Hewitt Topples Federer in Brisbane; Wawrinka Wins Chennai

Dear Roger,

Tough day at the office. No worries–, Good luck with your preparations and I’ll be cheering for you as always! :)

I love you Roger :)

congrats Hewitt.

January 5th, 2014 at 10:39 am

this is what is going to happen in australia.. fed playing lights out having lots of bps only to lose in tight 4 sets vs nadal or djoker ..a lot of matches heblost could have gone the other way last year..he needs to work on his bp convertion ..hope edberg brings that killer instinct back although fed has always struggled in that department.. hope for at least the semis down under..the title is clearly on noles and rafas racket..fed needs to use his chances then anything is possible ..after all he has still all the weapons..was a good week . now really looking forward to australian open now. hewitt almost certainly will drain himself in another classic 5 setter as always..:))) hope he will put up a good fight too..vamos oldies but goldies vamos

January 5th, 2014 at 10:48 am

federer was shanking a bit in the first set but hewitt was also playing very well, not just hitting the ball back and waiting for fed-shanks. hewitt’s return was aggressive and exceptional and his point construction was slick.
i also think he put more on his often weakish forehand, seemed to go for it more.

federer picked up his game in the second and from that point on it was give and take, a pretty even match.

January 5th, 2014 at 10:56 am

van orten,

I know what you mean about those clutch moments, but I think a lot of positives can be taken from this tournament. Remember, he has been trying to vary his game and he has done that by playing in both doubles and singles this year. That has been a first in Brisbane. New racquet is starting to feel more familiar.

I think with Edberg now, he needs to coach Fed in the mental side of his game. Reaching those finals is great, but it is making sure he doesn’t throw away these opportunities. They will become fewer and fewer otherwise.

To see such a master of the game, lose his mind in those clutch moments is a really strange one to see. The tide simply does have to turn here and I think it will.

He accomplished what he set out to do. Just fell at the final hurdle. He will be disappointed I am sure, but I take heart from this comment:

“I didn’t play great today which is a bit unfortunate, but also Lleyton was the best player I played this week,” the Swiss said. “He made it toughest on me. So I have a clear idea what I need to work on.”

And Fed will do this, with Edberg’s and Sevrin’s help.

January 5th, 2014 at 10:57 am

Nice to Fed with more snap on his serve. I don’t think he is in shape for tough matches. Looks like the gut has returned. His net instincts seem lacking. He comes in to Hewitt bh and hangs left. Why come in when Hewitt is in strong position? Great win for Hewitt. Hope they both hold up.

January 5th, 2014 at 10:58 am

TGIT

Problem is, it’s instinctive isn’t it?

Federer said he was largely happy with his body of work but would focus on some key areas before stepping out in search of his fifth Australian Open title.

“Yeah, (I feel) pretty good, especially having played all the matches I have here now with the doubles in particular. It’s a good thing. I didn’t quite know what to expect from myself before the tournament,” Federer said.

“I didn’t play great today which is a bit unfortunate but also Lleyton was the best player I played this week. He made it toughest on me. So I have a clear idea what I need to work on and I have a clear idea where my mind and body is.

“I’m very hungry and eager to attack the Australian Open next week.”

“I’m pretty pleased that my body is holding up in the first week because you don’t quite know what to expect. So overall there were many good things but also a couple you need to readjust,” Federer said.

“I’ll get to Melbourne and see what the court speed is down there and then you’ll have a really good idea of what you need to work on.”

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/tennis/roger-federer-confident-of-australian-open-success-despite-loss-to-lleyton-hewitt-20140105-

January 5th, 2014 at 11:07 am

Not surprised to be honest:

Hewitt is as tough a competitor as any player that’s ever picked up a racquet and gone professional.

He’s a real fighter, and after seeing him beat Delpo in the USO last year the guy can still produce the goods for sure.

So it’s not a bad loss for Fed really: if anything a good one since ultimately Brisbane was a workout and Hewitt gave him a solid challenge in the final.

Both will be better off for it at the AO me thinks.

January 5th, 2014 at 11:23 am

@Brando Hopefully you’re right.

Nothing to do for almost 5 days now! Just have to wait for the AO draw to be released.

January 5th, 2014 at 12:06 pm

let the cognitive dissonance commence, suckers

January 5th, 2014 at 12:20 pm

in best of five I see fed stronger than hewitt. hope the court speed is fine as I mentioned before. shakes up a bit the possible scenarios

January 5th, 2014 at 12:24 pm

I’d worry in 5 sets for fed van orten.

When was the last time he overcame a five setter?

He should try to tie it up in 3. It’s always the next match that is affected otherwise.

Brando, good to go comment.

January 5th, 2014 at 12:41 pm

^agree.

At this point if Fed gets through a five setter I don’t see him getting thru the next round of any Grand Slam.

January 5th, 2014 at 1:14 pm

JMO But i think he can navigate his way through the draw against the lesser players in the slams,its against the top players he might have a problem ,having said that hes had a positive week,and on another day im sure he would convert many of those BP opotunities,its early in the year yet,i would say its a shame that there isnt a couple more warm ups before the AO so we could get a better indication of where Rogers at,also he would have some more matches to play himself into some form,still JMO,and i hope it works out for him.

January 5th, 2014 at 2:29 pm

This was a good loss in Brisbane for the Arrogant One. I mean, isn’t is cool to lose a really old, oft-injured guy. It always hurts to lose to an up and comer, but losing to a down and goer is okay.

Spin machine on..

January 5th, 2014 at 4:04 pm

Oh skeezer did not leave a comment about his fav?
I forgot, he only comments on articles about Nadal like a true fed fan…

January 5th, 2014 at 4:17 pm

“this is what is going to happen in australia.. fed playing lights out having lots of bps only to lose in tight 4 sets vs nadal or djoker”

Van orten,
You are expecting too much from Federer. He is ranked 6 and can meet Nole or Rafa not before the QF. Do you honestly think he will get to the quarters ?

January 5th, 2014 at 5:41 pm

skeezer is not commenting probably because he is watching the 49ers game, a real nailbiter. Trust me he could care less about Roger Federer in Brisbane at this moment!

January 5th, 2014 at 6:39 pm

I hope SF beats GB…coming from the Bears fan lol

January 5th, 2014 at 7:02 pm

As you may have seen in the news, my fellow country men want the King of Spain to step down and want a younger person to take over.

Though I appreciate the sentiment, your Humble Highness is not interested in the position.

January 5th, 2014 at 10:05 pm

@K
Nailed it! ;)

January 5th, 2014 at 10:07 pm

Rusty deserved the title!
Come on!

January 6th, 2014 at 12:16 am

Congratulations to Hewitt and Wawrinka for their titles. Obviously they have started the new year with a bang. A demoralizing loss for Roger to start the season but he can take consolation from the fact that Hewitt is a tough customer and is capable of showing reminscences of his Champion days. Still, it does nothing to boost Roger’s confidence ahead of the Australian Open. I am not sure how well Roger played. But in the first set I understand that he played woeful Tennis to go down 1-5 and then slowly made a come back in the second. That is the problem today with Roger who lacks the consistency quotient missing in his repertoire. Infact in the Semis itself, Chardy was outplaying Roger from the back of the court in most of the rallies and Roger got really luck to beat him. Chardy was one of the players who Roger would win handsomely even if he is aroused from his deep sleep during days of his prime. But not anymore. He is struggling against even the second lot of players. It is curious as to how Roger would perform at the Australian Open where he has an insane record of continuous semis.

January 6th, 2014 at 12:30 am

[…] a tough loss to Lleyton Hewitt over the weekend in the Brisbane final, Roger Federer remains upbeat heading into the Australian […]

January 6th, 2014 at 9:55 am

Queen Says:
Oh skeezer did not leave a comment about his fav?
I forgot, he only comments on articles about Nadal like a true fed fan…

January 5th, 2014 at 4:17 pm

Firstly Queen, may be you should take a taste of your own medicine. Shouldn’t you be making commentst on the nadal articles and not here?

Slice Tennis Says:
“this is what is going to happen in australia.. fed playing lights out having lots of bps only to lose in tight 4 sets vs nadal or djoker”

Van orten,
You are expecting too much from Federer. He is ranked 6 and can meet Nole or Rafa not before the QF. Do you honestly think he will get to the quarters ?

January 5th, 2014 at 5:41 pm

Slicetennis, nice deflection. You still haven’t answered the one where you accused fed of not making any excuses.

So what are yours?

January 6th, 2014 at 1:27 pm

Steve 27 Says:
Rusty deserved the title!
Come on!

January 6th, 2014 at 12:16 am

Steve, you are absolutely right. Even Fed agrees with you.

January 6th, 2014 at 1:28 pm