2016 Wimbledon SF: Federer vs. Raonic

[rafanoy1992]

Federer leads the H2H 9-2 over Raonic but Milos did win his last match against Federer in this year's Brisbane event.

It will be interesting to see on how this match goes. While Federer was able to win against Cilic, he did not played that great. Also, his ground strokes did not look crisp.

As for Raonic, he is playing his best tennis of his life right now. Also, he has McEnroe on his corner so at the very least mentally he will be calm before the match.

Anyways, my heart says Raonic, but my head says Federer. Either way it could be a interesting match.

I will say this: Federer better win this in 4 sets because playing another 5 setter might hamper him the finals.

 

[AnonymousFan]

Roger in straights

 

[the AntiPusher]

Milos added McEnroe to be his technical advisor afterwards Johnny Mac campaign openly that someone (he) needs to be added to assist Rafa at this latest stage of his career.

 

[mrzz]

Nothing against Raonic but I do not think he can produce anything close to the level Cilic did.

 

[DarthFed]

Raonic has a very good chance mostly due to Roger coming off a draining 5 setter. Grass or not it's going to be tough for the old guy to recover for Friday. Unfortunately this might play out like the 2014 USO where Roger came back in dramatic fashion vs. Monfils but was decked in the semis. Hopefully he serves great and keeps the points very short.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Two major weaknesses of Raonic are that his movement is not good and his net play is not good.
There is no way that Raonic can play at a level better than that of Cilic's today (Cilic served big time, his groundies were fierce and his movement was good, only thing missing was playing well on big points). Assuming Fed is not severely exhausted, Fed should be able to win this in four. I give one set to Raonic in a TB. I am assuming Fed will win a set in TB and two sets by breaking Raonic.

Milos's win in Paris against Fed was a good win (although in two tight sets). But, I don't put much weight on Milos's win against Fed in Brisbane as Fed was sick in Brisbane this year, but played on. No, I am not giving excuses, but it is a factor to be considered.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

The Wimbledon organizers are sure to make Fed's match the second one to give a small advantage to Andy in recovery time. Expect them to schedule Andy's match first.

 

[Front242]

I don't really care who wins the tournament at this stage so long as it's not Murray. Win or lose, Federer can be proud of himself for getting as far as he has given the crap year he's had so far.

 

[Rational National]

The Wimbledon organizers are sure to make Fed's match the second one to give a small advantage to Andy in recovery time. Expect them to schedule Andy's match first.

Home broadcaster BBC will likely 'request' Murray on second to fit the early evening tv schedule

 

[mrzz]

Raonic has a very good chance mostly due to Roger coming off a draining 5 setter. Grass or not it's going to be tough for the old guy to recover for Friday. Unfortunately this might play out like the 2014 USO where Roger came back in dramatic fashion vs. Monfils but was decked in the semis. Hopefully he serves great and keeps the points very short.

That is always a possibility. Nowadays it is quite impossible to predict Federer´s level from match to match.

However, I do not think it is quite comparable to 2014 USO. To begin with, the USO match was longer and quite more taxing. I bet he ran almost twice the distance he ran in this one. Second, win or loose, he played like crap in the Monfils match, even the sets he won. Then he came and face a guy playing out of his mind in the semi. He could very well lose the semi now, but I gues he enters it in a much better place than USO 2014.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Raonic has a very good chance mostly due to Roger coming off a draining 5 setter. Grass or not it's going to be tough for the old guy to recover for Friday. Unfortunately this might play out like the 2014 USO where Roger came back in dramatic fashion vs. Monfils but was decked in the semis. Hopefully he serves great and keeps the points very short.

That is always a possibility. Nowadays it is quite impossible to predict Federer´s level from match to match.

However, I do not think it is quite comparable to 2014 USO. To begin with, the USO match was longer and quite more taxing. I bet he ran almost twice the distance he ran in this one. Second, win or loose, he played like crap in the Monfils match, even the sets he won. Then he came and face a guy playing out of his mind in the semi. He could very well lose the semi now, but I gues he enters it in a much better place than USO 2014.

Three issues of importance against Raonic are

1. Fed should continue to have a good serving day. If he is having an off day at serving, he won't win against Raonic.
2. Hopefully, with a day's rest he should be physically fine. But, you never know. Unlike USO 2014, we now have a Post-OP Fed.
3. Even if Roger is physically fine, he should not have mental fatigue (in fact this was his main issue at USO against Cilic IMO). Unless you can really concentrate and recognize and jump on one bad serve, it is impossible to break Raonic. That requires lot of concentration and mental freshness is a prerequisite for that.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

Milos has got this one. 3-1.

 

[Carol]

Nothing against Raonic but I do not think he can produce anything close to the level Cilic did.

I hope Raonic can do much better than Cilic after the second set

 

[Shivashish Sarkar]

Federer Raonic matches have always been close. As GSM said, it's on Fed's racquet. He needs to concentrate well in the return games. Even if he is going to play TBs he will require the focus to be there just as much. Roger won't have many problems settling on serve in the match and playing well in service games. The only issue might be fatigue, that is, if the match goes beyond 3 sets. Keeping theories aside, going by gut feeling, I think Roger will get it done on Friday and reach the final.

 

[Kieran]

Raonic has a very good chance mostly due to Roger coming off a draining 5 setter. Grass or not it's going to be tough for the old guy to recover for Friday. Unfortunately this might play out like the 2014 USO where Roger came back in dramatic fashion vs. Monfils but was decked in the semis. Hopefully he serves great and keeps the points very short.

I was thinking the same. A powerful younger man with a giant serve can sweep him out of there.

Hopefully...

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Raonic has a very good chance mostly due to Roger coming off a draining 5 setter. Grass or not it's going to be tough for the old guy to recover for Friday. Unfortunately this might play out like the 2014 USO where Roger came back in dramatic fashion vs. Monfils but was decked in the semis. Hopefully he serves great and keeps the points very short.

That is always a possibility. Nowadays it is quite impossible to predict Federer´s level from match to match.

However, I do not think it is quite comparable to 2014 USO. To begin with, the USO match was longer and quite more taxing. I bet he ran almost twice the distance he ran in this one. Second, win or loose, he played like crap in the Monfils match, even the sets he won. Then he came and face a guy playing out of his mind in the semi. He could very well lose the semi now, but I gues he enters it in a much better place than USO 2014.

I think at 2014 USO, Roger was not physically in a bad shape even after the five setter. But, he had mental fatigue as he had to concentrate for a long time in Monfil's match.

Given that Cilic match is not unduly long, I think Roger will be fine mentally and be able to concentrate in the match against Raonic. But, he may be physically compromised in the match against Raonic as this is Post-Op Fed. So, we may end up seeing a match in which Fed moves almost as poorly as Milos. If that be the case, the better server (of the day) will win the match.

 

[Kieran]

It was 3+hours long - that's long for a man who's 35 in a few weeks. It was intense, and it caused Federer to have to dig deep. Plus, he's coming back from surgery, injury, hasn't played much tennis.

That all adds up to mental fatigue, physical fatigue, metal fatigue, rust, mould, smelly cheese, encrusted stockings, musty rooms, stale perfume...

 

[Rational National]

The key to this match is whether or not Federer can get a read early enough on Raonic serve. He struggled with Cilic, early on but once he got a look at more second serves and put the pressure on it managed to just tip the scales.

Also how much of a dent can Raonic make in Federer's serve? I know he has noticeably improved but I am not sure how many looks he will get at breaking Federer's serve - I am not sure his return and all court game is as strong as Cilic's so I think it will be Roger in 4 with the third set being the crucial one that Roger either takes 7-6 on the breaker or 7-5 when the heat comes on.

 

[Riotbeard]

I have a feeling Milos steps up and wins this. I would probably prefer roger to win though. That being said, I haven't seen much of either player (traveling), so who knows?

I am hoping Murray wins the tournament though.

 

[DarthFed]

Raonic has a very good chance mostly due to Roger coming off a draining 5 setter. Grass or not it's going to be tough for the old guy to recover for Friday. Unfortunately this might play out like the 2014 USO where Roger came back in dramatic fashion vs. Monfils but was decked in the semis. Hopefully he serves great and keeps the points very short.

I was thinking the same. A powerful younger man with a giant serve can sweep him out of there.

Hopefully...

We shall see. Under normal circumstances he probably would've swept his way to this title fairly easily. He still has the capability to do it if he recovers decent and remembers who he is. It's about time to make up for all the underachieving the past few years and cause some more tears from certain haters :devil