2014 Rogers Cup Final: Federer v. Tsonga

[TennisFanatic7]

The interesting thing with Tsonga this week is the way he's actually been combining his talent and power by thinking his way through points, and the backhand was actually looking pretty solid apart from the middle phase of his match against Andy. Can he keep it up? That's always been the question with Jo but he must certainly be considered as a serious dark horse for Flushing Meadows now that he's reminded us what he can (still) do.

I was recently reading an excellent blog that felt that JW was a goner. The gist of it was true, which makes his run here all the more exceptional.

I still wouldn't bet too much on him at Flushing Meadows, if I was a gambling man. Totally different horse of an absolutely different colour...

Oh dear, I bet that blogger is feeling pretty silly right now :s .

 

[GameSetAndMath]

First time since 2002 that a Masters 1000 title has been won by defeating 4 top 10 opponents in a row. Last player to do it was Guillermo Cañas here in 2002 when he beat Marat Safin, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Roger Federer and then Andy Roddick in the final. Impressive.

That Canas was a weird and interesting player. I remember he took out Roger two or
three times in 2008 (IW, Miami, Rome etc) and that too mostly in 1st round. Have to look
up for details.

Then, he got banned for drugs. What was he on?

 

[Billie]

First time since 2002 that a Masters 1000 title has been won by defeating 4 top 10 opponents in a row. Last player to do it was Guillermo Cañas here in 2002 when he beat Marat Safin, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Roger Federer and then Andy Roddick in the final. Impressive.

That Canas was a weird and interesting player. I remember he took out Roger two or
three times in 2008 (IW, Miami, Rome etc) and that too mostly in 1st round. Have to look
up for details.

Then, he got banned for drugs. What was he on?

He was just coming off a suspension so he had an axe to grind. It was actually in 2007, not 2008. He was playing really well in those two tournaments. He made it all the way to Miami final where he lost to Nole in tough 4 sets. I remember it well, it was Nole's first Masters 1000 win.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

First time since 2002 that a Masters 1000 title has been won by defeating 4 top 10 opponents in a row. Last player to do it was Guillermo Cañas here in 2002 when he beat Marat Safin, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Roger Federer and then Andy Roddick in the final. Impressive.

That Canas was a weird and interesting player. I remember he took out Roger two or
three times in 2008 (IW, Miami, Rome etc) and that too mostly in 1st round. Have to look
up for details.

Then, he got banned for drugs. What was he on?

He was just coming off a suspension so he had an axe to grind. It was actually in 2007, not 2008. He was playing really well in those two tournaments. He made it all the way to Miami final where he lost to Nole in tough 4 sets. I remember it well, it was Nole's first Masters 1000 win.

If I remember right, he got suspended after he beat roger twice in a row (no, not
because he beat Roger :blush: )

 

[Front242]

First time since 2002 that a Masters 1000 title has been won by defeating 4 top 10 opponents in a row. Last player to do it was Guillermo Cañas here in 2002 when he beat Marat Safin, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Roger Federer and then Andy Roddick in the final. Impressive.

That Canas was a weird and interesting player. I remember he took out Roger two or
three times in 2008 (IW, Miami, Rome etc) and that too mostly in 1st round. Have to look
up for details.

Then, he got banned for drugs. What was he on?

From wiki. Hard to tell really 'cos it's another case where the drug in question can be used to mask doping as with PRP. In any case they reversed the ban.

On August 8, 2005, Cañas was suspended for two years and was forced to forfeit US$276,070 in prizes by the ATP after testing positive for a diuretic called hydrochlorothiazide, a substance with no benefits in itself other than as treatment for hypertension, but used to cover other forbidden substances.[4] No traces of any other forbidden substance were found in Cañas's sample, and the player asserts the diuretic was present in some medicine prescribed by ATP doctors Mercader and Chinchila for a cold he contracted during the Acapulco tournament in Mexico.[8] At the time of his ban, Cañas had been at the highest ranking of his career, world number eight.[7]

Cañas vowed to fight the ban, claiming he was innocent of the charges against him. Cañas took his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. His perseverance paid off on May 23, 2006, when he was acquitted of deliberate performance enhancement through illegal substances, since the substances were in a prescription medicine. He was, however, considered careless in not checking the medicine before ingesting it. He was allowed to return to full professional activity from September 11, 2006, and the money prizes acquired before the suspension were restored. Cañas's points, which determine a player's ranking, were nil upon his return, as they had expired.[4][9]

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

Here's a photo of Darth and Front watching the tennis together:

lol are they the guys on the balcony from the muppet show ?..

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

He could still play well at Cincy Darth. That's his stomping ground anyway

A deep run here might compromise him at his much stronger tournament. At this point it might not be a good thing for Roger to go deep in Cincy. Regardless, he has just been easily beaten by Tsonga in a final and lost a huge one to Stan earlier. Maybe he could beat Ferrer in a big match but that'd be about it.

Darth really sees the silver lining.

What silver lining was I supposed to see here?

surely its a big plus (silver lining) to see Federer still at the top tree of tennis at 33.

 

[Kieran]

Here's a photo of Darth and Front watching the tennis together:

lol are they the guys on the balcony from the muppet show ?..

No, they just look like them fellers. This is the Darth & Front Show. Sample sketch:

Darth: What you think of the match so far?

Front: Disaster. 5-5 in the fifth, a shankathon!

Darth: He hasn't played this bad since he lost 9-7 in the fifth against Rafa [audience laughter]

Front: Yeah, definitely a mental midget now. Lost the Wimbo final...

Darth: Yeah! 6-4 in the fifth! [audience laughter] To a muppet called Novak! [audience in hysterics]

Front: He's been a joke since 2007! [audience laughter, applause and cheers]

 

[Billie]

Goodness me. :laydownlaughing:lolz::clap

Well done Kieran!

 

[GameSetAndMath]

First time since 2002 that a Masters 1000 title has been won by defeating 4 top 10 opponents in a row. Last player to do it was Guillermo Cañas here in 2002 when he beat Marat Safin, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Roger Federer and then Andy Roddick in the final. Impressive.

That Canas was a weird and interesting player. I remember he took out Roger two or
three times in 2008 (IW, Miami, Rome etc) and that too mostly in 1st round. Have to look
up for details.

Then, he got banned for drugs. What was he on?

He was just coming off a suspension so he had an axe to grind. It was actually in 2007, not 2008. He was playing really well in those two tournaments. He made it all the way to Miami final where he lost to Nole in tough 4 sets. I remember it well, it was Nole's first Masters 1000 win.

Thanks Billie, That was indeed in 2007. Canas beat Fed in both IW and Miami that year.
Also, he was indeed coming off from the suspension as you and JLLB say.

I wonder what happened to his promising career though.

 

[Billie]

First time since 2002 that a Masters 1000 title has been won by defeating 4 top 10 opponents in a row. Last player to do it was Guillermo Cañas here in 2002 when he beat Marat Safin, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Roger Federer and then Andy Roddick in the final. Impressive.

That Canas was a weird and interesting player. I remember he took out Roger two or
three times in 2008 (IW, Miami, Rome etc) and that too mostly in 1st round. Have to look
up for details.

Then, he got banned for drugs. What was he on?

He was just coming off a suspension so he had an axe to grind. It was actually in 2007, not 2008. He was playing really well in those two tournaments. He made it all the way to Miami final where he lost to Nole in tough 4 sets. I remember it well, it was Nole's first Masters 1000 win.

Thanks Billie, That was indeed in 2007. Canas beat Fed in both IW and Miami that year.
Also, he was indeed coming off from the suspension as you and JLLB say.

I wonder what happened to his promising career though.

At the time he was 29 years old, I think, I am too lazy to check. This is all just from my memory. He was disappointed that he was, in his mind, unjustly punished and I really believe that after a short spurt of playing well, he started to get injured and just couldn't compete as much as he wanted. I don't even remember when he retired officially but he did try coaching for a while. I will have to search for some news to see what he is up to now. Some of these things are buried in my memory, to be honest. But I was fond of Willy and I do remember some things.

 

[Correspondent Kiu]

He could still play well at Cincy Darth. That's his stomping ground anyway

A deep run here might compromise him at his much stronger tournament. At this point it might not be a good thing for Roger to go deep in Cincy. Regardless, he has just been easily beaten by Tsonga in a final and lost a huge one to Stan earlier. Maybe he could beat Ferrer in a big match but that'd be about it.

Darth really sees the silver lining.

What silver lining was I supposed to see here?

surely its a big plus (silver lining) to see Federer still at the top tree of tennis at 33.

And he will be #3 or #2 seed for the last slam of the year, depending if you-know-who plays...

 

[DarthFed]

He could still play well at Cincy Darth. That's his stomping ground anyway

A deep run here might compromise him at his much stronger tournament. At this point it might not be a good thing for Roger to go deep in Cincy. Regardless, he has just been easily beaten by Tsonga in a final and lost a huge one to Stan earlier. Maybe he could beat Ferrer in a big match but that'd be about it.

Darth really sees the silver lining.

What silver lining was I supposed to see here?

surely its a big plus (silver lining) to see Federer still at the top tree of tennis at 33.

That has nothing to do with today though. And where did you think he'd be at age 33? Expecting another 2013? I wasn't for a second.

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

actually if folk remember I said a couple of times recently that tsonga's rank of 15 was misleading as he had a knee injury that retired him from wimbly2013 (v gulbis I think)..and accordingly these usa/Canada hc tourneys would tell us alot about if he's on the way out or coming back, and he could hoover up rank points with zero pressure on him..

well he hoovered up a fair few rank points..about 1000 of them. and it looks like he's turned his career around.

 

[Riotbeard]

A deep run here might compromise him at his much stronger tournament. At this point it might not be a good thing for Roger to go deep in Cincy. Regardless, he has just been easily beaten by Tsonga in a final and lost a huge one to Stan earlier. Maybe he could beat Ferrer in a big match but that'd be about it.

Darth really sees the silver lining.

What silver lining was I supposed to see here?

surely its a big plus (silver lining) to see Federer still at the top tree of tennis at 33.

That has nothing to do with today though. And where did you think he'd be at age 33? Expecting another 2013? I wasn't for a second.

I mean this in the best way, but you fed fans are nuts!

 

[DarthFed]

How so? I predicted he'd finish #3 this year...who else aside from Rafa, Nole and maybe Murray did you think should finish ahead of him?

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

It has everything to do with today. otherwise it wouldn't have happened

Federer lost..boo hoo. he was slow n jaded. oh dear...he is in a masters final only..diddums.

 

[I.Haychew]

Here's a photo of Darth and Front watching the tennis together:

lol are they the guys on the balcony from the muppet show ?..

I always suspected that Bud Collins and Cliphph Drysdale were Muppets.

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

some folk on here would moan about Federer even if he would have won 6-0, 6-2. leave them to it.

 

[DarthFed]

Eh, Roger wasn't the average 25 year old, so why would he be the average 33 year old. Those who expected him to be bad at this age were not seeing things clearly. 2013 was the outlier...