[article] Shameful Federer Betrayed Spirit of Sport

[Federberg]

^Too funny!

 

[DarthFed]

But how is it showing respect when Fed doesn't turn up for the closing ceremony and doesn't congratulate the winning champ after the competition? To me, it sounds like sourest of grapes. Roger said he "cannot compete at the same level with Novak", which is fair enough but why throw in an invented injury and run off? Should've stayed on, watched the exhibition match, participated in the ceremony. Things would've looked OK then. But to make a lame excuse, take the money and run doesn't somehow cut it....

Invented injury? He must be really terrified of Djokovic to invent an injury ahead of the 5th biggest final of the season. :cover I say it now and say it again, Nole and Rafa fans have no room to talk about someone wussing out of an event, and shady crap like fake medical timeouts, etc.

Come on Darth, nobody realistically thinks Federer chickened out. He couldn't play because he was injured. End of story. But there's no need to slag off Rafa, who's missed chunks of his peak through injury. :Nono

Did you see the post I responded to? That new poster was talking about Roger inventing an injury...Also Dear Miss Billie has been throwing a little poison around implying Roger should have played, wasn't hurt that bad, etc.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

[video=youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iNVyUxmWi0[/video]



:lolz:

 

[DarthFed]

Also, wait wait wait wait wait, when the hell has Nadal ever "wussied out of an event," Darth?

I never said he has but when you have fans (mostly Nole fans) question if Roger is really hurt and criticize him for not playing it is rather humorous when you compare each of their histories.

Though one could argue Rafa wussed out of AO 2013 with a tummy ache a few weeks before the event...but water under the bridge

 

[Kieran]

You could, but he didn't, so you won't...

 

[DarthFed]

^ All roads lead to venom

 

[Kieran]

The thing is, most of these things fall down along party lines, but nobody could reasonably suggest that Federer ever ducked a battle by feigning injury. Likewise, nobody could say the same about Rafa. These things get said, but they shouldn't be, because then it escalates into people finding stupid reasons to justify something that was stupid to begin with.

And I'm not saying this to slate the poster you're responding to, because we all post stuff in the heat of the hunt, but nobody can accuse these blokes of being shy when it comes to a big match...

 

[brokenshoelace]

Though one could argue Rafa wussed out of AO 2013 with a tummy ache a few weeks before the event...but water under the bridge

He sure found his courage rather quickly thereafter.

 

[DarthFed]

^ Miracle recovery from the tummy ache

 

[brokenshoelace]

^ Miracle recovery from the tummy ache

Stem cells.

 

[Billie]

Did you see the post I responded to? That new poster was talking about Roger inventing an injury...Also Dear Miss Billie has been throwing a little poison around implying Roger should have played, wasn't hurt that bad, etc.

Yes, I admit, I am having some fun with the situation, I am entitled, I think, after all the crap receiving as a Nole fan.

What I think is that Federer was tired, then had to fight with Wawrinka late into night, never got his proper and usual post match massage and recuperation so when he woke up the next morning, he was sore. I believe that. As to how much he was hurting and if he could have played or not, that is open to personal interpretation and it is just a matter of how much you believe Roger, and how much others don't believe him. But no, anybody who disagrees with his highness is a troll. :snigger

Somebody who has been in finals over 100 times is not aware of proper ATP etiquette when it comes to trophy ceremonies? I guess it is possible. Let's give him the benefit of the doubt. I usually do it with everybody.

 

[Billie]

His health has been incredible. Had he been unable to finish a match, however, he would have stopped during one...

:clap It is amazing that the guy has never had any major health issues. His fans should be happy about it too.

 

[Garro]

Does that really make sense to you though? Roger has had played much tougher 3 set matches than the one against Stan in the semifinals, without needing to withdraw from his next match. Given that, and the fact that he's only had to withdraw from 2 previous matches in his career, it seems much more likely that he really did feel that he couldn't play the match. Or that if he did, it would make his current injury worse in the long run. I don't see any independent reason to think that the injury is just something Roger is making up or exaggerating.

 

[DarthFed]

His health has been incredible. Had he been unable to finish a match, however, he would have stopped during one...

:clap It is amazing that the guy has never had any major health issues. His fans should be happy about it too.

His back had been an issue since 2008. Not consistently (except possibly 2013) but he has had spasms on numerous occasions since then and it has been the cause of the 3 withdrawals in his career.

 

[I.Haychew]

My proposal...
Phrom now on, no one plays unless they are absolutely 100+% phit/healthy. Looks like no more tennis. Shut down phorum.

 

[TsarMatt]

I'm actually quite surprised at how overblown this has all become. Not anyone here, mind you, but just in general - I've seen the words 'traitor', 'disgusting', and 'terrible' been attributed to his decision on withdrawing from the final.

I mean, this is not the 'Nard Dog' Bernard Tomic we're talking about. This is arguably one of - if not the best - ambassador the sport has ever had, and just a really humble guy in general.

 

[Federberg]

I'm actually quite surprised at how overblown this has all become. Not anyone here, mind you, but just in general - I've seen the words 'traitor', 'disgusting', and 'terrible' been attributed to his decision on withdrawing from the final.

I mean, this is not the 'Nard Dog' Bernard Tomic we're talking about. This is arguably one of - if not the best - ambassador the sport has ever had, and just a really humble guy in general.

I'm not surprised at all. This is the classic M.O of the British media. If they can destroy an icon they'll go for it. The fact that they haven't had much of an opportunity to nail Federer over the years, makes this a feeding frenzy for them. All they care about is getting the reader numbers up. I can only imagine that Federer and Beckham are their white whales

 

[Kieran]

My proposal...
Phrom now on, no one plays unless they are absolutely 100+% phit/healthy. Looks like no more tennis. Shut down phorum.

Nah, we'd still talk about it. Obviously if there's so many withdrawals, there's a lot of yella bellied chickens out there...

 

[bajana]

His health has been incredible. Had he been unable to finish a match, however, he would have stopped during one...

:clap It is amazing that the guy has never had any major health issues. His fans should be happy about it too.

His back had been an issue since 2008. Not consistently (except possibly 2013) but he has had spasms on numerous occasions since then and it has been the cause of the 3 withdrawals in his career.

Small correction: his back has been an issue long before 2008. In 2003 Wimbledon, R16 I think it was, in a match against Lopez, he almost had to withdraw. He was treated for back spasms right after the warmup and before the match actually started. His 1st slam at Wimbledon 2003 almost wasn't.

 

[brokenshoelace]

Just because someone has had back issues in 2003 doesn't mean he's been having back issues SINCE 2003.