At which majors will Roger Federer be able to make a final?

[Riotbeard]

I don't understand the poll. Are you asking which Slams he WILL make the Final at, or which he COULD?

If the latter my answer is "any and all." Roger COULD make the final at any Slam; I'd say he's at least even odds to beat almost anyone except for the Big Three and maybe Berdych. But he's proven he can still beat Del Potro, probably can still beat Tsonga, I assume would still beat Ferrer, etc. So a favorable draw at any Slam, plus an upset or two by one of the Big Three, and Roger is in the Final.

But if the question is, which of the four Slams WILL he reach the Final in, my answer would be "probably not any." I mean, its possible at any of them, but at any particular Slam the odds are against him.

I do think he'll reach one Final in 2014. He probably won't win it, but I have a hunch he'll make it to one.

I generally agree with this. His best chance is at wimbledon. Outside of a clearing of the draw, I don't see him having much of any chance of making a final at RG, but you never know.

 

[shawnbm]

I have not read all the threads, but it seems to me the surface that historically has been his best and easiest to win on is grass. SW19 is, to my mind, the one place he could still "catch fire" and do well on. A big part of that will be his service. He needs to be serving well against the top four to have a decent chance at winning. It is still the surface where he naturally can play a more attacking game, the ball stays relatively lower and skids, and he can volley with more confidence than on clay or hard court. Furthermore, there is an intangible playing at a place where you have dominated for a decade. Make no mistake--Rafa's last major victory will likely be where he scored his first, in Paris. Has that already happened for Roger or does he have one more record breaking win to grasp? That it is a hard one to figure after the dismal 2013 he had. Then again, he may see this as nowhere to go but up; he can still make many of the top players look ordinary for large patches of matches. Can he reign in his game in terms of UFEs? We will see.

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

but don't state your opinion as fact.

Eh, if we all did that, might as well shut the forum down, brother! :snigger

aint that the truth :idea:

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

Wimbledon defo..its more likely than hitler making a comeback anyway..i think.

and United states open is still a viewable blob on the screen of the federerdar.

Two slam semis would be his upside this year. There are no slam finals in his future.

Cheers

TM

so what, don't quote me telling me I am wrong when you cannot prove it, I don't care what you think, I don't have to get your permission to post messages on what i feel could happen..

its what I think he could do..thats how forums work innit. :s

and whats that guff about "there are no slam finals in his future" :huh: you cannot see into the future..so Federer could have major finals in his future, if you think he cannot do that then that's your opinion,

but don't state your opinion as fact.

Uuuuuuuuummmm....what?

How is my prediction of NO slam finals different from other people's predictions that there will be some? This is an opinion poll.

Seriously, did you slip and hit your head? What in the world could have caused you to have such an overreaction to an opinion different from yours?

And coming from a guy who apparently loves Borg as much as I do, this is pretty surprising!

Cheers (?)

TM

you presented it as a fact..not as an opinion, and you quoted my opinion with your fact for some reason. :huh:

however, I was not in the greatest mood when I poasted, so sorry if It was ott.

 

[masterclass]

El Dude, my apologies for any confusion.

If we could categorize the chances as practically no chance, small chance, fair chance, good chance, excellent chance, then let's say at least a fair chance.

As an example, at his best, one would probably say he had an excellent chance to win three of the four with a small chance of winning the 4th - because of one player's dominance. I don't think this is the case anymore, but he could prove me wrong.

I couldn't put each chance level for each major in the options, so that is why I'm saying at least a fair chance.

Let's see, my opinion if I were to break it down:

Australian Open - fair chance - Draw has to open for him somewhat, because by the time they get to the semifinal, all matches are at night and the court is pitifully slow, but still bounces relatively high. He has almost no chance against Nadal or Djokovic unless they are playing poorly. Against Murray is a better chance, especially in the upcoming year because of his time off for surgery.

Roland Garros - small chance - Rafa is still playing well, and at this point Federer is probably better off for Wimbledon not going deep at Roland Garros. However, if Rafa were to go out early, it might be incentive to put in the effort. Federer has been the second best at RG historically, even if 2012-2013 didn't reflect that. In 2012, make no mistake, Federer had Wimbledon as the goal, squarely in his sights, and would not risk it trying to put in a big effort (play long points) against both Djokovic and Nadal at RG. In 2013, Federer was clearly on a working vacation.

Wimbledon - still an excellent chance when healthy - Throw out the Stakhovsky match. There is no better player on the grass today when Federer is anywhere near his best, other than a freakish performance, like Tsonga of 2011 where Tsonga played an otherworldly level, especially on serve for the last 3 sets. Murray would also have an excellent chance of course, but I'd put my money on Federer if they were to meet in a final as long as his prior match was not too exhausting, like his 5 set with 4 tiebreakers equivalent match against Del Potro in the Olympics; pretty tough on a 31 year old to recover to play a player of Murray's caliber. So hopefully for both, they are not on the same side of the draw.

US Open - good chance - as others have stated, there are enough players that can play a high enough level on for a single match to give Roger trouble in the present conditions on Arthur Ashe Stadium court, which has definitely been slowed over the last few years in my opinion, along with most of the other hard court tournaments. Players that used to relish the previous medium-fast conditions no longer do as well there, and players that used to barely reach semifinals are doing better. If they would stop putting so much sand or grit in the paint they use, players like Djokovic wouldn't be able to slide on a hard court like it was clay because of the level of sand/silicate in the top layer of paint, which creates more friction and slows play down, especially with certain types of balls.

Respectfully,
masterclass

 

[DarthFed]

El Dude, my apologies for any confusion.

If we could categorize the chances as practically no chance, small chance, fair chance, good chance, excellent chance, then let's say at least a fair chance.

As an example, at his best, one would probably say he had an excellent chance to win three of the four with a small chance of winning the 4th - because of one player's dominance. I don't think this is the case anymore, but he could prove me wrong.

I couldn't put each chance level for each major in the options, so that is why I'm saying at least a fair chance.

Let's see, my opinion if I were to break it down:

Australian Open - fair chance - Draw has to open for him somewhat, because by the time they get to the semifinal, all matches are at night and the court is pitifully slow, but still bounces relatively high. He has almost no chance against Nadal or Djokovic unless they are playing poorly. Against Murray is a better chance, especially in the upcoming year because of his time off for surgery.

Roland Garros - small chance - Rafa is still playing well, and at this point Federer is probably better off for Wimbledon not going deep at Roland Garros. However, if Rafa were to go out early, it might be incentive to put in the effort. Federer has been the second best at RG historically, even if 2012-2013 didn't reflect that. In 2012, make no mistake, Federer had Wimbledon as the goal, squarely in his sights, and would not risk it trying to put in a big effort (play long points) against both Djokovic and Nadal at RG. In 2013, Federer was clearly on a working vacation.

Wimbledon - still an excellent chance when healthy - Throw out the Stakhovsky match. There is no better player on the grass today when Federer is anywhere near his best, other than a freakish performance, like Tsonga of 2011 where Tsonga played an otherworldly level, especially on serve for the last 3 sets. Murray would also have an excellent chance of course, but I'd put my money on Federer if they were to meet in a final as long as his prior match was not too exhausting, like his 5 set with 4 tiebreakers equivalent match against Del Potro in the Olympics; pretty tough on a 31 year old to recover to play a player of Murray's caliber. So hopefully for both, they are not on the same side of the draw.

US Open - good chance - as others have stated, there are enough players that can play a high enough level on for a single match to give Roger trouble in the present conditions on Arthur Ashe Stadium court, which has definitely been slowed over the last few years in my opinion, along with most of the other hard court tournaments. Players that used to relish the previous medium-fast conditions no longer do as well there, and players that used to barely reach semifinals are doing better. If they would stop putting so much sand or grit in the paint they use, players like Djokovic wouldn't be able to slide on a hard court like it was clay because of the level of sand/silicate in the top layer of paint, which creates more friction and slows play down, especially with certain types of balls.

Respectfully,
masterclass

Sounds pretty ambitious to me. Roger's 2012 run at Wimbledon shows how dangerous he still can be there but the rest of the 2010-2013 grass play has been suspect at best. Tsonga was made to look incredible in 2011 by Roger's ROS and vanilla baseline play. It's the power hitters that have really taken it to him the last few years on grass and then even guys like Stakhovsky and Benneteau have troubled or beaten him. Roger winning there again would look eerily similar to 2012...survive the first week and then catch some fire the 2nd week.

Agreed about the USO slowing down. He didn't do himself favors in 2009 -2012 with those ugly losses but now I wonder if his time has passed there, especially as the conditions seem to have slowed down. The last 2 losses were blowouts to Berd and Robredo, that kind of says it all.

 

[Tennis Miller]

Wimbledon defo..its more likely than hitler making a comeback anyway..i think.

and United states open is still a viewable blob on the screen of the federerdar.

Two slam semis would be his upside this year. There are no slam finals in his future.

Cheers

TM

so what, don't quote me telling me I am wrong when you cannot prove it, I don't care what you think, I don't have to get your permission to post messages on what i feel could happen..

its what I think he could do..thats how forums work innit. :s

and whats that guff about "there are no slam finals in his future" :huh: you cannot see into the future..so Federer could have major finals in his future, if you think he cannot do that then that's your opinion,

but don't state your opinion as fact.

Uuuuuuuuummmm....what?

How is my prediction of NO slam finals different from other people's predictions that there will be some? This is an opinion poll.

Seriously, did you slip and hit your head? What in the world could have caused you to have such an overreaction to an opinion different from yours?

And coming from a guy who apparently loves Borg as much as I do, this is pretty surprising!

Cheers (?)

TM

you presented it as a fact..not as an opinion, and you quoted my opinion with your fact for some reason. :huh:

however, I was not in the greatest mood when I poasted, so sorry if It was ott.

No worries. Even Borg had bad days...(I BELIEVE...)

Cheers

TM