2019 Men’s Wimbledon SF: Roger Federer vs. Rafael Nadal

[AnonymousFan]

I'm extremely sorry for interrupting your conversation but what does that abbreviation stand for, please?

sneak attack by roger

 

[Front242]

And so we'll have it. 2008 final to the 2019 semifinal. I was young. But even I knew back then that tennis players were done by 32. Agassi was the exception. Not the rule. If you had said to me in 2008 that Roger and Rafa would play again in 2019 at Wimbledon, in the semifinal no less, I would have laughed in your face. Hard. Like, for 10 minutes. But here it is.

Fedal XL.

This is actually just the second time all three of the big 3 have made the semis. I think. Going back to 2007. Before Djokovic had even won a slam or made the US Open final that year. And he had to retire against Rafa in the semis.

No Fed last year. No Fed in 2010 or 2011. No Rafa at the 2009 event and then didn't even make the quarters from 2012 to 2017 (didn't even play in 2016). Djokovic didn't make it in 2008. No Djokovic in 2016.

Now. The big thing. I'd bet you Wimbledon will put Djokovic/RBA on court first on Thursday. So both will know for a fact they have to play Djokovic by the time they play each other. But. If Djokovic breaks his leg and RBA goes through to the final, they'll both know that they are playing for the title. Either way. I love Fed. 2017 AO comeback against Rafa was huge and great. He's beaten him on hard courts in best of 3 sets since then. But that AO match is the only best of 5 setter they've played that Fed could have won since the 2014 AO that Rafa won in straights and the 2012 AO that Rafa won in 4 sets. Obviously the RG match last month is irrelevant. The 3 straight sets wins over Rafa on hard courts over the last couple years says a lot. But Rafa will be ready. Rafa has looked great. And Rafa is probably fresher than Fed simply because of his age. So I'm not big on Fed's chances come Thursday. I think we officially have to say he's the underdog. But. He's looked great all week. He is feeling it. Obviously he's got close to a 50/50 chance of winning it. He'll need his serve all day long. He'll need his forehand. And he'll need to be crackin on that backhand. His movement will have to be near perfect. But Rafa will also need his serve and forehand and the movement. I just trust that Rafa will have those more than I do Fed. Not really on the serve. But on the forehand and movement, at this point, Rafa should have the edge.

We know all this though. It'll come down to the big points. To tactics. And to the mental fortitude. Rafa nearly beating Novak last year should strike even more fear into Fed's heart. But he also knows that he'll play an entirely different game than Novak did last year. And it changes everything. I'm not counting Fed out at any point. Maybe if he goes down 2 sets to love. But if he wins one of the first two sets and even if it goes 5, I like his chances. But Rafa is the favorite. I hate to admit it. But at this point, he has to be at least the slight favorite.

And then of course there will likely be Djokovic waiting in the wings for Sunday. Neither is guaranteed to come out of this tournament a slam richer.


EDIT: Friday. Sorry. I keep forgetting today is Wednesday.

Nadal failed to beat the worst version of Djokovic we've seen in years at Wimbledon last year.

 

[Horsa]

sneak attack by roger

Thank you very much.

 

[brokenshoelace]

Nadal failed to beat the worst version of Djokovic we've seen in years at Wimbledon last year.

Excluding of course, the versions we've seen in 2016 and 2017. You know, literally the two previous years. But hey, your post isn't entirely nonsensical, since Nadal did fail to beat Djokovic, so you at least got that part right.

 

[Front242]

"And will his win over Federer at Roland Garros five weeks ago help him at Wimbledon?"

"It's difficult to say yes or no—it's probably better to have that victory than have defeat, of course, but in the other hand, it's a completely different situation," Nadal said.

"Playing on grass and clay, it's probably the biggest change in the world of tennis."

^ That may have been true 25 years ago but not now. Poor observation if ever there was one. Hence why you and half the Spanish Armada are doing so well lately.

http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2019...adal-federer-clash-wimbledon-semifinal/83404/

 

[Front242]

Excluding of course, the versions we've seen in 2016 and 2017. You know, literally the two previous years. But hey, your post isn't entirely nonsensical, since Nadal did fail to beat Djokovic, so you at least got that part right.

I was talking about when he gets to the latter stages and is injury free. Djokovic is a heavy favourite from the semis onwards in Wimbledon for years now.

 

[brokenshoelace]

"And will his win over Federer at Roland Garros five weeks ago help him at Wimbledon?"

"It's difficult to say yes or no—it's probably better to have that victory than have defeat, of course, but in the other hand, it's a completely different situation," Nadal said.

"Playing on grass and clay, it's probably the biggest change in the world of tennis."

^ That may have been true 25 years ago but not now. Poor observation if ever there was one. Hence why you and half the Spanish Armada are doing so well lately.

http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2019...adal-federer-clash-wimbledon-semifinal/83404/

I mean, it was more pronounced 25 years ago, but it's still true today. Can you think of a more extreme shift in tennis? And yeah, Nadal has been doing "so well" lately at Wimbledon. Lost in the 2nd round in 2012, 1st round in 2013, 4th round in 2014, 2nd round in 2015, and the 4th round in 2017. But oh, I'm sure the surface is even slower now than it was then. But, not as slow as it was in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, when he reached the final/won the tournament in all those years.

But yeah, "poor observation if there ever was one."

 

[brokenshoelace]

Also guys, can Fed fans please tell me what they think about the surface speed at Wimbledon? I don't feel like they've talked about it much.

 

[DarthFed]

I mean, it was more pronounced 25 years ago, but it's still true today. Can you think of a more extreme shift in tennis? And yeah, Nadal has been doing "so well" lately at Wimbledon. Lost in the 2nd round in 2012, 1st round in 2013, 4th round in 2014, 2nd round in 2015, and the 4th round in 2017. But oh, I'm sure the surface is even slower now than it was then. But, not as slow as it was in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, when he reached the final/won the tournament in all those years.

But yeah, "poor observation if there ever was one."

It may be the biggest shift in tennis but it is still hardly close to being an extreme shift.

 

[DarthFed]

Also guys, can Fed fans please tell me what they think about the surface speed at Wimbledon? I don't feel like they've talked about it much.

Heh always funny when the Ralph and Nole tards are like pigs in shit this time of year. Y'all can deal with the bitching instead of rubbing it in that they are playing on this slop. Or in your case you can pretend that Roger prefers a higher and slower bounce, it's done him so well over the years here against Nadal and Djokovic after all.

I'd love to see the Nadal fan reaction if the playing conditions at RG mirrored Madrid clay. And got faster and lower year after year. I'm guessing there would be a lot of bitching.

 

[Front242]

I mean, it was more pronounced 25 years ago, but it's still true today. Can you think of a more extreme shift in tennis? And yeah, Nadal has been doing "so well" lately at Wimbledon. Lost in the 2nd round in 2012, 1st round in 2013, 4th round in 2014, 2nd round in 2015, and the 4th round in 2017. But oh, I'm sure the surface is even slower now than it was then. But, not as slow as it was in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, when he reached the final/won the tournament in all those years.

But yeah, "poor observation if there ever was one."

Lately, last 2 years to be precise. Happy now? Let's call a spade a spade, it's getting slower and slower every year and any attacking player he's faced has had their advantage yanked right out from under their nose. It's disgusting what this tournament director has done and he should be beheaded. He had to cheat his way past Haase and Petzschner with dubious MTOs in 2010, don't forget. A lot of people haven't. The draw helps too btw. He faced big servers before when it was faster and lost. Petzschner was serving bombs and blasting forehands all over the place in 2010 and Nadal used 2 despicable MTOs while losing to eventually "win" 'cos he had no other options in his toolbox to get the better of him. The conditions are definitely a lot slower now in 2019 than 2012 and 2013.

 

[brokenshoelace]

Lately, last 2 years to be precise. Happy now? Let's call a spade a spade, it's getting slower and slower every year and any attacking player he's faced has had their advantage yanked right out from under their nose. It's disgusting what this tournament director has done and he should be beheaded. He had to cheat his way past Haase and Petzschner with dubious MTOs in 2010, don't forget. A lot of people haven't. The draw helps too btw. He faced big servers before when it was faster and lost. Petzschner was serving bombs and blasting forehands all over the place in 2010 and Nadal used 2 despicable MTOs while losing to eventually "win" 'cos he had no other options in his toolbox to get the better of him. The conditions are definitely a lot slower now in 2019 than 2012 and 2013.

I don't think Fed fans get enough credit for the amount of shit they post. I always used to be the harshest on Nadal fans but this takes the cake.

A) 2 years to be precise? OK. So explain the 5 finals in a row which included 2 wins.
B) He never took a medical time out vs. Haase, so yeah, you're making shit up.
C) Glad to hear the conditions are slower now than in 2012 and 2013. It must mean it's slower than it was in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2011 too, when he had his best results.

Great post.

 

[brokenshoelace]

Heh always funny when the Ralph and Nole tards are like pigs in shit this time of year. Y'all can deal with the bitching instead of rubbing it in that they are playing on this slop. Or in your case you can pretend that Roger prefers a higher and slower bounce, it's done him so well over the years here against Nadal and Djokovic after all.

I'd love to see the Nadal fan reaction if the playing conditions at RG mirrored Madrid clay. And got faster and lower year after year. I'm guessing there would be a lot of bitching.

I never said Roger prefers a higher and slower bounce. I said the higher bounce helps his return and I literally gave you quote in which he, yes, quite literally, said as much.

Oh and by the way, Roland Garros does play faster than it used to. That's a known fact. Your friend @GameSetAndMath can actually attest to that.

 

[DarthFed]

I never said Roger prefers a higher and slower bounce. I said the higher bounce helps his return and I literally gave you quote in which he, yes, quite literally, said as much.

Oh and by the way, Roland Garros does play faster than it used to. That's a known fact. Your friend @GameSetAndMath can actually attest to that.

And there are quotes last year where he said the hot dry conditions made it tough to return big serves because of the higher and quicker bounce off the court. And in prior posts you've flat out said he has benefitted from the grass at Wimbledon being slower. That was a statement on his overall game, not just return.

 

[Front242]

I don't think Fed fans get enough credit for the amount of shit they post. I always used to be the harshest on Nadal fans but this takes the cake.

A) 2 years to be precise? OK. So explain the 5 finals in a row which included 2 wins.
B) He never took a medical time out vs. Haase, so yeah, you're making shit up.
C) Glad to hear the conditions are slower now than in 2012 and 2013. It must mean it's slower than it was in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2011 too, when he had his best results.

Great post.

He definitely took one against Haase while trailing 2 sets to 1 but at least you're not trying to defend against the obviously hugely dubious ones against Petzschner, 2 of the worst abuses of the rules I've ever witnessed and the "included 2 wins" part you mentioned above will always be frowned upon by many given what he had to resort to to get out of jail in those 2 matches and eventually go on to "win" the title. As far as I'm concerned he only legitimately won it once, in 2008. He didn't actually cheat that year at least.

Like I said, the draw helps a lot so of course some years you'll do better than others but any attacking players he's faced and beaten the last few years have had their games fucked over by the conditions and it greatly helped his game as their serves are much easier to return and shots that would normally be winners have to be hit about 5 or 6 times before the point is actually over and often the attacking player who normally would have won the point 5 or 6 shots ago gets pissed off and makes an error. This is just plain wrong. There needs to be at least one damn part of the calendar rewarding attacking tennis at the slams but they've crucified this tournament.

Have you seen how many breaks of serve there are this year? That SHOULD NOT happen on proper grass. Normally a mere break of serve is enough to win a set on grass but in these shit conditions you can break back right away if you put your mind to it.

 

[mrzz]

Nadal in 4.

I await mrzz's narrative.

Oh, on demand is harder, but I'll drink the funny water...

Now wish me luck, fellows. I have a tournament match myself.

 

[tented]

He definitely took one against Haase while trailing 2 sets to 1 but at least you're not trying to defend against the obviously hugely dubious ones against Petzschner, 2 of the worst abuses of the rules I've ever witnessed and the "included 2 wins" part you mentioned above will always be frowned upon by many given what he had to resort to to get out of jail in those 2 matches and eventually go on to "win" the title. As far as I'm concerned he only legitimately won it once, in 2008. He didn't actually cheat that year at least.

Here are two contemporaneous write ups of both the Haase and Petzschner matches, published in the same newspaper. The timeouts are mentioned for the Petzschner match, but not Haase.

 

[tented]

Eleven Years Later, Federer and Nadal to Meet at Wimbledon Once Again / Jon Wertheim

 

[atttomole]

Eleven Years Later, Federer and Nadal to Meet at Wimbledon Once Again / Jon Wertheim

As always, they overhype their matches. I am of the opinion that some of these tennis writers think that the readers are unsophisticated, and unable to make sound assessment of the rivalry.

 

[Ricardo]

Oh, on demand is harder, but I'll drink the funny water...

Now wish me luck, fellows. I have a tournament match myself.

good luck, I hope you can beat Nick and come back with assessment of his tennis.