New No. 1 Federer To Face Dimitrov For Rotterdam Title

by Staff | February 17th, 2018, 9:19 pm
  • 34 Comments

Newly minted No. 1 Roger Federer will face Grigor Dimitrov for the Rotterdam title on Sunday.

Federer won his 11th straight match of 2018 beating Andreas Seppi 6-3, 7-6(3).

Standing in his way of a 97th title is Dimitrov who advanced when David Goffin retired down a set after a ball freakishly ricocheted off is racquet hitting his eye.


“We had such a great battle,” Dimitrov said. “Playing David always excites me and I always like to compete against him… just very unfortunate today.”

Federer has won all six meetings against “Baby Fed” Dimitrov.

“He is in great form,” Federer said of the Bulgarian. “He had a wonderful season last year. He started solid again this year, so I think he is fresh, ready and eager to go. I enjoy playing against Grigor.

“I am going to have to try to play aggressive, to play my game and then hope for the best.”

In New York, Sam Querrey will meet either Kevin Anderson or Kei Nishikori in the final. And in Buenos Aires, following a win over Gael Monfils, Dominic Thiem takes on Aljaz Bedene in that final.


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34 Comments for New No. 1 Federer To Face Dimitrov For Rotterdam Title

skeezer Says:

HR’s nightmare; two Feds in the final.

February 17th, 2018 at 10:15 pm


j-kath Says:

Careful, Skeezer…..One of them’s going to win….

February 18th, 2018 at 5:31 am


Willow Says:

Nice words from Rafa to Fed ;-)

February 18th, 2018 at 6:46 am


skeezer Says:

Fed up an early break on Dimi, serving 2-1

February 18th, 2018 at 9:58 am


skeezer Says:

Federer actually playing quicker off the strokes than Dimi so far, wow. 4-2

February 18th, 2018 at 10:01 am


skeezer Says:

Double break Fed! 5-2 serving….apparently Fed has never left the one from last match….so far.

February 18th, 2018 at 10:05 am


Daniel Says:

Fed’s on fire.

February 18th, 2018 at 10:06 am


Daniel Says:

Second serve ace, that is his confidence right now.

February 18th, 2018 at 10:07 am


Giles Says:

Fed playing a strawberry ice lolly.

February 18th, 2018 at 10:10 am


skeezer Says:

First set in the bag for Fed. Let’s see if Dimi steps it up. I would suspect so….

February 18th, 2018 at 10:11 am


Van orten Says:

Dimitrov bothered by something .. easy win for fed this will be

February 18th, 2018 at 10:13 am


skeezer Says:

Betcha he has blisters, at least the way grimaced looked that way. Funny thing about blisters, you can move around on them but they hurt like H@ll.

February 18th, 2018 at 10:31 am


Van orten Says:

Sky high confidence

February 18th, 2018 at 10:31 am


skeezer Says:

@Daniel
Did you mention earlier that if Fed wins this he is guaranteed #1 @ IW?

February 18th, 2018 at 10:33 am


Daniel Says:

Another title, crowing the #1 achievement this week. 12-0 on the season, Title 97. 100 almost sure this year and Connors records within range.

Now let’s see if he plays Dubai, this week was relatively easy, playing on his terms, or rest to IW where he will play only March 10th or 11th.

February 18th, 2018 at 10:38 am


Van orten Says:

I would play Dubai , Indian Wells to win them both and then see what’s left in the tank in Miami and then chill till Stuttgart …

February 18th, 2018 at 10:41 am


skeezer Says:

Congrats Maestro. Another notch in the belt. 98th title!
If he keeps healthy, he may now have a real shot @ 109?

February 18th, 2018 at 10:41 am


Daniel Says:

Yeah Skeeze.

Even of he doesn’t play Dubai and Nadal wins Acapulco Fed will be #1 entering IW, so he has 4 more weeks guarantee to 306 weeks.

Points tomorrow:
– Fed 10105
– Nadal 9760

Removing Dubai form Fed (45) and Acapulco form Nadal 300)

They will be add the end of next week.
– Fed 10060
– Nadal 9460

So even if Nadal wins 500 in Acapulco he can not reach Fed.

February 18th, 2018 at 10:41 am


skeezer Says:

Vo,
Sound plan. I would agree,

February 18th, 2018 at 10:42 am


Daniel Says:

Agree Van Orter, he should play Dubai as well, to increase his points, a court favors his game, filed will not be too heavy there. IF Nadal loses eery in Acapulco and Fed goes deep in Dubai he can buffer his points and keep the #1 ranking for more weeks. Off course, all depending on their IW/Miami. But even so, get the points now and play while he is on this streak and form.
Rest during clay.

February 18th, 2018 at 10:44 am


j-kath Says:

Skeezer: The real Fed. won. Congrats to you and Fedfans. It wasn’t even close. As for Fed at No. 1 – he will retain it until his closest rival wins more points in advance of IW 2018 i.e. still is Rafa…. Plus Roger may play Dubai to consolidate his position.

February 18th, 2018 at 10:45 am


skeezer Says:

j-kath,
Lol. I knew a Fed was going to win. Didn’t matter.

February 18th, 2018 at 10:52 am


Humble Rafa Says:

I would also like to play against injured players at Wimbledon, AO, minor tournaments etc.

#karma

February 18th, 2018 at 10:55 am


jatin Says:

Great win for fed :) Congrts to all the fellow fed fans.
I don’t want fed to play dubai though as it is so near to IW and Miami. Playing 3 tournaments in a row might be too much for him. Plus, defending sunshine double is more important.
And I am not even sure if fed skips Clay court season this year as he indicated in his recent interview that he might play light clay schedule. I would love to see THIS fed on clay. He used to be a great clay courter in his time.
Anyway, its fed’s decision to make at the end the day and us fans are happy either way as long as he is fit and playing well.

Fed’s long time fitness coach Pierre Paganini explained it the best.

“It not because he [Federer] has no chance at the French Open. He needs to pace himself and avoid too much risk to his postoperative knee.
The advantage when you play on clay for the joints is there is less shock because there is the slide, and the disadvantage on hard courts is there is that shock,” he said. “But the advantage on hard courts is that the shock is brief. It’s bang and the foot leaves the ground and a player who is as coordinated and a dancer like Federer, he crushes his joints a bit less at that bad moment.

“In contrast, the disadvantage with the slide on clay is that in the joints there is a lot of vibration. We don’t see it from the outside, but to control this slide there is instability in the knee, the foot, the ankle. And that in some cases can be bad for the knee or joint in question.”

February 18th, 2018 at 11:17 am


rognadfan Says:

Wow!, was almost certain to see a twitter link from Giles!. A little too predictable now.

February 18th, 2018 at 11:44 am


rognadfan Says:

Congratulations to the Maestro for yet another title.But Dimitrov was pretty subpar, plus he appeared to be injured in the second set.
Regardless, his game as a whole is actually a type of fed’s game with substantially less sting. So, there was hardly any hope for him on this one.
Good overall tournament for Grigor nonetheless.

February 18th, 2018 at 11:49 am


Giles Says:

^^^ Well, someonehas to keep you up to date with what’s being tweeted!

February 18th, 2018 at 11:50 am


skeezer Says:

And from you same source Giles:
“Damn! 8 of Federer’s last 8 opponents were younger than him 😜🤣😬”
And from the source you rely so much on for your information:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/02/08/twitter-executive-on-fake-news-we-are-not-the-arbiters-of-truth/?utm_term=.5ea34a1e36da

February 18th, 2018 at 12:24 pm


rognadfan Says:

^^Ok…Very well..Public service with a prejudiced position.

Be careful on that tho, twitter has been radicalizing people day and night. I know for a while that you’re right on the edge. ;) I don’t know about others but I personally don’t want to see someone’s good intentions take wrong turns.

February 18th, 2018 at 12:28 pm


the_mind_reels Says:

Congrats on another title! What a way to cap off this historic week.

Dimitrov did pull up at one point early in the second set, but his movement through the first was excellent, and he threw the kitchen sink at Federer. Federer showed why his game is so complete, just sustaining the onslaught from Dimitrov until the errors started to creep in…and then he capitalized and ran away with it. Not a huge surprise, as others have said.

Given his performance in this 500-tournament relative to last year (Dubai), Federer is ahead of himself by winning in Rotterdam, so it seems to me the decision is whether to play Dubai and consider not playing Miami, or skip Dubai and try to defend the Sunshine Double again.

Others have said it here, but the field isn’t particularly deep in Dubai, so he could likely make a deep run there. Too much conjecture at this point, so we’ll just have to wait to see what he says ;)

For now, enjoy the W, fellow Fed fans!

February 18th, 2018 at 12:30 pm


rognadfan Says:

Ok last post was for Giles!

February 18th, 2018 at 12:30 pm

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