Did Roger Semi-Tank Montreal Final to Zverev?

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

I disagree. It was a great match great battle until the last ten minutes. Fed wanted it and fought hard but Zverev had all the answers. Zverev has won ten matches in a row. He has won his first two Masters 1000 titles at a younger age than it Federer to do the same. In a sense Zverev career is actually ahead of Fed's at the same age. Funny how people dont want to give Zverev the credit he deserves. Just about every time Federer loses there is usually some kind of excuse attached to the loss.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

I disagree. It was a great match great battle until the last ten minutes. Fed wanted it and fought hard but Zverev had all the answers. Zverev has won ten matches in a row. He has won his first two Masters 1000 titles at a younger age than it Federer to do the same. In a sense Zverev career is actually ahead of Fed's at the same age. Funny how people dont want to give Zverev the credit he deserves. Just about every time Federer loses there is usually some kind of excuse attached to the loss.

That is a ridiculous claim. In fact most often, there are no excuses when Fed loses. Just to give one example, none of us Feddies have any excuse for his loss against Stakhovsky. Stak just did brilliant S&V which Fed was not expecting and could not control. That is just one example. In fact, there are very few losses of Fed for which something else was a factor (Note: a factor is a contributing cause and not the sole cause - that is the difference between excuse and factor). On the contrary it is actually well known to everyone that an uninjured Rafa never loses a match to anybody.

Independent of whether Fed was injured or not, AZ deserves full credit. There is no attempt here to deny him credit.

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

Game set and math; Fed fans are an eccentric lot. A Nadal fan was telling me in Washington DC that Fed fans go to his practice court FOUR HOURS early. And when people ask Fed fans for info about Fed's practice that day, they don't tell! She said Rafa fans are much cooler and helpful. Look, I'm not criticizing Fed. A lot of top players claim injury or subtly and non verbally HINT of something being wrong. Fed has done this with his back, knee, mono, junior slap shot (lol). It's normal for elite players to use sophisticated excuse making which the fans and media pick up the hints and trumpet them loud and clear. Not every player is 100% truthful. They have an agenda and it's their business to convince the public and the other players that they lost a certain match for a reason, not because they were outplayed. I mean no disrespect to Fed or Rafa, it's just the way I believe they conduct business.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

That may be the general tactic of elite players (Fed included) and I can agree with that. But, the fact that Fed withdrew from Cincy, a tourney that is played on the fastest hard courts on the circuit, a tourney that he has won 7 times should bring you down to common sense from the conspiracy theory mode. Further, this withdrawal happens when he is in a tight race for YE#1 with his arch rival. Do you think that Fed found it so important to give the impression that he lost to AZ only because he is injured, that he would just donate an easy 1000 points to Rafa that too when the race is so tight. I can't understand why anyone with common sense would doubt this.

p.s.1. Yes, Fed said he is healthy going in to the finals. But, no player would say they are injured and sick before a match.

p.s.2. In Australia this year, 3000 people watched Fed practice.

p.s.3. Fed actually broadcast a live one hour practice session last Decemer from Dubai. Many of us watched it live. However, I do agree that sometimes top players want to practice in a secluded manner to retain competitive advantage w.r.t. niggling injuries and also w.r.t. new tricks being developed.

 

[TFBlogGuest]

scoopmalinowski writes:

Us open is the focus not cincy. He will get to no 1 soon.

 

[Busted]

Question for Scoop - so, in your estimation did young Sascha Zverev "semi-tank" the Tiafoe match in Cincy? Just wondering since you said players do that a lot so they can rest before a Slam. I mean, he's 20 and he had nearly 3 days of rest after the Montreal final. Surely he wasn't as "fatigued" as some outlets claimed? :lulz2:And I'm being sarcastic in case you couldn't tell...

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

Bust, I only saw the highlights but I asked another tennis journalist if it looked like a semi-tank and he said Zverev "was up a break in the third but then seemed to run out of gas." Tough to say. I would guess Zverev was a bit mentally fried and Tiafoe was super intense as if playing one of the biggest matches of his life. If Zverev plays Tiafoe first round in US Open, I would think Zverev wins in four or three. But who knows? Who knows how much self belief Tiafoe picks up from this valuable win.

 

[Busted]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

Bust, I only saw the highlights but I asked another tennis journalist if it looked like a semi-tank and he said Zverev "was up a break in the third but then seemed to run out of gas." Tough to say. I would guess Zverev was a bit mentally fried and Tiafoe was super intense as if playing one of the biggest matches of his life. If Zverev plays Tiafoe first round in US Open, I would think Zverev wins in four or three. But who knows? Who knows how much self belief Tiafoe picks up from this valuable win.

LOL! You took me seriously. I was "giving you the biz" as Wally used to say to Beaver... It's all good...

 

[scoop]

Scoop Malinowski writes:

You cannot be unserious!