2013 French Open QF: Federer vs. Tsonga

[Johnsteinbeck]

you should tell him to get his act together, then. Fed is looking really weak right now.

 

[El Dude]

Federer looks old and hesitant, but I've got to say that this Tsonga could challenge Novak or even Rafa.

---

Some of the winners he's hitting are impossible to retrieve, even for Djokovic.

 

[Johnsteinbeck]

hesitant puts it well. he's changing between hesistant and hurried. not in a good way (obviously).

JW is doing strong so far. the bh holds up quite well, although it's hardly tested. nothing to prepare him for a F. not even for the solid Ferrer rallies, really.

---

noone had Tsonga in straights. bunch of experts, we are

---

Fed DFs to get broken. match was over before it really started, i'm afraid.

 

[Didi]

I recall Tsonga playing even better in the sets 2, 3 and 4 last year against Novak. I don't think he's close to his best today but obviously with a clear approach and sharp and gutsy execution so far. You can also see he's got the eye of a tiger, the edge in his eyes. He wants to win this so badly. That said, we should never underestimate Roger's heart of a champion. He isn't going down without a fight. If Ali can close it out, it would be his 5th major semifinal. That would be a remarkable feat in the era of the Big 4.

 

[herios]

Feds not losing in 3. So it means at least 4, and then knowing Fed's ego (pun and pun only) he will drag to 5 if he has to loose the match. And then Tsonga will be a sitting duck for Ferrer. Its better to then have Fed in 3 though Tsonga must make it 4. Fed knows he won't be having these cup-cake draws at all the tournaments and must make it most to reach the final. If its Nadal in the final, we know who is losing, and its Nole, then Fed knows that for his 18th slam, he must beat one of the Nadalovic. All the best Fed.

P.S: I don't mind Tsonga winning if he really wins the entire thing. Else, please don't stop Fed

---

The "discerning follower of Moxie"

I call this as "Cali effect". People have started calling out their own names :snigger :laydownlaughing

---

Clearly, the French crowd will throw Federer under the bus for a countryman.

---

I'm not too sure about that. The other day they cheered for Simon until the 4th when it was apparent Roger could actually lose, then they cheered for Fed.

---

At least 40% if not half of the crowd I am certain are foreigners, so that is why such things happen. Fans from all over the world go to Paris to cheer for stars like Fed.

---

Joe Willy pulls it off. Great achievement to defeat Roger by 3:0

 

[El Dude]

Congrats to Jo-Wilfried! I hope he wins it all. I also love how he waits to really celebrate until after he shakes Roger's hand - very classy.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

Way to go JWT...takes the sting off a bit that he is a great guy and he can actually make it to the finals and make it very interesting for the home crowd.

 

[herios]

Congrats to Jo-Wilfried! I hope he wins it all. I also love how he waits to really celebrate until after he shakes Roger's hand - very classy.

Well, at least we will have a finalist who is not part of the big 4. It was about time

 

[the AntiPusher]

Great win by JoWilliieTS.. Fed was moving that well today and he couldn't handle Tsonga power. Fed was very classy in defeat and Jo did make the right play at that net.. you have to go at that person and don't play nice.

 

[Johnsteinbeck]

very disappointing performance by Fed - it seems he never really got into it (again). unfortunately, it wasn't due to a Wimby '11-like herculean effort by Tsonga; instead, Fed was simply off, way off.

however, that's not to put Tsonga's performance down. just because he didn't need to play better doesn't mean he couldn't have. the break back in the third was unnecessary, but he righted the ship soon enough. however, it was Fed who let him back into it. that's a favor none of the remaining candidates would do him (well, Haas and Stan maybe, but...).

i'd love for Jo-Willie to go all the way here; he has the game for it, always had, but i just don't see it.

maybe he should try a new perspective... what he can usually do is beat one of the Big 4, and then fail. BUT this time, looking at Fed's performance, he should say that he actually didn't play a Big 4 opponent yet. and while he's #4 seed, Ferrer isn't Big 4 either. so Tsonga just has to beat him and whoever he meets in the final. simple as that, no?

 

[DarthFed]

Fed has officially entered the 2001-2002 Sampras part of his career. Complete shell of himself and will suffer a lot of bad losses even in slams. To me the question remains how will it end. Will he have one last great run at SW19 or New York. And is he actually serious about playing until 2016? With more losses like today I'd bet the house he pulls the plug before that.

 

[reddy]

Surprised myself by how little this loss bothered me. Probably due to the realisation that any slam win after wimbledon 2012 is truly a bonus and Tsonga being on the other side of the net helped as opposed to Berdych, etc.

I'd like Tsonga to go all the way but I doubt if he could get past Ferrer let alone Djokovic/Nadal.

 

[lindseywagners]

Fed has officially entered the 2001-2002 Sampras part of his career. Complete shell of himself and will suffer a lot of bad losses even in slams. To me the question remains how will it end. Will he have one last great run at SW19 or New York. And is he actually serious about playing until 2016? With more losses like today I'd bet the house he pulls the plug before that.

I didn't really follow Sampras' career like I do Roger's, but I don't think your comparison is accurate. Federer consistently is in contention at Slams and so "one last great run" right now for him wouldn't be the same as Sampras' final U.S. Open win. Roger is already playing deep in every GS, so it wouldn't really be a "run" to make it to a final or win it.

 

[El Dude]

I agree, DarthFed. He's having his worst year since 2003 and its hard to imagine how long he'll be willing to continue this way. I know he loves to play, but he really loves to win and, unlike Agassi and Connors, experienced a period of extreme dominance and never a long phase in which he wasn't a serious candidate to win a Slam.

I think Roger re-evaluates after the US Open. At this point he must realize he has very little to no chance of winning the AO or FO, so if he can't win Wimbledon or the USO then I don't know if he'll have enough incentive to keep on losing in the QF and occasional SF. Since 2009, he's only been in three of fourteen Slam Finals (21% from 2010-13) and only one of the last eight. 2012 might have been a last surge to the top; whether he can do that again, remains to be seen, but it seems unlikely now.

 

[the AntiPusher]

Fed has officially entered the 2001-2002 Sampras part of his career. Complete shell of himself and will suffer a lot of bad losses even in slams. To me the question remains how will it end. Will he have one last great run at SW19 or New York. And is he actually serious about playing until 2016? With more losses like today I'd bet the house he pulls the plug before that.

How do you figure that he has reached Sampras stage of his career.. Fed won Wimbledon last year, was number ranked 1 and made RG finals 2 years ago..

Fed was clearly jaded afterwards of his struggle with Simon, that's all. Fed still has the goods.. he wasn't moving well and ran into an INFORM JowillieTS this afternoon.. that's all
Pete was barely on the radar when he won his last US Open

DarthFed, don't give up on your dude.. A few upsets or injuries and Fed will be left there to clean up the carcasses

 

[DarthFed]

Fed has officially entered the 2001-2002 Sampras part of his career. Complete shell of himself and will suffer a lot of bad losses even in slams. To me the question remains how will it end. Will he have one last great run at SW19 or New York. And is he actually serious about playing until 2016? With more losses like today I'd bet the house he pulls the plug before that.

How do you figure that he has reached Sampras stage of his career.. Fed won Wimbledon last year, was number ranked and made RG finals 2 years ago..

Fed was clearly jaded afterwards of his struggle with Simon, that's all. Fed still has the goods.. he wasn't moving well and ran into an INFORM JowillieTS this afternoon.. that's all
Pete was barely on the radar when he won his last US Open

DarthFed, don't give up on your dude.. A few upsets or injuries and Fed will be left there to clean up the carcasses

Sampras won Wimbledon in 2000 and then went 2 years without a title, in between that he did reach 2 USO finals but had a lot of bad losses in other slams before winning his last tournament at 2002 USO. It might be too early to say with Fed, but this is his worst 11 months of tennis since 2002 and he isn't getting younger. You will be seeing losses like this which when you factor everything in, is his worst loss at a slam since 2003 IMO. The Tsongas of the world have occasionally beat him at slams the past few years but not in total blowout fashion like this.

---

Fed has officially entered the 2001-2002 Sampras part of his career. Complete shell of himself and will suffer a lot of bad losses even in slams. To me the question remains how will it end. Will he have one last great run at SW19 or New York. And is he actually serious about playing until 2016? With more losses like today I'd bet the house he pulls the plug before that.

I didn't really follow Sampras' career like I do Roger's, but I don't think your comparison is accurate. Federer consistently is in contention at Slams and so "one last great run" right now for him wouldn't be the same as Sampras' final U.S. Open win. Roger is already playing deep in every GS, so it wouldn't really be a "run" to make it to a final or win it.

QF is not "going deep" in a tournament. Roger will still reach most QF's until he retires. The question is does he still have it in him to make a real run.

 

[Mog]

Surprised myself by how little this loss bothered me. Probably due to the realisation that any slam win after wimbledon 2012 is truly a bonus and Tsonga being on the other side of the net helped as opposed to Berdych, etc.

I have the similar thoughts Reddy. Usually I become very upset when Roger loses but this time it didn't bother me today. I agree that from now onwards any slam Roger wins is a bonus. I want to see him win Wimbledon and if not USO. He has a decent chance at SW19.

 

[brokenshoelace]

Federer's return of serve... is still asking for directions to reach Philippe Chatrier.

In all seriousness, Tsonga played well, served effectively, but really, he played within himself. He wasn't totally unplayable the way he sometimes goes into these patches where there's nothing an opponent can do about his level. Federer just doesn't move/defend as well as he used to, so against these guys who hits so big, he's often wobbly and doesn't absorb their pace as well. Likewise, his inability to turn defense into attack hurt him, as it meant he couldn't get into Tsonga's service games since the Frenchman's serve guaranteed that he'd have the upper hand on the following shot (if the serve was returned to begin with). Roger's returning was pretty poor, and he wasn't getting a good read on Tsonga's serve (who in fairness, probably has the best serve on tour outside of Isner/Karlovic/Raonic). I thought Tsonga found it way to easy to pin Roger behind his backhand, and Federer's slice was way to pedestrian to change the rallies. His inability to change directions and go up the line also made it easier for Tsonga to camp on his backhand side, run around it, and hit inside out forehands all day.

 

[calitennis127]

QF is not "going deep" in a tournament. Roger will still reach most QF's until he retires. The question is does he still have it in him to make a real run.

LOL....a perfect example of the absurdly and stupidly high standards many Federer fans hold up for what "the real Federer" is supposed to do.

Quarterfinals aren't "going deep"? Tell that to the 99% of pro tennis players who would die for that pay day.

 

[brokenshoelace]

QF is not "going deep" in a tournament. Roger will still reach most QF's until he retires. The question is does he still have it in him to make a real run.

LOL....a perfect example of the absurdly and stupidly high standards many Federer fans hold up for what "the real Federer" is supposed to do.

Quarterfinals aren't "going deep"? Tell that to the 99% of pro tennis players who would die for that pay day.

99% of pro tennis players haven't won 17 slams, or had 22 semi finals in a row, or spent 4 consecutive years at the top of the rankings. In other words, the standards differ for Federer. The stupidly high standards are only that because Federer made them such.

Yes, for Federer, a QF isn't a good result by any means. And it's a far cry from the kind of results he used to have. That's a fact. Now granted, Darth is going overboard with his reaction (which is OTT as a fan, something you know about), but he's not entirely wrong in claiming a QF result isn't especially good for Federer.