Edberg To Ljubicic? Is Roger Federer Stepping Up His Effort To Run Down Novak Djokovic?

Ljubicic is one of the few players with multiple wins over each of the Big Four.

He made massive strides with Raonic’s ground game getting him to No. 4 before injuries set in.

Great tennis mind and strategist.

Great hire by Roger but tampering is naughty, n’est-ce pas? Tsk, tsk.

December 9th, 2015 at 10:35 am

Sean para 2: so Edberg is Leo and Lenny’s dad? Seems like Roger brought out his SABR a bit too late.

December 9th, 2015 at 10:45 am

for the record, ljub is 10-31 vs the big 4
3-13 vs fed
3-4 vs murray
2-7 vs nadal
2-7 vs djokovic

December 9th, 2015 at 11:54 am

It’s gonna take more than Lubi to beat Jokermon!

December 9th, 2015 at 12:08 pm

Jane, not many have such an impressive record.

Good trivia question: What other players have multiple wins over each of the Big Four?

Tsonga, Wawrinka, Berdych are the only active players I can think of.

Roddick and Davydenko are the only other inactive player that come to mind.

It’s a pretty exclusive club!

December 9th, 2015 at 12:21 pm

elina,

tsonga has beaten all the big 4 at a slam!
AO – rafa 08 / murray 08 / novak 10
FO – fed 13
Wim – fed 11

same with berdych
FO – murray 10
Wim – fed 10/ novak 10
AO – rafa 15
USO – fed 12

same with wawa
AO – novak 14, rafa 14
FO – fed 15, novak 15
USO – murray 10 and 13

not many players can say that.
i was just wondering about delpo, but i think he just has slam wins over fedal.

not sure how “big” ljub’s wins were over the big 4. i think he beat novak and rafa when he won his lone masters title in 2010. that was a great event for him; i still remember how happy he was.

December 9th, 2015 at 12:44 pm

His biggest title was IW

December 9th, 2015 at 12:45 pm

“Under Edberg, who sounds like he was tiring from the commitment in the end, Federer added another set of twins to the clan”:

That just doesn’t sound right! :D

December 9th, 2015 at 12:48 pm

Ivan’s a good choice. He’s a sharp guy and made the most of his ability. Prior to some injuries, he had really helped Raonic improve tactically. To the point where Milos was playing some tight matches against the big 4. I wonder if he might be able to push Federer to juice up his serve a little more. Fed can swing it around the box better than anyone but everyone once in a while I’d like to see Fed uncork a 131 or 132 MPH bomb to keep his opponents honest. His service games need to get easier and perhaps Luby can help him with this.

I think Sean’s reaching when he says that one of the reasons Ivan’s a good choice is because he’s beaten Novak a couple of times. Federer beat Novak 3 times THIS year. And 2010 Novak wasn’t 2011 or 2015 Novak.

December 9th, 2015 at 1:02 pm

Ljubicic seems like a really thoughtful coach. I saw him hit with Raonic at IW on a show court before match play began. Once their time was up, they moved to the side of the court (while Wawrinka came up to start his practice session) and chatted for a while. I was much too far away to have any idea of what they were saying, but it looked like Ljubicic was explaining or breaking down something to Raonic and was referring to notes he had in a notebook.

December 9th, 2015 at 1:38 pm

Jane correct! Del Potro also has multiple wins against each of the Big Four.

He had slam wins over Nadal and Roger.

December 9th, 2015 at 1:50 pm

Delpo also had an Olympics win over Djokovic in the 2012 bronze medal round. Counts as Impressive because Juan had just lost a marathon heartbreaker to Federer. Djokovic gave him oodles of respect after the match because Delpo was tired and had taken a blow to his mental strength, but but still came out as a warrior. Despite the Fed loss. And won his 2nd grueling battle. Murray had to be happy that Fed was softened up some by fighting Delpo, as well.

(Come to think of it, next year, Andy had to be pleased that Delpo had softened up Nole before the Wimbledon final, from the epic semifinal battle.)

December 9th, 2015 at 2:21 pm

Ljubicic is based in Monaco. Many a time, he hung around Milos at the Monte Carlo tennis club with Milo’s regular practice partner, Djokovic.
Dare we hope?
“Hey, Fed! Come on down to Monte Carlo to practice.”
“I don’t know, can you line me up with a fairly good practice partner that hits and runs a bit like Djokovic?”
“Oh yes, absolutely!”

December 9th, 2015 at 2:29 pm

interesting that berd, tsonga, wawa and delpo have all beaten 2 of the big 4 back-to-back at the same slam, too.

only wawa’s done it twice, for both his slams..

of course all the big 4 have beaten 2 of the others in the big 4 at the same slam as well.

but i don’t think there is anyone else, is there?

have davy or roddick beaten 2 of the big 4 at the same slam elina?

December 9th, 2015 at 2:30 pm

Not quite the same as he didnt do it to win a GS,but Kie beat Stan and Novak back to back USO 2014….

December 9th, 2015 at 2:43 pm

Lujbicic has NO hair whatsoever!!!!
I couldn’t take my eyes off his gleaming almost translucent veiny head!
He looked like a an alien
or an alien’s what-nots
I don’t know why you lot are going on about how many wins etc
Surely he’s no more than a hitting partner for Fed, and can impart very little compared to Edberg.

December 9th, 2015 at 3:20 pm

“Surely he’s no more than a hitting partner for Fed, and can impart very little compared to Edberg.”

Coming from a Murray fan, this is just silly.

Ironically Stan didn’t post consecutive wins over the big 4. In both his slam wins, they were sandwiched around one of the others on the list, Tsonga and Berdych. There’s something very, I wanna say, fitting about that. Tsonga and Berdych have wins over the big 4 at slams but could never get it done. Stan beats each of them on his way to his 2 slams. Fitting? Ironic?

December 9th, 2015 at 3:24 pm

‘and gets him another win or two in a Slam’

What?
You mean actually winning one or two slams!!!
With baldy?!
Surely not.
Novak benefited from a short weak era in 2015, but so did Fed
Reality shall return soon enough…

December 9th, 2015 at 3:26 pm

Well, I mentioned it on the other thread (as half a joke), Ben mentioned it also and CF1 here, is the reason Roger hired Ivan is that he is becaming obsessed with beating Nole? No obsession is good obsession.
CF1, I said on the other thread, Ivan and Nole are very good friends, they live in MC, they are house friends and their wives visit each other, they practiced together, Milos is regular practice partner when they are in MC and they speak same language, all of them including wives.
If somebody is intending to came with “Roger is still playing because he loves tennis, to promote tennis and everything is gravy”, spare me please, you can say that to some primary school kids, they’ll sure believe you, Roger is playing to improve his records and set a new ones.

December 9th, 2015 at 3:28 pm

Ben Pronin, do you do anything else other than post here?
I just posted that and you swing in with your usual nonsense, what 5 seconds later!
Your post is Idiotic, it has to be said, and I hope you realise I wasn’t actually talking about ‘Wawa’ ,genuinely I mean that (otherwise you are a loon).
I suppose I should be flattered but really I can’t be bothered with you,
Get a life!

December 9th, 2015 at 3:31 pm

@Jane – also not a slam, but I’m pretty sure Roddick won a master’s tournament by beating Fed, Novak, and Rafa (not necessarily in that order). Having trouble finding the tournament or verifying this via Google since those search terms bring up way too many results.

December 9th, 2015 at 3:35 pm

Somehow I missed to say in the first part, Roger is hopping that Ivan has some inside information about Nole…only half a smiley face at the end here )

December 9th, 2015 at 3:35 pm

Jane, no way Davy beat two Big Four players in the same slam. He was pretty poor in BO5 slams.

Davy had a single slam win over 17 yr old Andy in 2006 but lost the other eight meetings over the Big Four in slams (mostly to Roger).

Roddick never did either. He almost did in 2009 when he beat Andy at Wimbledon but lost to Roger in the final.

December 9th, 2015 at 3:43 pm

@RZ,
I know Nole won masters by beating #3, #2, #1 player in the world (in that order (Roddick, Nadal, Federer) in 2007 Montreal, but I don’t know about Roddick doung the same, since commentators stressed then that that was first time after, I think Ivanisevic did that in Sweden i 1991 or so.

December 9th, 2015 at 3:57 pm

gypsy, stan doesn’t technically count as a “big 4”

ben, i guess beating 2 of the big 4 on the way to winning a slam is good enough, no? doesn’t matter if they were back to back, although the latter is definitely harder, i would think?

rz, are you sure roddick did that? i know novak beat roddick/rafa/fed at one masters.

elina, thanks for info. it shows how difficult it is to beat 2 of the “big 4” at a slam. a handful of people have managed it.

as for multiple wins over the big 4, inactive, would safin or nalbandian qualify??? hewitt?

December 9th, 2015 at 4:08 pm

Jane true,thats why i said not quite the same,still big 5 though IMO….

December 9th, 2015 at 4:14 pm

oops sorry for repeating you wog boy. just noticed that.

December 9th, 2015 at 4:14 pm

Jane, I know. I’m just saying it’s interesting. I guess it depends on how you look at it, too. Players often stumble after scoring a big upset. But if you upset, say, Nadal, and then play Federer in the next round, perhaps it helps maintain the mindset of “I gotta perform big time here” for the player. So often a player will beat Nadal then lose to whoever is ranked 35 that week. Letdowns are all too common in sports.

CDP, I never said you were talking about Wawrinka. I said your comment about what Ljubicic can bring to Federer’s game is stupid especially considering you’re a big Murray fan and his coach is Mauresmo.

December 9th, 2015 at 4:28 pm

jane,
No need to be sorry, repeating Nole’s god results is good:)

December 9th, 2015 at 4:38 pm

that’s true ben, about letdowns. hadn’t thought of that. so does that make wawa’s wins even better then, that he was able to carry through. i mean, in both cases he won a slam he beat 2 big 4s to do it, including one in the final.

December 9th, 2015 at 5:05 pm

@Jane – I’m pretty sure Roddick did, though maybe it wasn’t a masters. But I remember him having a tournament where he beat the top 3 players and I think those were the 3.

December 9th, 2015 at 5:29 pm

@Wog Boy – I remember Nole doing that. I think Roddick’s came after (and as I mentioned to Jane, might not have been at a masters)

December 9th, 2015 at 5:30 pm

What?!
I mean FFS!
The jury is def still out on this subject but Mauresmo won a couple of slams and was a number one at least.
We all know this
Stupid is your middle name & you would be best picking your times VERY well to get in my face dude
Trust me on that one!

December 9th, 2015 at 5:34 pm

Oh & yes, I forget to say
In addition to Novak and Roger, in some ways Wawrinka benefited the most of all from the (hopefully) short weak era
It’s a nice story, and I’m pleased for him but if it weren’t for Andy and Nadal being awol for some 18 months to 2 years then Stan really probably wouldn’t have been a slam winner
As it turned out, however, he was allowed to be a deserving one like a dog having his very special day but as we all know sport isn’t normally so sporting.
Pity Federer wasn’t quite up to the task to take advantage in quite the same way, but then he’s already got 17 of em and enjoyed his fair share of weak or easier eras, so it seems fair enough.

December 9th, 2015 at 5:43 pm

@Jane and Wog Boy – I stand corrected. Either I can’t find the tournament I’m thinking of, or I was thinking of 2008 Dubai where Roddick beat Djokovic and Nadal, but didn’t play Federer.

December 9th, 2015 at 5:46 pm

One thing about Mauresmo always baffled me, his physical transformation, at one stage she looked like East German and Chinese female swimmers from the past, and then injury followed?!

December 9th, 2015 at 5:56 pm

^^^
Really sorry it is “her” and not “his” and it was honest mistake:(

December 9th, 2015 at 5:57 pm

CDP, you can make all the excuses you want.

And the way you’re judging coaches is stupid. Magnus Norman didn’t sniff a slam and helped Wawrinka win 2. Lendl was unable to win Wimbledon but helped Murray do it. Toni Nadal has 0 tennis titles and coached Nadal to 14 slams and 67 titles overall.

December 9th, 2015 at 6:01 pm

Wog Boy, kinda like Nadal.

December 9th, 2015 at 6:02 pm

yeah right
hehehe
she’s not exactly feminine I get that, but then an awful lot of women nowadays aren’t ‘little flowers’
(despite appearances to the contrary)
Anyhoo, as i said, I’m not a big fan and I also resent the fact that she just f*cked off to have a kid in Andy’s greatest need!
There’s one of the reasons for the mythical pay gap for you.

December 9th, 2015 at 6:05 pm

I’m not making any f**king excuses
Mauresmo achieved more than Lujbicic
end of
NEXT!

December 9th, 2015 at 6:07 pm

Nadal is a funny one
Is his decline anything to do with the blood passport regime?
Has that even happened yet?
I never bought the ‘Nadal is juiced’ mantra but it crossed my mind,
from time to time.

December 9th, 2015 at 6:11 pm

But she didn’t do it against the ATP. Achievements never correlated well with good coaching until Murray brought in Lendl. And it’s been even more shocking that Becker and Edberg have proven to be good, if not great, coaches.

We saw how much Ljubicic improved Raonic’s game. Gilbert, Cahill, Higueras, Stefanki were all lesser players who were good to great coaches. Patrick Mouratoglou was never a pro and brought Serena 3 sets shy of a year slam. Judging a coach by his accomplishments as a player is stupid.

December 9th, 2015 at 6:13 pm

Ben Pronin,

I might be able to hold two front lines but not three, I’ll leave that out..for now, mat4 is specialist for that particular one, that’ll be enough..

December 9th, 2015 at 6:28 pm

WB, it’s okay ;).

December 9th, 2015 at 6:31 pm

The point is that Lujbicic is technically a ‘star coach’ i.e his experience, despite Raonic, is quite limited compared actual coaches that have done the job for years and years.
And his achievements…even less so
Of course, he is of Federer’s era, so no doubt will massage his ‘pupil’s’ ego to the desired level.
For verily Federer really does love a good sycophant..
Doesn’t he just, Ben?
;0)

December 9th, 2015 at 6:35 pm

I believe females with WTA accomplishments do not translate into ATF Gurus, but there is a benefit to an ATP Player of very good intelligence and accomplishment having those factors as part of the ATTRIBUTES they can bring in a coaching or advisor position. But not all, or we would be seeing Jimmy Connors as a superstar coach.
And accomplishment doesn’t mean Slams!! must be on the resume, as Pronin points out. Bjorkman and Magnus Norman are top notch coaches. No Slams….

Obviously, Richard Williams and Toni Nadal never played, but they both have attributes other than tennis Slam winning they bring to coaching. Mourataglou never being a pro, though he started an Academy, is a great observation.

===================

CDP – “Mauresmo achieved more than Lujbicic
end of
NEXT!”

HUH???

It’s apples and oranges. Like saying Sharapova is twice the player Andy Murray is because she won 4 Slams, Andy only 2. And therefore knows twice as much about coaching as Andy. And would be twice as successful than Murray if she wanted to start coaching down the road…
Again, apples and oranges, CDP.

December 9th, 2015 at 6:58 pm

Oh dear….no matter what – this is seen by my small but sensible group of tennis friends as the 3 “D’s” a Desperate; Determined; wrong Decision on Roger’s part.

Nole will still be No. 1 at close of 2016 – but by a much smaller margin than now …nothing else makes sense.

December 9th, 2015 at 7:16 pm

3 “D’s”

:)

December 9th, 2015 at 7:28 pm

Nothing to do with Roger, there is great photo of little Stefan recognizing Nole at the airport billboard that Jelena tweeted, can somebody copy/paste the tweet here, I just can’t do it for some reason.

December 9th, 2015 at 7:45 pm

@ Ben Pronin –

Wasn’t Norman in a FO final (or at least a semi)?

He was the real deal, until injuries & Martina Hingis ;-) took him down…

December 9th, 2015 at 8:34 pm

Yes, Martina took down quite a few of them…Roger is playing mix doubles with her in Rio…just saying, I know they are good friends, RZ..

December 9th, 2015 at 8:41 pm

Ben
A good lesser player turned coach is vajda

December 9th, 2015 at 9:52 pm

also i think gilbert was a fairly successful coach but a less successful player?? don’t know too much about his career though.

December 9th, 2015 at 11:46 pm

https://twitter.com/_shaering/status/673571635824316419
Mixed dubs fed and Hingis just speculation at this stage.

December 10th, 2015 at 3:56 am

Great photo of Federe and Ljubicic together… very together!

https://twitter.com/TennisPurist/status/674713941029818368

December 10th, 2015 at 5:13 am

Just read Lujbicic is credited for Fed’s victory over Murray at Wimbledon, especially his particularly strong service on that occasion.
“Every little helps”.??

December 10th, 2015 at 5:29 am

TB,

I just can’t resist, that “very together” picture reminds me on Michael Berryman, eyebrows are only difference..remember “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”?
I am running for the cover now..

December 10th, 2015 at 5:33 am

CDP i suppose you could say that about any player when they decline,or be suspicious about any player too,are players really as innocent as they look?Nadals spent time on and off tour,Andy too with injuries,Delpos been away for ages,were they really injured or serving a ban?how has Roger been able to keep such a high level all these years?how has Novak kept such a high level all this year?are any of them above suspicion?i have often thought if any one was up to no good,then id bet my life they aint the only one,as its the world we live in unfortunatly,and such a grey area….

December 10th, 2015 at 5:35 am

TB,

I just can’t resist, that “very together” picture reminds me on Michael Berryman, eyebrows are only difference..remember “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”?
I am running for the cover now..

December 10th, 2015 at 5:37 am

JK,
I don’t get it, why would they credit Ljubicic for that match, was he secretly coaching Roger while being Milos coach?

December 10th, 2015 at 5:42 am

I find it curious that people still talk about the “Big Four” as if it’s still a thing… With three of those four with double digit slams, what, 41 slams between them, and the fourth is same as Wawrinka in slam count.

There can only be the Big Three currently. Putting Murray in the same category with Fed, Rafa and Novak is really giving him waaay too much credit, which he doesn’t deserve. He has a lot od tennis to play and win to come even close to the Big Three and I could bet that he won’t be able to do it, and I’m not a betting man.

December 10th, 2015 at 7:43 am

Wog Boy – It was said that Roger practised with Lju (who reputedly) has a devilish good serve – and some of which added to Fed’s performance….I’ll see if I can find the link (think it was The Telegraph.).

December 10th, 2015 at 8:39 am

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis/article

Federer hires coach Ljubicic as Maclagan lands plum role with Coric

December 10th, 2015 at 8:55 am

At the present time Kriket the reality is we have a category all of its own: ONE BIG player – (the ranking points are on a different scale than his competition)…

then there is the NEXT BEST GROUP – again based on current ranking points: (2) Murray (3) Federer (4) Stan and (5) Rafa.

I note your comments on Andy re. Grand Slam wins etc. but I think Grand Slam wins should not be the only criteria to assess success/failure. Otherwise why bother having other matches such as the Masters?

I seem to recall Caroline W. was WTA No.1 and never won a Grand Slam.

Ah well, vive la difference, or something…

December 10th, 2015 at 9:36 am

“I seem to recall Caroline W. was WTA No.1 and never won a Grand Slam.”

Come on…

It started with Federer in 04. Nadal joined him and it became Fedal from 05-06. Djokovic joined in 07 to start the Big 3 and then Murray broke through in 08 to round out the Big 4. From 08-12 they all won a few slams and lots of Masters and dominated the rankings. I’m not going to look this up but I’m sure they made the semis of all the big events more than any other quartet in history.

Federer was the first to drop out in 2013. There’s just no way to argue he was still a big part of the Big 4 that year. I’d say 2013 was really a 2 man show with Djokovic and Nadal but Murray did win a slam. Then there’s 2014 which, really, was weird as hell. Djokovic did win a lot of Masters, though and Federer was fairly competitive. But Murray was barely in the top 8 so I guess you could say it was a sub-par Big 3. And this year it was definitely just Djokovic. Even though Murray and Federer were competitive, no one’s even close to him.

But it’s still just a media generated term. Murray is forever linked to Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic as far as history is concerned. But they’re not the Big 4 of history.

December 10th, 2015 at 10:36 am

Tally Ho! Tally Ho!
A-hunting Andy some of you (fill in epithet of choice here) will go!

December 10th, 2015 at 10:57 am

@Kriket – the Big 4 moniker came about before Andy Murray had won a slam. It came about because of the consistency of these 4 guys at reaching the latter stages of the slams and the masters tournaments. Keep in mind there was a long period where if not all 4, then 3 of the 4 of these guys would be in the semis of big tournaments. And there was a long stretch where every masters tournament was won by one of these 4 guys.

I get why people say there isn’t a big 4 or that Andy isn’t in the big 4, but that is overlooking the reason they were named the Big 4 and only focusing on the slams rather than the year-round calendar. Take 2015 as an example. Who won the master’s titles? Nole won 6, Andy won 2, and Fed won 1. Once again, domination by the same guys in the masters.

December 10th, 2015 at 11:08 am

@RZ
Pearls before swine, my dear.

December 10th, 2015 at 11:21 am

@Margot – I feel like a broken record…

December 10th, 2015 at 11:49 am

@RZ
:)

December 10th, 2015 at 11:57 am

Let’s pick on Andy for awhile….again! As J-K said there is definitely ONE BIG ONE…….so Andy doesn’t have multiple slams he is still near the top. Get a grip folks! Why make a mountain out of a mole hill???

December 10th, 2015 at 12:24 pm

Stan said it best:

“The Big 4, it’s not what happen in this year,” said Wawrinka, who won his first-round match at Wimbledon. “It’s what’s happened the past 10 years. That’s why they’re much better than everybody.

“For me the Big 4 always mean the Big 4. They’re good where they are because they did so much for the tennis and they were so strong during more than 10 years. They deserve to be the Big 4 and they will always be the Big 4. That’s for me how I see it.”

There is only one Big 4. It defines a period of dominance. The names will never change.

Like the Rat Pack.

December 10th, 2015 at 1:42 pm

Listen up people. Do you hear there?

A 34 year old tennis player is playing oh so close to his prime and admits he’s rarely tested.

And it makes me wonder.

December 10th, 2015 at 1:51 pm

Yeah let’s just take Stan’s word for it. 10 years of the Big 4, huh? Sure. Sure.

What does it make you wonder, Hawkeye?

December 10th, 2015 at 1:56 pm

“It defines a period of dominance.”
What period of 2015 was dominated by Rafa Nadal? Oh wait…he’s not in the top 4 now, correct?

December 10th, 2015 at 1:57 pm

#8 spot to #5 spot……A move in the right direction….straight up! One more spot to go!!

December 10th, 2015 at 2:17 pm

JK,

Thanks for the reply. It will be interesting to see what Miles Maclagan can do with Borna. I’ve been watching Borna this year, I don’t know but I just have feeling that something is missing in his game, something big, I can’t figure out what but he just doesn’t impress me and doesn’t give me that vibe of future big thing in tennis. I know mat4 has high regards for Miles Maclagan and rightfully so, Andy broke through while being coached by him 2008-2010.

December 10th, 2015 at 2:35 pm

Don’t worry dear Rogerator.

Roger was still part of the Big 4 when he had a “bad back” and slipped to No. 8.

You are confusing the top four with The Big Four. I know it’s difficult for you.

December 10th, 2015 at 3:01 pm

Don’t worry dear Hawknose,

Stan is where he should be…#4. He has won 2 Slams and has proven he can beat any of the previous big 4 anytime anywhere.

I know it’s difficult for you to say anything negative about your Love.

December 10th, 2015 at 3:18 pm

Ricky Dimon banned hawkeye for a week for spamming. Not sure if elina is hawkeye or if it’s more pathetic that that – someone copying and pasting hawkeye’s lines, Ben/ skeezer.

But it could be hawkeye.

December 10th, 2015 at 3:34 pm

Ben
It is what it is today i.e. current -no matter what went before.

RZ gets full marks
so does Margot, Elina + Okiegal

December 10th, 2015 at 3:45 pm

WogBoy – on Borna – might it be that he is too impressed by himself at the moment – a few life lessons (or tennis defeats on his way up may be the answer). He’ll get there, I think.

December 10th, 2015 at 3:48 pm

Jalep, I really hope it’s the form.

Hawkeye, do you still consider Brees and Manning as part of the Big 4 in the NFL?

December 10th, 2015 at 3:49 pm

Yeah, me to Ben — Hoping elina is Hawkeye.

December 10th, 2015 at 3:54 pm

Gipsy Gal

PS: I am also a Sagitarius – my birthdy is also 7th Dec. Didn’t say it before because my household was falling apart and my birthday simply became a nuisance…so didn’t want to spread gloom and doom.

One of my sisters did arrive and we spent the nights of 7th and 8th talking until 3.20am!!!! What a pretty pair we were in the mornings…….so after all it was Great…Humph A-humph…

December 10th, 2015 at 4:32 pm

J-Kath ha ha well belated happy birthday returns to you too my dear,and i hope you had a great day,and you and your sister enjoyed yourselves,sorry it didnt start well for you,but glad it finished well though,i hope you get some nice things like a GS or two for Andy and or another gold medal or two,or anything else that takes your fancy,anyway just to say from one sagitarian to another CHEERS TO YOU J-KATH AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY ;)….

December 10th, 2015 at 4:50 pm

JK,
“WogBoy – on Borna – might it be that he is too impressed by himself at the moment – a few life lessons (or tennis defeats on his way up may be the answer).”

Actually you might be well right with that one, his on court manners do show that he already thinks big about himself. One more think that is not really to be commended, Maclagan is his third coach this year.

December 10th, 2015 at 5:47 pm

BTW,

I am swiching to golf, ladies one, I found it even more interesting to watch than ladies beach volleyball, here is the reason behind me dumping tennis..temporarily:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/golf/article-3354494/Instagram-star-Paige-Spiranac-misses-Dubai-Ladies-Masters-cut-eight-shots-equal-101st-hitting-critics-said-invited-model-looks.html

December 10th, 2015 at 6:48 pm

He should have hired Andy Roddick….:-) to come up with strategy to beat nole..

December 10th, 2015 at 7:40 pm

Wogboy

Does your wife know about your secret ogling? Tut, tut.

December 11th, 2015 at 4:13 am

Thanks GG

We both looked like we had had more birthdays than we actually had had….back to normal now ….not so hot – ah well changes may have to be made…

December 11th, 2015 at 4:19 am

Wogboy shes a beautiful girl no question,but a terrible golfer,if she wants to be taken seriously as a golfer,she needs to knuckle down and practice on her skills,and not take so many sexy selfies to post on instagram,doubt it will happen with comments like who cares when she looks like that,or the Kourikova of golf etc,if thats all people are interested in then why bother will the golf?….

December 11th, 2015 at 4:30 am

J-Kath i know how you feel,but its whats on the inside that counts,glad you had a nice day though,but yeah thats it for another year ;)….

December 11th, 2015 at 4:33 am

@J-Kath – Happy belated birthday!

December 11th, 2015 at 10:29 am

J-Kath…..Happy belated to you! It would be so nice to know birth dates….We could send goofy cards! Hope you had a wonderful day, avid tennis fan….. who knows a lot about tennis. You are a very nice poster, I might add……Cheerio!!

December 11th, 2015 at 10:39 am

2 posters on Tennis-x with the same birthday? Never heard of such a thing :D

Happy Birthday (belated), J-Kath! Not sure I know you well enough to post a bday video…hmm…

Tempted to repost Hugh Jackman ;)

December 11th, 2015 at 10:51 am

Jalep yeah baby,gets my vote anyway,dont know if J-Kaths a fan though? ;)….

December 11th, 2015 at 11:01 am

Oh gosh – am a bit embarrassed by all the kindness-
RZ, Okie, GG and Jalep also thanks – your greetings are more than enuf.

December 11th, 2015 at 11:18 am

Okie

Should have sent a selfie – best face on it would have been Bruno, the rottweiler…

December 11th, 2015 at 11:28 am

^^^^^ LOL

December 11th, 2015 at 12:48 pm

Gotto admire skeezer for jumping right in when anybody takes a shot at him. You can have 300 comments in a thread, but the moment an anti-Fed comment shows up, you see skeezer the policeman pulling over people and handing them speeding tickets. I mean this is the quintessential definition of fandom , worship, and loyalty. Ladies and Gentleman, please take notes.

The honor of House Federer shalt never be sullied. Hail Federer and his one true fan.

December 11th, 2015 at 6:58 pm

JK,

What is ogling? Something bad?

December 11th, 2015 at 7:27 pm

Don’t worry, found it, no I am not ogling, just enjoying nature of sport…no, my wife doesn’t know, but even if she knows it wouldn’t change much in my life, I am almost permanently in the bad books, she lets me out of bad books only on special occasions, Christmas, weddings and if she is in very good mood…which doesn’t happen so often:(

December 11th, 2015 at 7:32 pm

Elina and Stan Wawrinka have it right. The Big 4 is an honorific title earned over a 10 year span by a cadre of players showing consistent excellence and winning or placing high in all events from Masters on up.

Elina’s observation that it is sort of like American Hollywood and Las Vegas famous early 60’s ‘Rat Pack’, is spot on. Andy may be Peter Lawford to Fed’s Chairman of the Board Sinatra or Nole’s Dean Martin – but a solid member of the group, nonetheless. Or the Fab 4, even though you could bring up a few musicians as talented or indeed, far more talented – than a few of the Beatles, especially Ringo.

That Stan is not part, is no slight on Stan. He said so. Not consistent enough. And part of that is Stan knowing despite that – he has gobs of respect from Nole, Andy, and at least one of the Federers.

December 11th, 2015 at 9:12 pm

Wogboy – My “ogling” remark was simply a bit of teasing – sorri if I hit a sore spot.

Re. Olympics: Looks like Federer is aiming for a treble triumph…he’s got a great chance of getting 2 out of 3 but the one he really wants is likely to be out of reach…will be interesting to follow.

December 12th, 2015 at 3:05 am

Agree ChrisFord1 – But people believe what they want to believe and apply selective measures with Andy usually being the sacrificial lamb – so sometimes a current reality check seems necessary ………

December 12th, 2015 at 3:15 am

JK,

I know you were teasing me, I was joking too, I am not permanently in the bad books, only most of the time:)

December 12th, 2015 at 4:30 am

@Chris
Liked that analogy very much.
@Kath
Was gonna call Andy “Rubber Man” because no matter how much he’s squashed he bounces back!
And we are “Rubber women” for similar reasons :)
Happy belated birthday greetings BTW and to GG.
Tis the birthday of No 1 son too.

December 12th, 2015 at 4:31 am

Oh Margot – Good to “see” U again. And thanks – so you have a Sagitarius – without doubt he will keep you busy (and often frustrated – but definitely he’ll grow up Good like Gipsy Gal and Me….hee hee).

December 12th, 2015 at 5:48 am

Tried to find a more recent photo of Ivan, wife, and their 2 kids. But Leo and Zara might make fun playmates for the twins. I think Leo Ljubicic is about 8 years old and Zara is 3 or 4.

http://www.gloria.hr/wp-content/uploads/novo/images/2012/800/ljubicic_ivan_aida_060412_800.jpg?c3ad10

December 12th, 2015 at 11:51 am

Was also curious to see if there might be a generation of retired players’ children coming of age – perhaps with tennis in their blood – but didn’t find much. Doesn’t look like Robin Borg is going to be the next Bjorn Borg. Of course some of these retired Kings and Legends might have children that won’t be found by a simple internet search!

Anyway, I see this teaming of Ivan and Roger as very positive. As far as an effort to run down Nole? No, more like motivation and inspiration to enjoy another year competing well enough to remain top ten. Ivan Ljubicic has always struck me as a well grounded, bright, and good soul.

December 12th, 2015 at 12:15 pm

Jalep

Agree with most of your view – but Roger does not strike me as a player who will be satisfied with a 3rd place ranking (as is at moment)- he’s good enuf to retain that (or close) without new inspiration??? He’s after more “history” – including mixed, male doubles and singles at Rio……..and even more….

December 12th, 2015 at 3:27 pm

I’m surprised so many people think hiring Ljubicic is such a great idea. Doesn’t really make much sense. Surely has nothing to do with Djokovic.
Some people don’t even know if he is about to coach or merely a hitting partner. Personally, I believe Ljubicic has way too much respect for Roger to tell him what he needs to do. It’s different with a younger player. Just my opinion though.

December 13th, 2015 at 9:34 am

Yeah, I’m not sure about the reasoning of hiring for a coach a player who is almost of your own generation and whom he’s thrashed time and again while he was still competing on the ATP tour.

What’s Federer’s H2H vs Ljubičić?

December 13th, 2015 at 9:31 pm