Roger Federer: “There’s Obviously A Lot On The Line For Me In Terms Of Winning (Sunday)” [Video]

Roger is a bit subdued compared to his FO 11 victory. Maybe he is eyeing bigger prize now, since this is Wimbledon he would be fancying his chance more here compared to FO against Rafa.

July 6th, 2012 at 2:56 pm

No. 1 Djokovic’s loss leaves him with 11,000 points on Monday (because of the points he has to defend he essentially is a lame duck No. 1 unless Federer suffers a massive collapse from Wimbledon final to US Open final). If Federer wins the final he will have 11,075 points and will be the new World No. 1 with the most prestigious grand slam title in his hands. If Federer loses the final he will have 10,275 points and will be No.2 ahead of Nadal (with 8,905 points). Given that Federer only has 990 points to defend in Canada, Cincinnati and US Open – while Djokovic has 3,600 points and Nadal 1,390 points to defend – Federer has the opportunity to gain more points over his rivals over the summer. Furthermore the Olympics offers an additional 750 ranking points to the winner.
http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2012/07/27/Wimbledon-Thursday2-Diary.aspx

Federer is on the cusp of regaining the No. 1 ranking and Wimbledon title (it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t make it, because he has already proven his case). I said — probably 7 months ago here (if not elsewhere) – that this scenario was highly plausible based on cold facts and logic, despite the ridicule of those refused to consider the possibility because they had limited themselves to a two-horse race between Djokovic and Nadal. Tennis history has shown time and time again that this is possible.

Federer at almost age 31 validates why he is truly the Greatest Tennis Player Of All Time… and why pundits are premature to talk of the pretenders Djokovic and Nadal as potential GOATs. This match shows one major difference between Federer and Djokovic and Nadal: Federer in his prime was able to handle the pressure of being and remaining the No. 1 and defending his major titles; both Djokovic and Nadal lack that critical ability. As well, Federer in his prime withstood every challenge thrown at him by lesser players in earlier rounds to reach the finals time and time again. Federer in his prime won grand slam titles at a pace quicker than any man or woman in tennis history. And Federer in his prime defended his No. 1 ranking for a record 237 straight weeks, while both Nadal and Djokovic in their prime seem unable to defend their No. 1 ranking. If they fail to remain at the summit of the rankings, how can any pundit argue they should be GOATs?

What Federer has done over the past year at this age against this generation of players in their prime validates everything Federer had accomplished in his own prime. Regardless of what happens in gthe final, no pundit or Federer-hating poster is ever again entitled to criticize Federer or doubt what he might still achieve in future. Most pundits picked the wrong guy (Nadal) at the start of the tournament… the when he was knocked out in the second round, they again picked the wrong guy (Djokovic). At least Tignor got it right the second time around.

The pressure of defending the No. 1 ranking, defending the prestigious Wimbledon title and reaching another major final got to Djokovic’s head and legs. And no doubt facing the Grand Master of Grass Federer — just as facing the Grand Master of Clay Nadal did to him in Roland Garros – added to Novak’s mental anxiety. It was this mental tension that contributed to Djokovic “struggling with his own game—his footing, his movement, his forehand, even his defense”. Against lesser players Djokovic had moved well, returned well and played well on grass, but was unable to do so against Federer. In this match it was Federer who showed superior mental strength when it mattered most – despite an avoidable mental lapse to drop serve early in the second set.

Djokovic showed what his limits are on grass: he could not raise his game much above what he had shown against Florian Mayer, Ryan Harrison and Radek Stepanek. On the other hand, the champion in Federer was able to step up in level from even what he had played against Youzhny and Fognini. By the third set The Mighty Federer appeared — just as he had done against Nadal at Indian Wells and the World Tour Finals — to smother Djokovic.

Finally. kudos to Djokovic for taking his loss like a man and not resorting to cheap gamesmanship ploys such as calling for a medical timeout in the hope it will disrupt Federer’s rhythm. He will be back.

July 6th, 2012 at 3:01 pm

Great post Dave.

I feel the confidence of Roger is now so high that Murray really has no chance. May be a set but Roger is stepping up at this moment.
Probably will ride the wave all along the olympic and Us Open.

July 6th, 2012 at 3:13 pm

Don’t count Murray out.. I think he’ll spring a surprise..

July 6th, 2012 at 3:17 pm

Sienna, yeah Federer’s confidence is highfor the next few months, whatever happens on Sunday.

But Roger had better focus on and prepare for Sunday’s final, and not let anything distract him or take Murray lightly. Fed is not just playing Murray on Sunday, he is also playing Ivan Lendl. I said some months back that it would take at least 6 months for a new coaching relationship to work for Murray or any tip player — and Murray seems to have improved. Lendl is not to be underestimated — he is very smart, has practical experience and has thought about how to win Wimbledon for a long time. Federer will probvably be favorite for Sunday’s match, but it may be a more open match than expected.

July 6th, 2012 at 3:30 pm

Great post Dave……Even Voicemale ( or Voicemail ?) – another great poster – posted that Nadal would win this Wimbledon.

July 6th, 2012 at 3:34 pm

Lendl can only do so much. It’s Murray that has to actually “play” on Sunday. Just like Roger’s coach, Paul. Who knows what’s going to happen on Sunday. Personally, I hope Roger comes through. But this tournament has been a surprise. I bet 99% of the posters her probably claimed that Roger had no shot against Novak today. So sure…Murray has a shot against Roger on Sunday, but I hope Roger finds a way to win.

In the meantime congratulations on all the Murray fans her on him reaching his first Wimbledon final.

July 6th, 2012 at 3:47 pm

Mr. Lady Forehand is looking at $150 million windfall if he wins on Sunday. That can buy a lot of Lendls. Just saying.

July 6th, 2012 at 3:56 pm

Great post Dave. One for the Tennis X archives. So weird how so many Fed haters just disappeared here.
The reason?
“Just win baby” and it answers any / all critics. Fed GOAT.

Novak will be back imo. The guys groundstokes are 2 good. There are fine lines in winning and losing at the top. Not only do you have to be great, consistent, and mentally superior, but you have to navigate through illnesses and injuries. in his career, Fed clearly has been head and shulders above them all.

Btw, has Andy ever played Fed on Grass? Mmmmm…

July 6th, 2012 at 4:25 pm

Believe me I’m no fan of the Balkan bastard but for the life of me I don’t understand his low level of play. Bravo Roger.

July 6th, 2012 at 4:35 pm

Don’t count Murray out.. I think he’ll spring a surprise.
—
LOL. Isn’t that what everyone is afraid of – that he might choke?

July 6th, 2012 at 4:36 pm

Ah!! unbelievable!! federer pulled it off. very happy for him.

July 6th, 2012 at 4:48 pm

My internal dialogue leading up to the men’s final: “Go Federer! No, go Murray! No, I want Federer to win! Scratch that, I want Murray to win! But Federer can get back to #1 and reclaim the GOAT discussion! But Murray can finally get a slam and be the first Brit in years to win Wimbledon!” I’ll just sit back and enjoy the final knowing that no matter who wins, I’ll be happy for him.

July 6th, 2012 at 4:57 pm

Skeezer, this will be the first meeting between Fed and Murray on grass.

July 6th, 2012 at 4:58 pm

Murray is playing more aggressive. But still his primairy reaction is to stay put in the ralleigh.
So I feel perhaps 6 months is to litle to fully give the lendl effect. maybe next year.

Roger for #17.

July 6th, 2012 at 5:20 pm

There is a lot on the line in the bracket challenge on this match:

If Federer wins, amazingly, Roger Federer Fan will not be in last place. And the mind reels will win.

If Murray wins, Dari will win followed by GrandmaJoan and Sweetpatrick. ColinO7 will be beaten by baby Patrick and he will not be happy. GrandmaJoan is very invested in this match but upset Novak lost as she could have claimed first place. She is spurred on by her success and is asking when the next bracket challenge is. LOL.

July 6th, 2012 at 5:34 pm

furthermore.
I always look at the demeanor of a player who wins semi.

Last dutch Finalist Verkerk won semi and he went through his knees. Everytime you see a player reavt after a semi then he will be minced meat in final.
Fed had his last year with indexfknger and I believe I saw a litle Verkerkje within Murray. dropping racquet and holding his hands before eys. He knew he won he said so in interview.

So Lendl better get him focussed again best tonight.

July 6th, 2012 at 5:35 pm

Nothing really changes for Fed one way or the other,whether he wins or looses its all gravy,however if Murray wins everything changes,it will mean the big 3 will be the big 4,a win here will finally cement his status,meaning Rafa and Novak will have Murray as company as well as each other.

July 6th, 2012 at 5:43 pm

Hi everyone, on the coach back from london after having watched both matches today. Just awesome work from roger but novak was not playing his best tennis today, was a joy to see the long rallies between these two greats, roger played extremely well and i think surprised novak with the accuracy of some of his shots. Rogers serve has improved but i think he will have to go one better on sunday. his movement was a lot more fluid, not just that but nivak i think was takrn aback by some of rogers returns and certainly when roger played attacking tennis, his game just fell into place. one spectator shouted out, roger i love you! the crowd started laughing, soon after that, someone called out…roger you ate a genius..a genius…more laughter..then roger promptly midsed the shot! some excellent moments in this match but i felt novaks overall body language today was not as of late and i put that down to him being tired from all his consisyentlly high quality tennis, just needs to rest thats all…now murray was on a tear today, and jo was way too erratic.

July 6th, 2012 at 5:44 pm

just seen what the sky sports experts think and i have to AGREE with them unfortunately- they think its a fed win.

I have to agree with them when they said that basically tsongs was on a ‘mental walkabout’ in set one and two, and set 3, 4 were REALLY CLOSE sets.

They made the point that fed has tsonga’s aggression BUT is more contained and composed- and unfortunately i think that combination is too deadly for andy.

what andy ABSOLUTELY HAS TO DO is be aggressive from the very start- no passive play, extended rallies in which all he is doing is keeping the ball in play- HE HAS TO GO FOR THE WIN.

I think the biggest thing about his 3 slam losses was that he never dared to go all out for the title- here has to.

HE NEEDS TO GO ALL OUT FOR THE WIN!

July 6th, 2012 at 5:45 pm

Roger u are a genius! i meant to say, make no misyake murray played well and was the worthy winner againsr tsonga hope tsonga gets himself a coach, such a fantastic player to watch, so much power but he wasted too many shots; he also could hv taken the fourth set if he wasnt so impatient. Nevertheless, tsonga had to deal with the partisan crowd and he handled that really well. really great olsyer to watch live.

July 6th, 2012 at 5:52 pm

so jamie who will win the final? you were right about the semi.

July 6th, 2012 at 5:55 pm

@Madmax:

congrats on your fav winning- im sure you enjoyed it!

Based on what you saw courtside, do you think the way andy played today would be ENOUGH to beat roger in the fianl?

i though out of the two, fed was more all-round solid in all departments today.

your take? would love to hear it……

July 6th, 2012 at 5:59 pm

really great player to watch live; tsonga. sorry for mistakes; was a great day. x

July 6th, 2012 at 6:00 pm

Congrats to your favourite Madmax,glad you had such a great day,and good luck to Roger in the final,

July 6th, 2012 at 6:00 pm

‘I don’t think, if you look at the way he played today, you can’t say he’s past it or because he’s 30 he’s playing worse tennis. I just think the players around have got better.”

this is SO TRUE what andy says here!

fed isn’t past it, the others just got better!

EXCELLENT ARTICLE:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/18748944

July 6th, 2012 at 6:04 pm

brando i def think andy has a shot, he eas very powerful playing jo and also moved extremely well his serving was goos..but he went awol in third set tho i think natural to xperience a dip… the adrenalin was high. he played a great match.; fed i think more patient and tactical but i think fed wil need to start aggressive from the get go as andy has more belief; both will hv equal pressure i feel; first wimby finsl for murray and feds ranking on the line plus history for both pretty much even stevens brando.

July 6th, 2012 at 6:06 pm

@madmax:

thanks max- no offence BUT i do hope your right and its even stevens.

for andy’s and the match’s sake i think it is VITAL that andy wins the first set, since otherwise his mind might start thinking ‘here we go again’.

first set will pretty much decide the tone of the match i feel- abit like today between roger and nole.

July 6th, 2012 at 6:10 pm

@Kimmi

I will post it tomorrow after the astrologers make their final prediction.

July 6th, 2012 at 6:27 pm

For Murray to win, he HAS TO PLAY AGGRESSIVE. In his last 3 slam finals appearances, he has begun each match slowly waiting for his opponent to make mistakes. And for Federer, he has to what he always does – play like Roger Federer. Who would have thought he would be one match away from being world #1 again?

July 6th, 2012 at 6:27 pm

federer was great today and did his fans proud.; i cant tell u or describe the huge roar that went up from the crowd at the end of the match; it just gave me tingles

think its going to be a really emotional day for both players on sunday. kylie was in the crowd, the royal box today.

July 6th, 2012 at 7:05 pm

Sampras bromance with Fed

http://espn.go.com/tennis/wimbledon12/story/_/id/8136757/wimbledon-2012-pete-sampras-says-used-roger-federer-breaking-records

July 6th, 2012 at 7:36 pm

madmax, I am jealous. Good for you, you’ve added a priceless sight to your life.

July 6th, 2012 at 7:50 pm

what a day of tennis. some thoughts. some thoughts. first heavy is the crown of the king. lets remember that Nole’s position is much different thn the other players. he is more like a national icon than a sports star. the turnout in Serbia after last year’s wimbledon was insane. it was more like what you’d get for returning veterans of some great war than the winner of a tennis tournament. i think he has been feeling the weight of a nation this year and it has weighed on him.
second early round play is just that, early round play. sometimes it is predictive and sometimes not. past records, past H2H, past rounds may mean soomething and may not. ultimately it comes down to how each player matches up against the other on that particular day.
third surfaces and conditions do matter. grass may have slowed down but it is still grass. the serve is more effective on grass than any other surface. Nole was not able to play attritional tennis today(with which he has had good success against Fed in the past, eg RG 2012). this was first strike tennis and Fed was better today at doing that. when was the last time anyone had such gaudy stats on 2nd serve against Nole. I’m guessing its been a while.

July 6th, 2012 at 8:05 pm

I think Murray is drained emotionally and the pressure from the British Court should be too much for him to perform on the Court on that Super Sunday. Although he is up against Roger in their H2H, Roger beat him in important matches and that too very easily ie. Majors. Ofcourse Roger too is under immense pressure as he has lot to gain on that special day. But he has the capacity to handle pressure and he has proven that before. Whereas Murray is yet to prove that he can handle that. Above all, this is not hard court, but grass court. Therefore, although surprises can happen, I still favour Roger in the finals against Murray and provided his back holds up. I expect Murray to give a tough match to Roger and not let go easily as previously. But still it will be Roger who will come through since he might handle well the pressure points.

July 6th, 2012 at 9:20 pm

madmax, I’m glad that you got to see Federer play live at Wimbledon! (And also a little jealous!)

July 6th, 2012 at 9:28 pm

I cannot judge Murray’s level from the Tsonga match who was making far too many unforced errors and playing erratic Tennis thus giving a big handle to Murray. But from the look of it, he is playing good Tennis although not clear whether that it will be enough on Sunday. If Murray needs to win on Sunday, his first serves should click. But, he had a good serving day both in the quarters and Semis and may be or not he will carry that to the finals or the law of averages might hit him. We never know. So, keep guessing ???

July 7th, 2012 at 12:18 am

Madmax,

You are lucky to watch it live. I am too jealous along with Steve-O.

July 7th, 2012 at 12:19 am

Well done madmax! And thanks for all the vivid description…Dave ur posts are excellent as always…Will be back tomm cheering for the GOD himself.. and i am sur ei am going to have plenty of attacks….But i am sure it would be a fun ride with my fellow fed fans…mamdax, skeez, kimmi, dave, brando, sienna, huh, ben and countless others..Cheers!

July 7th, 2012 at 12:20 am

I agree, Murray will have to play ‘very agressive’ against Roger….

Murray and every other player should take a leaf off ‘Jullien Berneittu’ what he did to Federer in that 3rd round match…..

Federer in that 3rd round match was ‘Simply No Match During Rallies’

KEY/WHY:

Jullien was ‘very agressive’ in those rallies, trading big blows against Federer….eventually he’d affected Federer ‘Phycologically’ where it got to a point where Federer knew ‘He will Not Win any Rallies Against Jullien….’

Roger really had to Relay on his ‘First Serve’….to get him through that match….’First Serve’ was his savior in that match….

Murray must not only serve well, but play as agressive as Jullien did against Federer in that 3rd round match…..

If I were Murray right now, I’d watched a replay of Federer’s 3rd round match against Jullien….

July 7th, 2012 at 4:38 am

Gannu good luck to your favourite in the final,but i have to correct you and say that Brandos a Rafa fan(but a very fair Rafa fan though)lol.

July 7th, 2012 at 5:54 am

Anyone who thinks Roger is playing at same level compared to his peak is just stupid.

July 7th, 2012 at 11:47 am

No need for that Blath.

Why don’t you see it as others have caught up and two have surpassed him in terms of No.1 and No.2. Novak and Rafa have finally raised the bar which has been so high for so long, set by Roger of course. His game is better than ever. Yes, he makes the odd lapse, but the guy is an absolute genius. Go see him live and see if you can apprecaite the player more.

Tennis Vagabond Says:
madmax, I am jealous. Good for you, you’ve added a priceless sight to your life.

July 6th, 2012 at 7:50 pm

TV, yes. I have. And if I could take you all with me, all the federer fans, I would. We would have had a great day together. It was an incredible experience. One I will never forget.

X

July 7th, 2012 at 4:37 pm

alison, gannu, michael – thanks for your comments.

July 7th, 2012 at 4:38 pm

and Steve-O :)

July 7th, 2012 at 4:39 pm

TampaFl, skeezer, Gannu: Thanks much.

July 7th, 2012 at 11:58 pm

If Murray wins this one, he will surely go on to win more majors. On the other hand if he loses, then his major hopes are as good as over.

July 8th, 2012 at 12:08 am

Michael = master of the truism.

July 8th, 2012 at 1:32 am