Australian Open Final 2018: Federer v Cilic

[Federberg]

In the previous golden era we look at the Borg-McEnroe rivalry as the best, but we still talk about Connor-Borg (I'll chase him all over the world!) and Lendl-Mac, and Mac-Connors. So how you think Novak will be dismissed is stunning to me. Anyway... I get it.. logic is only a bystander in your argument here.

 

[Front242]

No, he can get there using his standard schedule without tweaking it for this purpose.

Just taking the piss/extracting the urine, etc Connors' 106 titles sounds incredible on paper but he played an absolute ton of mickey mouse tournaments so Roger reaching 100 with the ones he plays is a different story altogether.

 

[shawnbm]

^ Connors was a fave of mine, but the above by Front is correct on number and quality of titles won.

 

[Federberg]

Just taking the piss/extracting the urine, etc Connors' 106 titles sounds incredible on paper but he played an absolute ton of mickey mouse tournaments so Roger reaching 100 with the ones he plays is a different story altogether.

That's true, but he's so close now mate. I want him to at least match it. It would be rude not to!

 

[Moxie]

Sorry Moxie I'm pretty sure you know you're wrong there. We're not talking about tomorrow. We're talking about decades from now. No one's going to know who won a slam last between Novak and Rafa. They'll just see the numbers. You might want to trivialise Novak. But a guy who won 4 in a row doesn't get dismissed easily. And if your narrative of H2H mattering is to make any sense it gets dismissed even less easily. Face it... if you want to argue H2H matters, Novak cannot be dismissed. You I fear are trying to have your cake and eat it. Get over it... it's eaten!

Funny, you're the one that keeps harping on the h2h. I'm telling you it's the narrative that will live on. The narrative is the Fedal rivalry. I left off the h2h ages ago. Don't try to do a bait-and-switch on me. That's beneath you. I'm not trivializing Novak: the sportswriters have already done that. They've admitted that they love him less that Federer-Nadal, and last year solidified it.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Just taking the piss/extracting the urine, etc Connors' 106 titles sounds incredible on paper but he played an absolute ton of mickey mouse tournaments so Roger reaching 100 with the ones he plays is a different story altogether.

I don't care about Connor's 106 precisely for that reason. But, reaching 100 is another story, will be a good achievement. 63 of them (thus far) are already big titles for Roger.

 

[Front242]

^ Connors was a fave of mine, but the above by Front is correct on number and quality of titles won.

I liked him as well but just calling a spade a spade.

 

[Federberg]

^ Connors was a fave of mine, but the above by Front is correct on number and quality of titles won.

I'll forever remember Connors for my favourite ever 5 set come back against Penfors

 

[britbox]

Yeah, fair points - some of the old pros tournaments were rinky dink round robins... almost church fete tennis tournaments with a field of 8 (including the vicar).... It's not comparable to the current structured tour. Having said that, we know who the top ballers were and Connors was amongst them. Jimbo is an all time great but tournament titles isn't really a like for like comparison.

 

[britbox]

I'll forever remember Connors for my favourite ever 5 set come back against Penfors

I remember watching that live. I was in bed with a virus... it was an all time classic comeback.

 

[Moxie]

It's all good Moxie. Let the bitterness out. God knows I've been bitter all too many times due to your boy.

This era will be remembered for having 3 of the greatest ever including arguably the 2 greatest of all time. Djokovic certainly is a part of the discussion even if he is truly done. Ultimately while the Fedal rivalry will be a big part of it people will dissect their careers and records and currently Nadal is very far behind. I hope Rog still sees him as a threat in that regard because I still do though chances are thankfully getting less and less.

It's not bitterness. Just sharp elbows angling for Rafa. I don't see how you see him as "far behind." You, yourself are always angling for Roger to win, like today, because Rafa is still in the hunt. How do you square that?

 

[Federberg]

Funny, you're the one that keeps harping on the h2h. I'm telling you it's the narrative that will live on. The narrative is the Fedal rivalry. I left off the h2h ages ago. Don't try to do a bait-and-switch on me. That's beneath you. I'm not trivializing Novak: the sportswriters have already done that. They've admitted that they love him less that Federer-Nadal, and last year solidified it.

Whoa there! What kind of game are you trying to play now? Are you really trying to suggest that I brought up H2H? You must have mixed things up. That ain't me. No sir! H2H is stupid and irrelevant to me. And if you don't know that already then you haven't been reading my posts for the last decade

 

[Federberg]

^Oh and by the way, the sports writers didn't particularly like Lendl either. He's still firmly ensconced in the first golden age. You might like it to be otherwise, but what makes this era remarkable isn't Fedal. It's the fact there were 3 all time greats competing against each other at the same time

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

Congrats to my guy ! I will watch the taped match later. I sure did not expect a five setter win again but I think having cruised through the tournament and not having to play the full semi might have helped in the 5th? Like I said , I did not watch so just speculating. I am happy. 20 is a nice number Congrats to all fellow Roger fans too.

 

[DarthFed]

It's not bitterness. Just sharp elbows angling for Rafa. I don't see how you see him as "far behind." You, yourself are always angling for Roger to win, like today, because Rafa is still in the hunt. How do you square that?

4 majors and a much better non-major resume is a big difference. The difference between them right now is more than an Andy Murray career.

The problem if Fed retires or simply falls off is that the field is so incredibly weak right now it leaves the door wide open for Nadal.

 

[Federberg]

BREAKING NEWS!!

Barbara Schett on Eurosport pointed out to Roger that he hadn’t mentioned coming back next year. Roger replied that he hadn’t realised, but he was just trying to get the speech over. He definitely hopes to come back next year.

Hoooray!

 

[lob]

It's all good Moxie. Let the bitterness out. God knows I've been bitter all too many times due to your boy.

This era will be remembered for having 3 of the greatest ever including arguably the 2 greatest of all time. Djokovic certainly is a part of the discussion even if he is truly done. Ultimately while the Fedal rivalry will be a big part of it people will dissect their careers and records and currently Nadal is very far behind. I hope Rog still sees him as a threat in that regard because I still do though chances are thankfully getting less and less.

Rafa has made a habit of visiting Paris every summer and getting himself a trophy as an annual souvenir. It'll take him several years to kick this severe addiction. After leaving Paris, he occasionally can't help himself and gets himself a trophy from NYC or London or Melbourne. He cannot kick this secondary addiction before kicking the severe Paris addiction.

 

[DarthFed]

^ id change that to just NYC. He thankfully hasn't bitten down on the other two since 2010 and 2009 respectively.

 

[atttomole]

Rafa has made a habit of visiting Paris every summer and getting himself a trophy as an annual souvenir. It'll take him several years to kick this severe addiction. After leaving Paris, he occasionally can't help himself and gets himself a trophy from NYC or London or Melbourne. He cannot kick this secondary addiction before kicking the severe Paris addiction.

Rafa can still surpass Roger. That is why we Fed fans think he should continue playing, so that he can increase the distance between him and Rafa.

 

[the AntiPusher]

The temperature hit 38C (100F) an hour before the men's final and the tournament organizers issued a statement saying that the WGBT reading was 32.7C (91F) at that time.

"With no dramatic reduction forecast, the referee exercised his discretion and called for the roof to be closed," Tennis Australia said in a statement. "At no other time during the event this year has the WBGT reading reached the threshold."

That’s BS..Ok explain why Novak and Gael played in higher temperatures