2017 Australian Open Final: FEDAL XXXV

[GameSetAndMath]

Trivia Question: When was the last time in a Men's GS final neither player was ranked in top 8?

 

[El Dude]

2014 US Open, maybe? I know Cilic was outside the top 10, but not sure about Kei.

 

[rafanoy1992]

2014 US Open, maybe? I know Cilic was outside the top 10, but not sure about Kei.

You are correct sir! Kei was seeded 10th but that's because Nadal did not play the US Open that year.

 

[the AntiPusher]

This is a very interesting news

http://www.tennis.com.au/news/2017/01/27/tennis-australia-teams-up-with-rafa-nadal-academy

Thanks for sharing this we us Miss Carol

 

[Front242]

pile of doggy do

 

[Busted]

At age 35 Roger can't move like Grigor was today or play as consistently off the backhand wing. Really the only chance is an incredible day serving and even that might not be enough. This was a patented match where Rafa was generally outplayed but just refused to lose...and he didn't.

Considering Roger is coming back after a 6 months lay-off, has only played 9 competitive matches - this makes zero sense. He's in the final and took out #10, #5 and #4 to get there It's far better than even he expected, so why are YOU expecting miracles? Of course he's not moving as well as he was before his injury. He's tentative and except for the Berdych match hasn't really played freely the entire tournament. I'm ROTFLMAO that some of you really thought he'd come back and NOT be tentative. He knows one wrong move and his career is over. And the ultimate irony here is that - Dimitrov wouldn't be able to beat Roger in 5 sets anymore than he could beat Nadal. Sheesh. Who cares how Dimitrov played Nadal? It's moot. Unless it's escaped your notice - he's out of the tournament.

If Nadal had to go 5 to beat Dimitrov, then he's not playing "great" - just "good which is why I give Roger a decent chance of winning. What's he got to lose? Nothing. He wins either way - he made a Slam final after not playing for 6 months while all the talking heads were predicting a steep decline. No the consistency isn't there yet, but - he's still in the final and has proven that there a really are still only 4 guys in men's tennis who have a realistic chance of winning a Slam - 5 now that Nadal has gone beyond the QFs for the first time in 3 years.

I can't be gloom and doom even if Roger loses because - A) it's Nadal and we all know Roger can be a headcase where Nadal is concerned; and B) 6 months ago I was watching a boring Murray\Raonic Wimbledon final and lamenting Roger falling in the semi's and losing to Raonic when he had a great shot at beating Murray in the final and winning his 18th Slam. Now at least he's back to playing and in another Slam final. Silly Fed Fan that I am - I think that's a POSITIVE for Roger from where he was at in July 2016. Rome wasn't built in a day - and in general Slams aren't won with 9 matches under your belt after a 6 month knee injury lay-off. That's called PERSPECTIVE.

 

[Busted]

Nice article by Tignor:

http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2017/01/roger-federer-rafael-nadal-2006-rome-final-australian-open-final-atp/63765/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+concrete-elbow-tignor+%28Concrete+Elbow+by+Steve+Tignor%29

Ahhh...back when they both still had full heads of hair. :laydownlaughing Now Roger's hairline is going backwards and Nadal has a great big bald spot brewing. :snicker

Note to Roger: If you'd stop playing with your hair it probably wouldn't fall out so fast. :nono

BTW - Gotta give equal smack-talking time to Murray and Djokovic: Murray's another one who's follicularly challanged, but at least Djokovic still has a full head of hair even as his game seems to be deserting him. Hold on to that thought, Nole! Just keep telling yourself, "At least I'm not going bald like the other 3..."

 

[Puppet Master]

Nice article by Tignor:

http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2017/01/roger-federer-rafael-nadal-2006-rome-final-australian-open-final-atp/63765/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+concrete-elbow-tignor+%28Concrete+Elbow+by+Steve+Tignor%29

Ahhh...back when they both still had full heads of hair. :laydownlaughing Now Roger's hairline is going backwards and Nadal has a great big bald spot brewing. :snicker

Note to Roger: If you'd stop playing with your hair it probably wouldn't fall out so fast. :nono

BTW - Gotta give equal smack-talking time to Murray and Djokovic: Murray's another one who's follicularly challanged, but at least Djokovic still has a full head of hair even as his game seems to be deserting him. Hold on to that thought, Nole! Just keep telling yourself, "At least I'm not going bald like the other 3..."

Djokovic is ridiculous. He will have a full head of hair even as a 60 year old. I am 10 years younger than him and I can already see my hairline receeding. Like, come on.

 

[the AntiPusher]

Nice article by Tignor:

http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2017/01/roger-federer-rafael-nadal-2006-rome-final-australian-open-final-atp/63765/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+concrete-elbow-tignor+%28Concrete+Elbow+by+Steve+Tignor%29

Ahhh...back when they both still had full heads of hair. :laydownlaughing Now Roger's hairline is going backwards and Nadal has a great big bald spot brewing. :snicker

Note to Roger: If you'd stop playing with your hair it probably wouldn't fall out so fast. :nono

BTW - Gotta give equal smack-talking time to Murray and Djokovic: Murray's another one who's follicularly challanged, but at least Djokovic still has a full head of hair even as his game seems to be deserting him. Hold on to that thought, Nole! Just keep telling yourself, "At least I'm not going bald like the other 3..."

Michael Jordan didn't do too bad in the sports and financial world afterwards loosing his hair. Plus he has a pretty hot wife:basiate.

 

[the AntiPusher]

At age 35 Roger can't move like Grigor was today or play as consistently off the backhand wing. Really the only chance is an incredible day serving and even that might not be enough. This was a patented match where Rafa was generally outplayed but just refused to lose...and he didn't.

Considering Roger is coming back after a 6 months lay-off, has only played 9 competitive matches - this makes zero sense. He's in the final and took out #10, #5 and #4 to get there It's far better than even he expected, so why are YOU expecting miracles? Of course he's not moving as well as he was before his injury. He's tentative and except for the Berdych match hasn't really played freely the entire tournament. I'm ROTFLMAO that some of you really thought he'd come back and NOT be tentative. He knows one wrong move and his career is over. And the ultimate irony here is that - Dimitrov wouldn't be able to beat Roger in 5 sets anymore than he could beat Nadal. Sheesh. Who cares how Dimitrov played Nadal? It's moot. Unless it's escaped your notice - he's out of the tournament.

If Nadal had to go 5 to beat Dimitrov, then he's not playing "great" - just "good which is why I give Roger a decent chance of winning. What's he got to lose? Nothing. He wins either way - he made a Slam final after not playing for 6 months while all the talking heads were predicting a steep decline. No the consistency isn't there yet, but - he's still in the final and has proven that there a really are still only 4 guys in men's tennis who have a realistic chance of winning a Slam - 5 now that Nadal has gone beyond the QFs for the first time in 3 years.

I can't be gloom and doom even if Roger loses because - A) it's Nadal and we all know Roger can be a headcase where Nadal is concerned; and B) 6 months ago I was watching a boring Murray\Raonic Wimbledon final and lamenting Roger falling in the semi's and losing to Raonic when he had a great shot at beating Murray in the final and winning his 18th Slam. Now at least he's back to playing and in another Slam final. Silly Fed Fan that I am - I think that's a POSITIVE for Roger from where he was at in July 2016. Rome wasn't built in a day - and in general Slams aren't won with 9 matches under your belt after a 6 month knee injury lay-off. That's called PERSPECTIVE.

If Nadal had to go 5 sets to beat Dimitrov, then he's not playing "great.".

That's like saying in 2009 when Nadal had to go five sets vs Verdasco, then he wasn't playing great! The level of tennis that Nadal and Dimitrov produce yesterday was at times astonishing. I would have said that even if the results were different.

 

[mrzz]

That's like saying in 2009 when Nadal had to go five sets vs Verdasco, then he wasn't playing great! The level of tennis that Nadal and Dimitrov produce yesterday was at times astonishing. I would have said that even if the results were different.

The part that you are missing about yesterday´s semis is that, to Nadal standards, his match wasn´t *great*. Exactly as you say, at times it was astonishing, and be sure that I give credit to that. But he did commit way more errors than his historic average, his forehand wasn´t that scary, even his passing shots were not that good (remember, for his own standards).

So, in a shotmaking, and also in a drama perspective, truly a classic. In terms of consistency -- nothing spetacular. I guess that´s part of DF´s point.

 

[Front242]

Roger's stats by match. Winners/unforced errors. His hampered movement due to the adductor strain seems to be an issue 'cos those stats against Stan are clearly by far the worst. Not exactly what he needed going into the final.

47-50 vs. Stan
83-47 vs. Nishi
40-17 vs. Berdych
65-13 vs. Zverev

 

[DarthFed]

At age 35 Roger can't move like Grigor was today or play as consistently off the backhand wing. Really the only chance is an incredible day serving and even that might not be enough. This was a patented match where Rafa was generally outplayed but just refused to lose...and he didn't.

Considering Roger is coming back after a 6 months lay-off, has only played 9 competitive matches - this makes zero sense. He's in the final and took out #10, #5 and #4 to get there It's far better than even he expected, so why are YOU expecting miracles? Of course he's not moving as well as he was before his injury. He's tentative and except for the Berdych match hasn't really played freely the entire tournament. I'm ROTFLMAO that some of you really thought he'd come back and NOT be tentative. He knows one wrong move and his career is over. And the ultimate irony here is that - Dimitrov wouldn't be able to beat Roger in 5 sets anymore than he could beat Nadal. Sheesh. Who cares how Dimitrov played Nadal? It's moot. Unless it's escaped your notice - he's out of the tournament.

If Nadal had to go 5 to beat Dimitrov, then he's not playing "great" - just "good which is why I give Roger a decent chance of winning. What's he got to lose? Nothing. He wins either way - he made a Slam final after not playing for 6 months while all the talking heads were predicting a steep decline. No the consistency isn't there yet, but - he's still in the final and has proven that there a really are still only 4 guys in men's tennis who have a realistic chance of winning a Slam - 5 now that Nadal has gone beyond the QFs for the first time in 3 years.

I can't be gloom and doom even if Roger loses because - A) it's Nadal and we all know Roger can be a headcase where Nadal is concerned; and B) 6 months ago I was watching a boring Murray\Raonic Wimbledon final and lamenting Roger falling in the semi's and losing to Raonic when he had a great shot at beating Murray in the final and winning his 18th Slam. Now at least he's back to playing and in another Slam final. Silly Fed Fan that I am - I think that's a POSITIVE for Roger from where he was at in July 2016. Rome wasn't built in a day - and in general Slams aren't won with 9 matches under your belt after a 6 month knee injury lay-off. That's called PERSPECTIVE.

I'm wondering if you actually watched the Nadal-Dimitrov match. Rafa had to play outstanding to survive it, not just by current standards but overall. Dimitrov played great and if this was the Nadal of the last few years he would've won in an easy 3 or 4 sets.

I'm not expecting miracles, that was the point. Roger is still better than Dimitrov but that doesn't mean he matches up better with Nadal than the Dimitrov we just saw in the semis. There are people who say "well Nadal barely beat Dimitrov so why shouldn't Roger be able to beat him" and it doesn't work that way. Federer would've had no issues handling Verdasco in 2009 unlike Rafa but that didn't mean Federer would beat Nadal easily of course.

I don't think Roger has played tentative, he knows at this point in the game he has to be aggressive to get any kind of good results. He "looked" tentative against Stan because he was moving terribly and served poorly. Obviously if he has any hopes in making this even mildly competitive he has to play much better than he did vs. Stan.

 

[lob]

Darth, the final will certainly be competitive. Every Fedal GS final, except RG08, has been competitive. It's just that the result is predetermined! Rafa has been very nice about that. He knows that the match is on his racket but he doesn't showoff. Fedal finals are like exhos that way!

Sent from my 6045O using Tapatalk

 

[the AntiPusher]

That's like saying in 2009 when Nadal had to go five sets vs Verdasco, then he wasn't playing great! The level of tennis that Nadal and Dimitrov produce yesterday was at times astonishing. I would have said that even if the results were different.

The part that you are missing about yesterday´s semis is that, to Nadal standards, his match wasn´t *great*. Exactly as you say, at times it was astonishing, and be sure that I give credit to that. But he did commit way more errors than his historic average, his forehand wasn´t that scary, even his passing shots were not that good (remember, for his own standards).

So, in a shotmaking, and also in a drama perspective, truly a classic. In terms of consistency -- nothing spetacular. I guess that´s part of DF´s point.

No..I am not missing the point. Rafa is playing more aggressively hence forth his ufes will be higher than his previous historically average however going forward this is what is needed. Gigor made tennis uncomfortable for Rafa during yesterday's encounter but this has been the tone set by his opponents and the poor results by Rafa. I am good with this style of play from Rafa and I am extremely enthusiastic around the prospect of the past few years being in Rafa's rear view mirror.

 

[lindseywagners]

Worst nightmare realized. This won't be a match, Rafa looked fresh as a daisy in the 5th today, hitting harder and moving faster than he had in the 4 sets before it (not suspicious at all...). We know this drill by now.

And this is exactly the problem with this whole Fedal thing. Yes, it's a problem.

Tignor wrote the following:

"Still, it would be wrong to say that this long-delayed resumption is a “throwback match” or an “echo from another era.” Federer and Nadal never went away. Rafa was ranked No. 1 as recently as 2014, while Roger finished 2015 at No. 2 and reached the finals of Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. Like Tom Brady and Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots, who are about to contest their seventh Super Bowl together since 2002, Federer and Nadal never stopped being contenders."

But Steve is wrong. Federer-Nadal is most certainly a "throwback" - unlike the Patriots, where the story is unknown, Fedal feels like it has already been written: "Nadal defeats Federer.......AGAIN"

So it's impossible to view this as anything other than a "throwback." The anticipation for the match doesn't have the same feeling as 2005 or 2006 or 2008 or even 2009. This one feels like 2011 and 2012 and 2014.

Of course, with that said, I'll be watching (as will most of you), hoping, that somehow, Roger pulls it off. Pulls it off not to add to his Grand Slam title count as much to restore hope into Fedal once again.

 

[Front242]

Roger's adductor/groin injury could be worse than he's letting on. A poster on another forum said this earlier: "Just saw the AO live TV, the presenter said Federer today is practising in a closed court, away from the public. Media is not allowed to attend the practice session. The presenter was wondering if this has something to do with his injury and whether he wants to keep it secret."

Doesn't sound too good. Roger normally trains in public and is happy for everyone to see him.

 

[lindseywagners]

Roger's adductor/groin injury could be worse than he's letting on. A poster on another forum said this earlier: "Just saw the AO live TV, the presenter said Federer today is practising in a closed court, away from the public. Media is not allowed to attend the practice session. The presenter was wondering if this has something to do with his injury and whether he wants to keep it secret."

Doesn't sound too good. Roger normally trains in public and is happy for everyone to see him.

I saw him on Aussie Open's Snapchat practicing in the last 24 hours. Also, he's practiced in private before: 2015 US Open was on Ashe while Nadal was outside on a court open to the public (of course this was during an earlier round).

 

[Front242]

He's gonna be run ragged in this match so he needs to be close to 100% and preferably 100% fit. Doesn't seem he will be. Raonic has had adductor injuries on and off the past year and when it came back in his match against Nadal it was clear he was serving slower and moving worse than usual. They're not usually things that clear up in 1-2 days. Just don't want to watch Roger letting balls fly past him on both sides like Indian Wells 2013 and not attempt to run :nono

 

[mightyjeditribble]

Not much point in speculating. Fed said his adductor injury was there throughout the tournament, so whether or not it will affect him in the final - we'll have to wait and see.

It's true that Roger usually practices in public - I saw him do this at 2014 Wimbledon on the Saturday before the final. However, without further detail it is hard to tell - could it be because he got a practice session on RLA? Or he might just not want to give away some tactical elements that he is working on? He knows Rafa is the favourite and that he doesn't need to give him any help.

We'll just have to wait and see - not so long now after all!