hearts and adulation. In that category, only a couple of players – Borg/Agassi are in the same league as Federer. The present generation cannot hold a candle to the universal acceptance and adulation that this Swiss Genius has received over the past decade.

Long Live The King of Tennis.

June 17th, 2013 at 1:17 pm

Long live all of our great tennis players……but we will have to give them up on the tennis court at some point in time. When that happens, how will the players coming up compete like we have grown accustomed to?? Tennis has been so entertaining for the last few years watching Fed, Rafa, Novak, Andy, DelPo……my personal top five favs………..but life goes on in the tennis world too.

Vamos Rafa at Wimby!!

June 17th, 2013 at 1:34 pm

I agree: it doesn’t matter who was beaten in these cases; the wins help to build confidence, and any given player can beat only who’s across the net. (I said this a long time ago when Nole was called a garbage man at this site for winning titles wherein the other top players lost and/or didn’t enter.)

The point is, in the end, to win the title.

I don’t know if it “solves everything” but it must certainly help!

June 17th, 2013 at 1:36 pm

Spot on Jane! I also think that winning a match or tourney is more important to a player than to “win people’s hearts and adulation.” I’d go out on a limb to say IMO, that winning a match helps confidence more than winning fans’ hearts and ‘adulation.’

Rafa has been called so many names for the same reason you stated for Nole. If a player isn’t good enough to make it to face them, what are they supposed to do? Bribe the officials so the fans will be pleased?

June 17th, 2013 at 1:47 pm

I am sorry, Please tell us how becker/edberg with 6slams and 3 wimbledons get mentioned in the same breath and sometimes rated even higher than lendl/wilander for their tennis achievements.

For most sports fans who watch a number of sports other than tennis and who matter more to the game and the sporting world than people who only watch tennis and are ignorant of other sports, here is the hierarchy of slams:

1) Wimbledon [world cup of tennis as bodo/tignor or someother tennis writer mentioned and superbowl of tennis as Sampras mentioned]

2)daylight

3)USO [remember, USA is the runaway leader in sports sponsorship. I doubt if the whole continent of europe can match with them in marketing stakes]

4) French Opne

5) Happy Slam.

I know, it hurts rafa nadal fans and thomas muster/bruguera fans that their idols’ FO victories don’t get same weightage as Sampras’ 7 wimbledons or Ivanisevic’s solo wimbledon title or Becker’s wimbledon wins, but that is how the world works folks.

You would know it if you weren’t busy submerged in that well-known river in Egypt – DENIAL! Get your heads out and see how the world works.

Wimbledon greater than FO or any other slam just as a World Cup in Football is leagues above any other tournament football dishes out.

June 17th, 2013 at 2:12 pm

8 French Opens > 7 Wimbledons!

June 17th, 2013 at 2:23 pm

Do people realise why Rafael Nadal is rated so high and sometimes compared to Roger Federer? A lot of tennis experts have him just behind Roger Federer and Pete Sampras. And he’s only won 2 Wimbledons. But he’s an 8 time French Open champion, a Slam record in men’s tennis.
And aren’t a lot of players not happy with the grass tennis? Gotta like some people’s attempt at diminishing Rafael Nadal’s achievements. Keep trying. You fail.

June 17th, 2013 at 2:32 pm

To refresh – Since 2011, Novak has 5 slams – Rafa 3. Novak close to 100 weeks at number 1, rafa about 25. Any one who is into sports betting will tell you, who is winning this race going ahead, barring catastrophic events.

June 17th, 2013 at 2:51 pm

Since 2010, Nadal has 6 Slams, Djokovic 5 Slams, Federer? I don’t how many Fed’s won since 2010.
And once again, Rafa Nadal is looking good to win non clay Slams. Great news for tennis fans! :-)

June 17th, 2013 at 3:01 pm

Federer himself said;

“Winning tournaments and rewritting history books isn’t the most important priorities for me nowadays, there are other things too you know”

If you asked me, I’d say that is a very smart man….

June 17th, 2013 at 3:27 pm

@Mickey, he must have said that when he was winning the Slams regularly. A smart man indeed who knows how to change with time.

June 17th, 2013 at 4:48 pm

Peter Bodo Blog

Why Roger Federer needed his Halle title
June, 17, 2013
Jun 173:10PM ET

By Peter Bodo | ESPN.com

Once again, those who have been chomping at the bit, ready to declare the end of the Roger Federer era in tennis, have to pack up those votive candles and set aside the black lapel ribbons. For the first time in about 10 months, Federer won a tournament, earning a three-set victory on Sunday at Halle.

Whenever Roger Federer needs a lift, you can count on the man he beat in the final, Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny. Ranked No. 29 and just days from joining Federer as a 31-year-old, Youzhny has won a grand total of four sets (and no matches) against Federer in 15 meetings over the course of a decade-plus.

Youzhny was nothing less than tonic for a man in sore need of relief. Take Federer’s win at Wimbledon last year out of the calculation, and Federer has clearly been hard-pressed to remain relevant at Grand Slam events. Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic have mastered the hard courts; Rafael Nadal owns the clay. After he won the Australian Open in 2010 (d. Murray), Federer went 0-6 against Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Murray at the four majors. He did win Wimbledon last year, with back-to-back conquests of Djokovic and Murray. But in the three Grand Slam events since, he’s lost to Tomas Berdych, Murray and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. That’s 13 majors with one title — and just one win against his big-four rivals.

Those statistics tend to blur in the shadow of all that Federer, the all-time Grand Slam singles champ, has achieved. That too, he’s only been losing at late stages of tournaments and only to his rivals. Most top-10 pros of any era would give their eye teeth to experience a similar decline. The obit writers won’t dip their pens in the poisoned ink and sway anyone until Federer loses in the second round to a Jeremy Chardy or Martin Klizan at, say, the US Open.

Even so, Federer did himself a lot of good with his win at Halle. Federer has played a greatly reduced schedule this year, and that’s put him under a lot of pressure to win in order to maintain his sky-high ranking (he’s been in the top three since the fall of 2011 and is presently No. 3). To borrow a favorite expression of his, Federer is “collecting information” on just how little match play he needs in order to feel like he’s still competitive at majors. He skipped almost the entire European clay-court season, and when he lost to Tsonga in the French Open quarterfinals two weeks ago, it sent a shiver of alarm through Federer partisans.

Because Federer was defending finalist points at Halle and is defending winner’s points at Wimbledon, it theoretically makes this four-week stretch the toughest month of his year. This period, ending in early July, could be a harbinger of his future. You don’t stay in the top three in this era without winning tournaments, even if you do have 17 Grand Slam titles to your name.

The first and easiest part of Federer’s mission is complete, and it again confirms that you have to be an idiot to write off Federer until he’s good and ready to go. Halle is an ATP 250, so Federer picked up just 100 points more than he collected when he lost to resurgent Tommy Haas in last year’s final (by contrast, he’s got 2000 ranking points at stake at Wimbledon). But don’t get too hung up on the numbers. It’s no coincidence that Federer’s only Grand Slam victory in his last 13 tries was at Wimbledon. After all, he’s a seven-time champion. He showed last year that he’s still the best grass-court player of his time, and the win at Halle probably gave him a lot more confidence than it did rankings points.

“These are exactly the kind of wins I need at this part of the season,” Federer said of his wins over Haas and Youzhny last week. “I’ve been preparing well for this part of the season and I’m happy it’s paying off. It’s obviously important for my confidence looking forward to Wimbledon now.”

And if that’s not enough to zip the lips of naysayers, consider this: Two Sundays from now will mark the 10th anniversary of Federer’s first triumph at Wimbledon. A decade ago, Federer kicked off his drive to the title with a win at Halle. One of his victims there?

Mikhail Youzhny.

June 17th, 2013 at 5:54 pm

@Mickey, he must have said that when he was winning the Slams regularly. A smart man indeed who knows how to change with time.

No James, Roger would have been winning titles if he had winning tournaments as priority. Best example is 2012. When he chased No 1, we all know how good he was and how many titles he had won.

Winning wimby and getting back to No1 looks like has made Roger a content man in tennis. I’m only happy he is still playing. I’m always going to give him less chance compared to his rivals for winning big tournaments, but that’s not the reason many Roger fans are following him. It’s the class of tennis he plays.

June 17th, 2013 at 11:21 pm

“Roger would have been winning titles if he had winning tournaments as priority.”

@Nirmal Kumar, Maybe that’s what the fans think and not neccessarily the truth.

Roger in his own words:
“I know some people say I only care about how I play and not about the result,” Federer said.
“I mean, I care more about the result than how I played, to be honest”

He does want to win every tournament but he isn’t as good as he once was. That’s why every loss hurts the man.

But I agree it’s a pleasure to watch him even now.

June 17th, 2013 at 11:45 pm

Fans of Roger and Rafa might wanna read this, if you haven’t yet.

http://m.bleacherreport.com/articles/1675323-how-the-roger-federer-rafael-nadal-rivalry-at-wimbledon-shaped-their-careers

June 18th, 2013 at 12:25 am

Well, Roger winning Halle – Is it going to make a difference to his fortunes at Wimbledon – the Premier Grass court event ? I am not sure considering that Halle hosted a very weak contingent and Roger although he won still had to battle with the likes of Youzhny who he normally despatches quickly the rest room. This doesn’t give any glimpse of his return of form and so I think he is a distant favourite for me at Wimbledon. Nevertheless, Roger has nothing to prove at Wimbledon since he is a record holder there.

June 18th, 2013 at 12:33 am

Federer, your path began in 2003 and will end in 2013.
No one can defy the law of life.

June 18th, 2013 at 1:29 am

James, I thought this is the statement made by Roger

“Winning tournaments and rewritting history books isn’t the most important priorities for me nowadays, there are other things too you know”

Is this a misquote. I’m not sure about that. But generally looking at his body language after the matches he is losing, he does not seem to hurt the way it used to hurt him. Maybe I could be wrong also.

June 18th, 2013 at 4:47 am

Yes, I’ve noticed that too, Nirmal Kumar. A certain mellowness, spiced with sadness. But I would qualify this. When Federer was threatened by Simon at RG, he became unusually (by his standards) voluble. He was determined to win. That resolution appeared to be absent in the Tsonga match.

I suspect at this late stage in Federer’s career, he is more conscious of the massive nature of his achievements than he was when he was actually building them up. So perhaps these days he is inclined to be more philosophical about defeats.

However, fires which are doused can, in the right circumstances, be rekindled. Surely Wimbledon will prove to be one of those occasions. The more you want to win something, the more bitter is the loss. I think Federer will give his all in a couple of weeks.

June 18th, 2013 at 10:23 am

I’m not so sure that Fed is “philosophical” about his defeats. I don’t think you can play pro sports at an elite level and become in any way comfortable with losing. Once you lose that edge, you’re done. I believe Federer still has the feeling that his very best tennis is still better than everyone else’s. If this is what he’s thinking, he may in fact be right. It’s difference between performance and potential. In those moments when he’s on, he can beat anyone (except maybe Nadal on clay). The problem for Federer at this point is inconsistency which I think is caused to a small degree by age and to a large degree by external distractions. Those external distractions didn’t exist in 2005, 2006 and 2007. 31 isn’t old for a premier athlete anymore. Having 2 kids and other responsibilities, that’s another story. At some point you have to become more than a tennis player. He has to trade off some of court energy for personal life energy. And there’s not one thing wrong with that. It’s inevitable you’re going to lose more when your focus becomes divided.

June 18th, 2013 at 12:37 pm

Look at Nadal. During his parents divorce, his game went in the tank.

June 18th, 2013 at 12:39 pm

@SG1… it’s because sometimes certain fans forget that these men are still human after all.

June 18th, 2013 at 12:54 pm

@SG1

^^ You are so right. If people don’t think personal problems can’t interfere with sports…..so very wrong. Felt so sorry for him during that crisis in his life. His heart was just not in the game.

June 18th, 2013 at 8:03 pm

Even when Roger says that winning is not a priority now, I do not know how should I take it. Surely, it would not have come from his heart, but only mind. No player plays to be defeated. Everyone wants to win. Especially a phenomenon like Roger would be very sensitive to defeats. Moreover, a great player like Roger has his prestige to be defended and he cannot be oblivious to be beaten by every Tom, Dick and Harry. He has a brand name which is well culvited which needs to be protected. I think Roger should just see the results in 2013 and if it is not upto expectations, he should think about quitting in mid 2014. He has nothing left to prove. He can go out of the Sport with his head held high, being a role model for aspiring youngsters and inspiring players like Novak, Andy and even Rafa.

June 19th, 2013 at 2:11 am

Funny that although Wimbledon carries more “juice” than the French Open, the latter is a much more brutal physical+mental test.

The so-called GOAT has only won there once – & we all know how that happened.

It’s also quite ironic that just as Rafa has padded his resume @ Roland Garros, Fed is poised to do the same @ SW17.

June 19th, 2013 at 11:09 pm