Roger Federer Talks Wimbedon, Talks Rolex

While most tennis players come off as uneducated and not really “smart” [you know IQ wise and tennis history wise], federer seems like he might be GOAT of tennis players in IQ/tennis history.

I wish someone could test their IQs and rank them. I think fed will surely be in the top 1%.

June 23rd, 2012 at 3:37 pm

What kind of a comment is that, “most tennis players come off as uneducated”. That comment would rank you at about the 2nd% in terms of stupid comments. There are a whole slew of intelligences, and different people have different strengths and weaknesses. If I were you I wouldn’t be making blanket statements about people you don’t even know.

June 23rd, 2012 at 5:31 pm

For Federer fans, some articles on Roger:

Wimbledon 2012: Roger Federer here to stay as the Swiss tennis master prepares to claim another grand slam
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/tennis/wimbledon/9351567/Wimbledon-2012-Roger-Federer-here-to-stay-as-the-Swiss-tennis-master-prepares-to-claim-another-grand-slam.html

Federer the pied piper of Wimbledon
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/federer-pied-piper-wimbledon-191604219–ten.html

SI’s Jon Wertheim Wimbledon men’s seed report
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/tennis/news/20120622/wimbledon-2012-mens-seed-report/

Federer has sights set on record-tying 7th Wimbledon title
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jun/23/federer-has-sights-set-record-tying-7th-wimbledon-/

Federer feeling in fine fettle as Swiss star aims to secure seventh Wimbledon title
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis/article-2163588/Wimbledon-2012-Roger-Federer-feeling-fine-fettle.html

It’s confirmed: Federer is the GOAT of blue clay until at least 2013. ATP says no blue clay in Madrid or any ATP tournament, for 2013 at least
http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2012/06/Features/ATP-Rules-Out-Blue-Clay-For-2013.aspx

Federer is still wasting time and being distracted by the ATP Player Council. Roger was elected by the players for a third two year term until June 2014. At least he’ll be able to put in place Sergiy Stakhovsky, who seems to have been politicking for a place on the Player Council in recent months.
http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2012/06/Features/New-ATP-Player-Council-Elected.aspx

June 23rd, 2012 at 6:55 pm

Anna, IQ tests take everything into consideration. I can assure you that a scientist/lawyer/mba/engineer/doctor would rank comfortably ahead of tennis players or athletes.

If you are dumb enough to think tennis players/athletes are “educated”, be my guest. I am sure there are more criminals/law-breakers in sports than most professions. most of these players are stupid and I know more about the history of their profession than most of them (i am sure i can include a lot of tennis writers too)

If you think it takes more “intelligence” to be a sportsman than a scientist, then you are the one who is being stupid.

My point was federer comes off as refined and his IQ must definitely be higher than his peers – specifically nadal. He seems much more knowledgeable than nadal and is aware of the history of the sport as opposed to nadal. If you have a tough time digesting that fact and resort to name calling people who point that out, I will have to stoop to your level and put you where you belong.

If you cannot argue without presenting proofs or getting personal, then STFU! next time, I will reply in your own fu#ked up vocabulary.

June 23rd, 2012 at 10:25 pm

All things aside, I must say federer seems very aware of tennis history. I cannot think of another sportman who is on par with federer in the knowledge of their own sport.

Any other person, people can think of?

June 24th, 2012 at 2:02 am

Edward don’t waste your time with these Rafa trolls like Steve 27 et al. A bunch of no goods

June 24th, 2012 at 4:14 am

you have to love the way this site goes whacko as we near the start of a grandslam. this is only going to get even more wild as things move towards a fedal show down.

if a fedal final happens, you will have to wear protective gear to navigate tennis-x and many other forums.

has to be one of the greatest rivalries in all sports!

June 24th, 2012 at 4:26 am

Allez Fed! please make use of your easy draw and do some big time damage at either Wimbledon or….

Wimbledon again in another months time!

June 24th, 2012 at 4:27 am

Dave :

thanks for the great reads!

Do you have any info on how serious the hip injury is? federer keeps saying he is physically fine, [ he generally doesn’t believe in letting his opponents know he has injuries] but one of my friends who has access to wimbledon inside sources was saying federer’s team thinks he may have to take a long break from the game soon. can you confirm one way or the other?

federer’s never had long breaks from the game for over a decade, but i guess you cannot fight time.

anyone have any more info from reliable insiders? Sean/Ben or any tennis-x reporters?

June 24th, 2012 at 4:41 am

Mr Edwards, your testy response doesn’t lead me to a high view of your own intelligence.
It’s fair enough to say it doesn’t take high intelligence to play sport, but to jump from that to implying that a sportsman is therefore by definition unintelligent is a massive non sequitur.
And “IQ takes everything into consideration” does it?
If only it did. All it really indicates is how good a person is at IQ tests.

June 24th, 2012 at 5:36 am

@colin:

I think if you take your average scientist/doctor or other educated people, they would be more intelligent than your average sportsman/athlete.

I mean one set of people shape the world we live in and another set of people perform for us when we pay money. Is it that tough to see who is the smarter set of people?

you may not like the poster because he doesn’t support your favorite, but you are making a very flimsy argument and on top of that you are questioning the other person who has made a more sensible point!

intelligence and nastyness are 2 independent and different quantities. einstein was a total whacko, but there is no questioning his intelligence.

June 24th, 2012 at 5:51 am

colin says ” All it really indicates is how good a person is at IQ tests.”

You cannot be intelligent and not good at IQ tests.

The I in IQ stands for intelligence, FYI

June 24th, 2012 at 5:54 am

You can question my intelligence and I can question yours. Let us avoid all that.

Scientists are smarter/intelligent/wiser than sportsmen. It does not mean ALL scientists are smart or that ALL sportsmen are not well-read.

However, my point was Federer is very tennis-history savvy compared to his peers. He has sometimes even corrected journalists regarding some score in a match gone by.

Can you think of tennis athletes/ sportsmen with similar knowledge about their sport?

June 24th, 2012 at 6:17 am

noogie :

i got a lot of names for them raf@tards, nadull nuts, rabid rafa-fans and i can suggest some more. you can try bu77-digal and bu77-pickal for nadal and even replace bu77 with @$$.

let me know if you want more names for these clowns!

June 24th, 2012 at 6:20 am

Swiss Maestro :

Dont worry about federer injuries. One of the articles Dave linked to talks about federer being super organised. Federer’s fitness is stuff of legends. no retirements mid-match. 2 walk overs in 1000+ matches.

51 slams on the trot without withdrawals.

Have faith in his planning. It has worked like magic for the last 10 years and it will not shock me if federer does a connors and plays till he is 39 or 40.

June 24th, 2012 at 7:03 am

Roger’s comments needs to be taken like a pinch of salt. When he talks super confident, typically it means there is something wrong in his mindset. Either he is not feeling physically fine or lacks confidence.

It’s obvious he lacks confidence when he plays Nadal or Novak in GS. I think he genuinely thinks they are much better than him in 5-setters.

June 24th, 2012 at 9:33 am

Nirmal, you make some of the most negative, critical comments I read here about roger- and you say you are a big fed fan? A lot of staunch rafa supporters give him more benefit of the doubt than you do. And I understand that sometimes the people you like more, you expect more out of and are therefore more critical, but your comments are hopeless! its almost as if roger offended you, how you come down on him. Trust me, he offends us all with his losing up two sets/ having two match points, shanksalot, etc., but I would hope you would keep supporting positively.

June 24th, 2012 at 11:45 am

@Dari: LMAO- about time a fed fan picked up on that! I always thought Nirmal was a nadal fan, always with a nice comment about rafa and his chances for success, until he mentioned he was a big fed fan! was left scratching my head in disbelief at that one! Lol, for a fed fan he is VERY dismissive of his fav and his chances.

June 24th, 2012 at 11:54 am

Nirmal Kumar Says:

“It’s obvious (Federer) lacks confidence when he plays Nadal or Novak in GS. I think he genuinely thinks they are much better than him in 5-setters.”

_______________________________________________________________

True. How else to explain his utter failure against Djokovic at The French Open two weeks ago. Federer broke the Djokovic Serve three times in the 2nd Set, and lost the set 7-5. It’s as though each of them was saying, “You know, YOU play Nadal Sunday, I’ll pass”. “No, No that’s OK..YOU play him Sunday, I have Wimbledon on my mind.” Watching their French Open SF was like watching any garden variety WTA Tour match – the women are notorious for being unable to hold Serve.

The problem for Federer now is that as he gets older, it’s not so much “injuries” that will compromise him as it will be the recovery time from one match to the next, and even one tournament to the next. The muscles don’t bounce back to optimum condition as quickly, so the aches, pains and stiffness linger longer than they do when you’re 25 or 26. That can limit mobility by 5%, and against Nadal or Djokovic it’s 5% too much to give away. Ironically, Federer has more success in Majors against Djokovic than Nadal, and you’d think it’d be the other way around. This year in Australia you could see the writing on the wall for Federer in his SF with Nadal. In a Best of Five match, Federer is the one with less margin for error. He has to strike first, and fast, and it’s just hard to put away a guy like Nadal in any quick fashion. Nadal gives up too few errors. In Australia Federer raced out to a 4-1 lead in the first set, only to see Nadal claw his way back to force the tiebreak, which Federer gutted out. But at what cost physically? Plenty. Federer dropped the next set 2-6. The Nadal constriction against Federer is as easy as basic arithmetic to see: Nadal’s low errors relentlessly force Federer into a smaller and smaller corner of having to keep hitting Winners without his own errors to compensate for Nadal’s lack of errors and higher margin of safety. Federer’s Backhand doesn’t force Nadal into difficult positions often enough (Djokovic at his best can do that more often on the BH). Federer can’t hit a high-enough positive number of Winners-to-Errors in a Best of Five match to compensate for Nadal’s High Margin Low Error Count. Federer’s face in Australia told the story after he lost in 4 sets. You could see that this years was the time he really believed he was finally gonna get the better of Nadal at a Major other than Wimbledon because he was playing SO well since the last year’s US Open. And again, he couldn’t manage it. The matchup against a guy like Nadal just doesn’t work out well for Federer when he has to win that 3rd Set in a match. Nadal is just too consistent. And as Federer gets older, the task won’t get easier.

June 24th, 2012 at 12:07 pm

Federer also made embarrassingly stupid mistakes on the big points in the Australian semifinal, fit or not.

June 24th, 2012 at 12:22 pm

“I am dreaming of the title. There’s no denying that,’ said Federer.

Keep dreaming Fed….you can definitely win a relevant/meaningful title…in your dreams.

June 24th, 2012 at 1:29 pm

i dont think nadal is even capable of dreaming about winning a title on other surface. maybe he should just start playing challengers on other surfaces.

if federer doesn’t stop novak, i am sure djokovic will become the 1st player to defend wimbledon since fed in 2007 – we all know rafa can never beat novak again outside clay.

June 24th, 2012 at 1:44 pm

“i dont think nadal is even capable of dreaming about winning a title on other surface”
Yes…sure…Nadal is not capable of dreaming…dreams are only meant for fed and fed tards.
Nadal has beaten Federer on clay, grass and HC but not on dreams.

June 24th, 2012 at 1:50 pm

Ben Pronin Says:
Federer also made embarrassingly stupid mistakes on the big points in the Australian semifinal, fit or not.

June 24th, 2012 at 12:22 pm

Ben, true enough. Same goes for novak, nadal, murray, tsonga, berdych, dolgopolov, and the rest of the whole tennis world..and the biggest of ’em all, dear old Ernie. When is that boy going to get it together? Such a waste!

How incredible would it be if Gulbis played Dolgopolov in the final?

June 24th, 2012 at 1:55 pm

i just hope the clown doesnt pick his butt atleast in his dreams!

June 24th, 2012 at 2:12 pm

I hope Rafa picks his bu&& deeper and deeper and remain a pain in the a$$ for fed and fed tards.

June 24th, 2012 at 2:17 pm

And New York Times: “…with Wimbledon beginning Monday, the lure of Federer’s enduringly elegant game and blockbuster tennis résumé remains powerful. Insiders like the former Wimbledon champion John McEnroe and the top-flight coach Darren Cahill are still picking Federer to win, ahead of the defending champion, Novak Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal…”
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/24/sports/tennis/at-wimbledon-federer-can-prove-hes-still-no-1.html

British newspaper Daily Star: “John McEnroe is tipping Roger Federer to reclaim his Wimbledon throne… SW19 legend McEnroe is ­convinced Federer is in great shape ahead of this year’s Championships – and can record a super 17th Grand Slam success. Three-time Wimbledon winner Mac, who will be working for the BBC once again, said: “I’m picking Federer to win at Wimbledon. It’s still his best chance to win another Major. “Roger is a much better athlete than people give him credit for. “He wants to win it so badly and the Wimbledon crowd always root for him – so these ­factors, I believe, will help him win it.”

Swiss Maestro: You’re welcome. I don’t have any news on the hip injury and it’s impossible to validate the rumors. Yes, as experts like Jim Courier and others have pointed out, it’s Federer’s job not to give his competitors too much info on his injuries — throughout his career he has usually claimed he is feeling 100% even when he was injured. Some players, on the other hand, often exaggerate the extent of their injuries even though they have not had a single surgery.

I think Federer over-relies on conventional treatments for his body more than (to their credit) Djokovic and Nadal whose bigger teams are willing to complement his treatments with alternative therapies. I think that’s why Roger frequently gets colds and flus and his back injury took so long to get somewhat under control. [I’m pretty sure I know therapies that can fix his hip, back and immune problems but he and his team seem too stuck in their outdated methods. For a Swiss guy with a French physio — from two countries with advanced alternative therapies, that’s such a waste.]

June 24th, 2012 at 4:24 pm

Dave, I always enjoy reading your posts, you know that, but I think you should give his French physio a lot more credit, particularly when you read his resume, and the fact that he was one of 7 full time physios for the ATP for some time, before Fed was able to “lure” him away to work for him on a personal basis, for the last 3 years.

Of course, he is French, and the french lead the rest of the world in terms of research into medicines – Stéphane Vivier, has made sure that Federer is in the finest physical shape every time he plays. If anything was certain to nail the suggestion that Federer is thinking of slowing down after winning 16 grand-slam singles titles – he has to play this incredibly important role in his team.

Not only that, Vivier will know all there is to know about both traditional and complimentary medicines and no one, not even you, will know exactly what he is doing to maintain his body in tip top shape.

Vivier has probably prolonged Federer’s career by a good 3-4 years due to his practices and expertise.

The best way to fix a hip is to not only rest it, take supplements, take things to “oil” the joints, glucosamine, cod liver oil in larger quantities for athletes and anti inflammatories, all of which will be approved by the ATP’s doctor and so many of the athletes, if not all of them carry some sort of injury, they just play through it because they are used to it. Federer is no different, but he has the best physio out there and he knows it.

June 24th, 2012 at 5:04 pm

if federer doesn’t stop novak, i am sure djokovic will become the 1st player to defend wimbledon since fed in 2007 – we all know rafa can never beat novak again outside clay.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Jane made a very intelligent post the other day regarding this. On grass it would be the most neutral match for them. On hard Djokoivc is clearly better and on clay Nadal is clearly better.

June 24th, 2012 at 5:08 pm

It’s surprising to see the high number of predictions for Federer to win Wimbledon this year. He hasn’t won a Major in over 2 years, and has only been to 1 Major Final since he won in Australia in 2010. So there has to be the feeling that Djokovic won’t be up to winning a meeting with Federer should they meet in the SF here. It would be their first ever meeting on grass, but since Djokovic has also won here it’s not as though the surface favors one guy over the other. Federer has a 1-4 record to Djokovic in their last 5 meetings in Grand Slam events. And as for Nadal, Federer hasn’t beaten him in a Best of Five match since Wimbledon 2007. Moreover, it’s been that long since he’s even had to play either of them at Wimbledon. For all the talk about Federer winning this in 2012, it’s worth remembering that this is the Major where he’s underperformed the most in the last two years, losing in the Quarters both times (to Berdych in 2010 and Tsonga last year). Those who pick him are evidently of the opinion that he’s either now ready to beat BOTH Djokovic and Nadal in a Best of Five Set match (he’s 1-4 against Djokovic since the end of 2009 and 0-5 against Nadal since 2007 in Majors), or that both Djokovic and Nadal will fall before their seedings and leave the way clear for Federer to win.

Chris Evert once said a long match on grass is more physically demanding on your body than a long match on clay because of all the bending you have to do. The low bouncing ball is hell on your back and hamstrings. And Federer has had a back issue for the last 3 years that can flare up at any time. If Federer actually has to meet both Djokovic and Nadal here – and then manage to beat BOTH of them – then you’d have to say it would be the single greatest triumph he’s had. But given that he’s 1-9 against them both in the last 10 Majors he’s played them, the odds look clearly against him.

June 24th, 2012 at 9:26 pm

dari says : Nirmal, you make some of the most negative, critical comments I read here about roger- and you say you are a big fed fan?

Ok, so as per you, we should hype Roger’s chance by 1M times than reality if you are a fan. I just can’t do that. I write what I see on the tournaments.

As a fan of Roger, unfortunately I’m content with what he has done. I don’t expect him to do anything more like his other fans want. As long as he plays tennis, I will enjoy him.

But as a tennis fan, I would give my opinions based on current scenario in tennis, not based on what Roger did in 2007 or 2006. Don’t expect me to remember 2007 victory and hope Roger is going to win in 2012 because of that. I would like to see what happened in last 2 years. That’s more relevant when you analyse the GS chances.

There are few / many tennis players pick Roger to win Wimbledon, but I remember they picked Roger for last 2 years. They were pretty much 100% sure he is going to win Wimbledon last year. But in the end, it’s irrelevant. Great players do not necessarily make great predictions.

June 25th, 2012 at 12:18 am

I guess Nirmal Kumar is a Rafa fan in disguise. A true Federer fan should worship the God of tennis at all costs and bad mouth every other player who has a chance of winning majors or beating Federer.

June 25th, 2012 at 12:44 am

I guess Nirmal Kumar is a Rafa fan in disguise.

RFF, there is no disguise. I’m a Rafa fan too. Just that I’m a bigger fan of Roger compared to Rafa.

June 25th, 2012 at 1:04 am

nirmal kumar is one of those rare federer fans whose IQ is in the league of raf@tards, rat p00p, a piece of rock, a dead frog and other similarly “intelligent” creatures/objects.

he needs to be treated with respect. he’s a one of a kind.

June 25th, 2012 at 2:45 am

I think Roger is fine and not injured at all.
It only came about by his not so good Garros run.

The way he played Garros and the final of Halle was almost 1 shot tennis.

He tried to make it quick an dirty. If it clicks it clicks. Of course he tried his utmost best to beat everyone. It is a slam but he did not fullie comitted himself to go into a body and mind draining tourney. The eyes were on a bigger price. Mentally and fysically. In the Halle final that was so obvious he really wanted to beat Raonic and get a feal for his serve etc. But in the final he played that one almost as a exho.

No he enters wWimbly with a fully filled tank not like last year when he needed to regroupe and skip Halle for obvious reasons.

Djoker is off his 2011 form, Nadal has peaked at Garros and his game was suited to hold Garros and not to expand beyond clay.

June 25th, 2012 at 2:47 am

kimberly :

you and jane are one of a kind. you have absolutely no courage to call a spade a spade. you guys are too busy pleasing other people that you try to fool your selves.

anyway who has seen tennis in the past 18 months knows there is no way rafa is beating djokovic outside clay and equally, there is no way rafa is winning a title outside clay. not even a grandslam, masters or even 500. at this point, rafa would surprise most non-rafat@rds if he even wins a 250 tournament outside clay.

you can fool yourselves back-scratching each other – you complimenting novak and jane complimenting rafa, but the truth is there to be seen.

novak djokovic will never lose another match to rafa outside clay. if he does, it will be the greatest achievement of rafa’s life!

June 25th, 2012 at 2:51 am

Sienna :

Please dont offend TRUE federer fans and absolute rafat@rds like Nirmal Kumar and RFF with your praise of Roger.

Please assure them that he will never win another slam in his life. Please, I really insist.

Please also tell them that people who regularly cheat and abuse rules and creepily slavish to their uncles are the real tennis heroes! please!

June 25th, 2012 at 2:55 am

AE, I take your comment as complement. Thank you.

Also I saw a nice comment from you regarding Rafa. As per you Rafa cannot win Wimbledon because he did not win GS outside clay. But you expect Roger to win GS, when he has not reached any GS finals outside clay for past 2 years.

This is how a great Roger fan should comment. Congrats!!

June 25th, 2012 at 4:56 am

Dave and mad max, thanks for the info. As effortless as federer makes tennis look, I am sure 1000 matches must really be a lot of wear and tear.

Even sampras did not play 1000 matches and he won the most no. of cheap points off the serve than any multiple slam winner I can think off.

Let us hope Federer keeps playing on like jimbo did!

June 25th, 2012 at 9:54 am

Nims:

Are you plain dumb or are you pretending to be one. i never know with you raf@t@rds!

June 25th, 2012 at 9:59 am

AE,

You think a smart person will respond to your comments. you guessed it right.

June 25th, 2012 at 10:26 am

Swiss Maestro: Jimmy Connors won his fifth slam at the 1978 US Open at age 26. Then Connors failed to win any slam for four years as Borg and McEnroe dominated the three most important slams (Connors, McEnroe and Borg did not take part in the Australian Open between 1975 and 1982). After 14 slams without winning, Connors finally won his sixth slam two months before his 30th birthday, when he won 1982 Wimbledon. Connors went on to win his seventh slam at 1978 US Open just after his 30th birthday and his eight slam the 1983 US Open at age 31. So Connors is one precedent for Federer to emulate.

*****

Madmax: Federer had worked with Gary Hamilton, an Australian masseur (gives just massage, not deeper physio therapy), I think from 2007 to 2009. Federer had suffered from a relapse of his back injury by Fall 2008 (which I suspect was probably due to his over-reliance of his serve to help his game during that 2008 mono year, when other parts of his game were compromised). It took the super-rich Federer over a year of recurring back problems before he finally decided to move up a step from a masseur to a physiotherapist in October/November 2009.

I’m sorry to say this but your prescription to fix a hip is out of the 1980s: “The best way to fix a hip is to not only rest it, take supplements, take things to “oil” the joints, glucosamine, cod liver oil in larger quantities for athletes and anti inflammatories.” That’s not the best way, as there are far more effective things than glucosamine and cod liver oil as complementary treatment options today.

Thus you do not seem to know what you are talking about when you claimed ““Vivier will know all there is to know about both traditional and complimentary medicines… Federer is no different, but he has the best physio out there and he knows it.” I can say with confidence that Vivier is not anywhere near the best physio out there and that he is definitely not an expert on complementary medicines. If Vivier was, Federer probably would not have gotten pneumonia in Spring 2010 (or several colds and flus since then) and he probably would have recovered much faster from his injuries – or not even had them in the first place.

Have you actually read Stephane Vivier’s resume, or even his qualifications? Just saying that Stephane Vivier “was one of 7 full time physios for the ATP for some time” does not mean much. Do you honestly think the ATP has any of the world’s top 100 physios? Or that tennis players have such unique injuries that a top physio from outside tennis can’t deal with it?

Forbes estimates Federer to be the fifth richest sportsman in the history of sports – he has an estimated wealth of over $350 million today. He can afford to put together a team of the world’s best health specialists to care for his body (from physio to integrated doctors). He hasn’t. Despite his portrayal of being a planner who is forward thinking, Federer has sometimes been fairly reactive and even sloppy with how he has dealt with some of his health issues. His back issue had been recurring for many years, and even flared up in Doha this year. The Djokovic and Nadal camps have taken more impressive steps in this regard.

January 2010 interview:
Q: You’re 28 and you can’t recover as fast as before. Is it why you hired Stephane Vivier, a French physio?
RF: He’s from Marseille on top of that! (he laughs) It’s true that your age matters. Until this season, I always had masseurs, and I wanted to work with a physio. He had worked a long time with the ATP and I didn’t want people to think that I was stealing him, like ‘Sorry guys, but I’m Federer. Now he’s mine’. I think everybody took it well.
Q: What do you mean by ‘working more precisely’?
RF: When you’re young, you don’t warm up. You play on your PlayStation and when you’re called to play the match, you leave. Now, I consistently take a 10-minutes muscle warm-up right before the match. I strengthen my back nearly every day because I’ve had problems in the past. I’ve always felt my back wasn’t strong enough.

June 25th, 2012 at 2:33 pm

Dave,

Chill.

Yes, I have read the interview and I also heard one on BBC 2 years about Vivier and his appointment to the federer camp. At the time, I think it was David Lloyd who commented on his list of qualifications, his experience and the like. I will try to find it in archives for you.

I disagree with you on this point. He is one of the best, if not THE best physio on the ATP circuit. We will just have to agree to disagree.

June 25th, 2012 at 3:04 pm

The tennis players who speak multiple languages and do press conferences often in something else than their mother tongue come off as uneducated… how odd? LOL!

And then putting lawyers in the same class as scientists in the IQ department… that’s just the cherry on the sundae.

“I am sure there are more criminals/law-breakers in sports than most professions.”

Well being sure is about half the work right?

June 25th, 2012 at 11:46 pm

. Had there not been a nadal, men’s tennis would have been an unwatchable bore for 6 straight years. Rafa literally saved men’s tennis. There will never be another rivalry as intense or fantastic as these two in any sport.

June 27th, 2012 at 1:24 am

“He seems much more knowledgeable than nadal and is aware of the history of the sport as opposed to nadal. “

@Anthony Edwards – I am not generally a betting woman, though I am a FEDAL fan, but I would bet real money you are fluent in neither Spanish, nor Catalan.

Because if you were, and count yourself a tennis fan, you would have been able to listen to some of Rafa’s interviews in Spanish directly contravening the statement you made … and with luck, you might then have realized *before* even making a comment like that how utterly ridiculous it sounds.

(For the record, both Roger and Rafa are students of tennis history, but it’s David Ferrer who is the real “reader” on the ATP tour.)

July 7th, 2012 at 12:57 pm