A Place for Fedfans to whine and mourn

[El Dude]

This thread, that is. If you aren't a Fedfan you are welcome in this thread, but don't pick on us for however we choose to whine about Federer :cry. For the sadists out there just sit back and enjoy your schadenfreude in silence. :snigger

Anyhow, I noticed that Roger has now missed the second week in four of his last seven Slams. Not a good rate. I don't want to claim that the sky is falling, and Roger did win a tournament already this year, but every time he goes out early in a Slam it is hard not to feel a bit panicky - and he's gone out early more often than not in his last seven tries.

I think the difference between Federer now and what he used to be, and how he is nowhere near the same class as Djokovic and Nadal, can be defined as in how he now relies upon the luck of the draw and how others play. Novak and Rafa can beat anyone, no matter how they are playing. Roger used to be like that, but it has been years.

Anyhow, its a bummer but what can you do? The thing I don't like about tennis and part of why it will probably always be my #2 sport behind baseball is that fandom is centered on individual players rather than teams. Teams are perennial, even if they go through cycles, while players rise and fall and don't come back. There's simply no replacing Roger once he's gone.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

crycry:cry


:-/:-/:-/:-/:-/


:cover:cover:cover:cover:cover



crycry:cry

 

[Riotbeard]

Booooooo! You have nothing to whine about. Your defies his age, but this has to happen sometimes.

But if it makes you feel better.

:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug:hug

 

[nehmeth]

Self-banned from this page... I don't want to pick on you guys.

 

[DarthFed]

Good points made in the OP. The difference now is that Roger can't survive the bad days because they are just a whole lot badder than they used to be. People used to talk about him as though he was never off and had unparalleled consistency but I never bought into it. Roger had bad matches back in the day but he was simply way better than everyone except for Nadal on clay and had too many options so unless everything was misfiring he could often pull it out.

The writing is on the wall in a way. It's not just that he hasn't won any of the last 10 majors, it's about only getting to 1 final and 3 other semis in that span. So he is not consistently going deep anymore and giving himself chances to win. From RG 2010 to Wimbledon 2012 he only won 1 of those 10 slams but he missed just 3 semis, had 1 other final and had 2 semis he was a point away from winning. So basically he is a lot farther off. I still think he wins Wimbledon this year because he will be desperate. Nadal is still alive and well and aiming to put a monstrous dent in Roger's legacy by passing him in slams. It is imperative Roger wins 1 or 2 more, this nonsense of having nothing to play for anymore is funny.

 

[herios]

I promise I will be civilized

I am not sure if I will comfort you guys with this, but at his age these type of inconsistencies are to be expected. One day he can still play like a genius, the next like your average top 100.
I still think he will be in the conversation for a while, and he will always be among the favorites, setting new milestones and records. But, unless he gets really lucky, the slams tally will not change.

 

[shawnbm]

Roger can still go deep and even win a major--something I would not be surprised he would be able to do again. But, he is not the consistently great player he once was, even if he is still better than 98% of the tour week in and week out. He just is not able to overcome mediocre days as well as he used to. In short, he is more "gettable" for top 50 players than ever before. If his service is off, it gets even easier (he has been hanging by his service for at least three years now). The change in racquet and his improved movement has helped him recapture some of his lost form, but he and his game have been around so long--dissected and analyzed by so many coaches--that he has to remain sharp to beat all the guys on the way to a major final. The guys will soon be doing this to Nadal and Nole--some may think it has already started. In a matter of a year or two, guys like Kei and Milos and Grigor and Nick will be doing deeper and deeper.

 

[brokenshoelace]

As long as Nadal fans don't have to make a similar thread soon, I'll leave you guys alone in fear of bad karma.

 

[El Dude]

Riffing off of DarthFed, it is easy to forget that Roger has always gone out early in a handful of tournaments each year - in his prime they just weren't Slams, though. I've got a couple charts I'll post later that depicts Roger's performance in an interesting way, but got to get ready for work!

 

[Federberg]

I refuse to whine. To me it would be like a Man Utd supporter crying about the last couple of years. It would be utterly self indulgent. I don't expect him to win everything like the old days. And losses like that are going to happen more and more. I'll enjoy the good days, and I can walk away from the bad days now. It's all gravy baby..

 

[DarthFed]

Riffing off of DarthFed, it is easy to forget that Roger has always gone out early in a handful of tournaments each year - in his prime they just weren't Slams, though. I've got a couple charts I'll post later that depicts Roger's performance in an interesting way, but got to get ready for work!

If the non-slams mattered that much we'd be talking about how amazing Roger's 2014 was and we'd be saying that Roger in 2008 and 2009 was worse in comparison.

 

[tented]

Oh, good. It's just a thread. I was worried you were proposing I change the name of the site.



[Exit stage right ...]

 

[ftan]

Oh well, I will join you in mourning and really I mean, I have been mourning since thursday..
Till now (maybe I was living in a world of expectations) was thinking him going out 2nd round of wimby and 4 th round of us open was just an anomaly. Not anymore.. I am trying to get realistic and not expecting too much.. but its difficult/devastating to see your guy go out so early.. Second week means nothing to me now

 

[Fiero425]

I don't understand what anyone has to whine about? Federer is still #2 in the world and wasn't going to win this tourney anyway! His half of the draw was loaded with 2 or 3 of his nemesises! It stands out that he's the only top seed not to make the quarters! The women's draw was decimated early on while form has held for the men except for Roger! It had to happen sooner or later! I expected the other men to get these upsets more often, but overall they're still gutless and don't know how to finish when they have huge leads! Rafa should be gone as well, but he was saved by a weak-minded competitor!

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

Here is the issue in a nutshell: We (fed fans) all know whatever Roger wins at this point is gravy. We know we should ease up on the expectations. But the problem is, every time Roger picks up a racket and goes on the court, we know there is the possibility of magic happening and we just cannot help but think "Why not NOW?"

As long as Roger plays, that will not change. HE believes it is always on his racket and for the most part , we do too.

 

[El Dude]

I couldn't have said it better or as well myself, 1972Murat.

 

[DarthFed]

It ain't gravy. The best athletes are ones that think ahead, and in this case Roger doesn't have to think far into the future to picture Rafa with as many or more slams than him. 17 is awesome now, will it be in a couple years? Roger should be feeling desperate right now and that's why a loss to a total journeyman in the 3rd round is pretty alarming.

 

[TsarMatt]

 

[atttomole]

Some of us Fed fans could be in denial. Even though we knew that a time like this would come, it is still hard to accept, now that the time has come. I have to admit I could hardly recognize Fed when he played against Seppi.

 

[Correspondent Kiu]

I am a Tennis fan, not a Fed Fan!

:cry

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