Did Roger Semi-Tank Montreal Final to Zverev?

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

Nothing wrong with Fed's Miami Vice Don Johnson Sonny Crockett beard!!

 

[TFBlogGuest]

Hartt writes:

Although he probably won't acknowledge it, it was clear Fed was having a physical problem in that match. It showed up when he was serving at 2-2 in the 2nd set. Suddenly his service motion was strange, the speed was way down, and he did not even get into a crouching position when receiving, but stood straight up. Everything points to back pain. (NP) And there are many things wrong with that beard - it makes him look older, slightly villainous, and also his nose appears even bigger than it actually is!

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

Why no injury time out Hartt? Why no stoppage to flex or stretch his back? Like John McEnroe said: "It's been scientifically proven: everything hurts a little more when you're losing!"

 

[TFBlogGuest]

Hartt writes:

I expect he did not take an injury time out because it would not help. It was well along in the match, so not much time for pain killers to take effect, and simply flexing the back would not be enough. I had back problems recently and the only thing that helped was walking back and forth in my apt., over and over again, to ease those back muscles. It was pretty boring! Ironically, what brought on that particular incident was sitting too much watching tennis, but the pain and the stiffness lasted for several days.

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

Hartt; It looked like Fed became disinterested in winning when he realized how well Zverev was playing and that Zverev had an answer for everything Fed threw at him. So Fed dangled the slight hint of a back injury. Without officially showing any injury or speaking of any. Very vague and clever. Until Fed speaks of an official injury we have to assume there was no injury. Funny how people want to rush to believe there was an injury. These people think they are doctors and experts on Fed's body People think there has to be an excuse whenever Fed loses. How about giving Zverev a ton of credit for how well he's playing? Why can't Fed fans do that?

 

[TFBlogGuest]

Hartt writes:

Of course Sascha deserves lots of credit for how he played. I am a big Sascha fan and am perfectly happy that he won the title. But Fed tends to be close-mouthed about injuries, and he played well at the beginning of the 2nd set. There was no reason he could not make a comeback. Then, starting in the fifth game he had a strange stance when serving and, as I said before, did not even get into his usual crouch position when receiving. I don't think he was doing a major acting job. (NP) They just announced that Fed has pulled out of Cincy. I think that says injury loud and clear. Rafa will now be No. 1.

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

Okay it could be an injury. Or damage control. Losing to Zverev who Fed has beaten decisively is a worrisome loss for Team Roger. But it could be an injury, his serve looked slightly different all week but I thought it could be the camera angle or Fed revising or trying to upgrade his serve. Or adapting it because of a possible injury. But he said before the Zverev match his body felt fine. Fed has always been tricky with injuries or illness. The mono, the back, the whatever, always a haze of uncertainty. He's 36 now. He's battling kids old enough to be his son. Who have a lot more hunger and desire. Congrats to Rafa for becoming no. 1 again, this is an incredible achievement for Rafa.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/federer-withdraws-cincinnati-2017

 

[TFBlogGuest]

Duke Carnoustie writes:

I wonder if Fed will play in New York now. I feel there's a chance he may not. Tommy Paul takes down a struggling Donald Young. Folks the DY era is officially over. Scoop you are welcome since I got your back.

 

[TFBlogGuest]

Duke Carnoustie writes:

Bad loss for Lauren Davis. How about this Coco-Keys rematch? Should be fun.

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

Thanks brother. Hope Fed is okay, I'm reasonably sure he will be OK for NY. Though you have to wonder if he's now having motivation issues after winning Wimbledon, such as Djokovic probably had motivation issues after winning French Open last year. Kind of wonder if Federer is going through something like that. There has to be a letdown. And now everyone is gunning after him. Now everyone expects him to win more majors. He's no longer the aging underdog looking for one last hurrah. Bad loss for DY. He hates losing to the young Americans. I saw his fierce intensity level up close vs Kozlov at Newport last year. Young is struggling singles wise. Lots of heartbreaking close losses lately.

 

[TFBlogGuest]

Duke Carnoustie writes:

Meanwhile too many injuries. Nishikori pulled out yesterday, Monfils today. What is going on? Can Berdych, Raonic or Dimitrov step pup and win this week? Probably not.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

Okay it could be an injury. Or damage control. Losing to Zverev who Fed has beaten decisively is a worrisome loss for Team Roger. But it could be an injury, his serve looked slightly different all week but I thought it could be the camera angle or Fed revising or trying to upgrade his serve. Or adapting it because of a possible injury. But he said before the Zverev match his body felt fine. Fed has always been tricky with injuries or illness. The mono, the back, the whatever, always a haze of uncertainty. He's 36 now. He's battling kids old enough to be his son. Who have a lot more hunger and desire. Congrats to Rafa for becoming no. 1 again, this is an incredible achievement for Rafa.

There is no limit to conspiracy theory. Fed clearly wants to finish as YE#1. Cincy is one of his favorite tourneys which he has won multiple times. There is no way on earth will Fed miss Cincy without real injury.

What do you mean damage control? It looks like you are claiming that if Fed withdrew from Cincy (without any real injury), it somehow puts a better perspective on his loss and so he did it. Does not make any sense to me.

 

[TFBlogGuest]

Chazz writes:

That was not a bad loss for Young as much as it was just further proof that Tommy Paul is for real and here to stay. He is 12-3 in his last 15 matches including wins over Fritz, Jaziri, Chung, Muller, Pouille, Ruud, and match points away from beating Nishikori. He gets Isner next. Tiafoe unfortunately gets A. Zverev who I would not bet against to win another masters title this week.

 

[TFBlogGuest]

Jamey writes:

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[Front242]

This thread is f****d sorry. No other way to describe it. Anyone could see Roger was serving like crap all week and 130-170 mph in the 2nd set against Zverev and not attempting to run down balls or return serves that often weren't far away from his reach. He was clearly injured and the talk of saving face by missing Cincinnati where they have one of his absolute favourite courts (and probably mine too as it's one of the fastest left) makes absolutely zero sense. I like Zverev and good on him for winning but let's not get carried away with stupidity either. Not like a guy who serves 51% slow first serves is gonna win. Hopefully he'll be fine by the USO or it won't be the same.

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

I think all players can be vulnerable to manufacturing an injury to diminish a tough loss, especially to a very young player. Like Chris Fowler said he never saw Nadal so mad after a loss as he was to Shapovalov. Losing to kids is extremely frustrating for two reasons, losing hurts and losing to a kid is devastating to the ego. It's a scary reminder that the older player is getting close to the end of his or her career. Jason Stoltenberg told me one of the reasons he decided to retire was he knew he just could not beat certain players anymore like young Hewitt. I just didn't see enough noticeable sign of injury, would have liked to see more. But what the heck, we can buy this injury and hope it's minor and he will be back for the next tournament, which I think is that tournament they call the US Open

 

[Front242]

I don't get this talk of manufacturing an injury when anyone could see he was serving like crap, netting routine balls, not moving for balls even when they weren't far away and not attempting to return serves. Time to accept he was injured and move on from this silliness.

He spanked him in Halle when healthy and his movement there was light years different than last night. It's not like he aged a ton since Wimbledon. He said he didn't practice since Wimbledon. What he did was basically like going straight for your heaviest bench press with no warm up. A bit dumb and he learnt the hard way but hopefully he'll be ok with 2 weeks rest.

 

[Front242]

http://www.express.co.uk/sport/tennis/840672/Roger-Federer-US-Open-Alexander-Zverev-Canada

"The Wimbledon champion's movement was severely restricted in the Rogers Cup final against the fourth seed Alexander Zverev."


Sky Sports pundit Annabel Croft believes it was a recurrence of that back injury that left Federer stricken during the second set.

"There was a point which Zverev ended up winning where [Federer] was pulled from pillar to post and had to change directions quite a bit,"

"I don’t know whether he tweaked his back but after that when he was serving, suddenly the motion went right off.

"There was no rhythm in it and he wasn’t able to rotate in the back and shoulders.

"The speed of the serve came right off and it was very, very apparent. On the returns of serve he just wasn’t moving.

"Even the walk around the court was a little bit reminiscent of how Andy Murray was walking at Wimbledon."

 

[Front242]

^ Seems most people could see he was clearly hampered.