Dubai Duty Free Championships, UAE, ATP 500

[DarthFed]

6 points on the trot to blow the match wow

 

[the AntiPusher]

5 Points in a row and the kid has another MP in the TB! OMG! ...Roger blew it losing 6 pt. str.! Game over! :clap

I never seen Roger come apart like that before

 

[herios]

Donskoy the kid...is 26 y old :huh:

 

[sid]

oye oye Donskoy.clap:clap

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

Weird match...congrats to Donskoy.

 

[Fiero425]

5 Points in a row and the kid has another MP in the TB! OMG! ...Roger blew it losing 6 pt. str.! Game over! :clap

I never seen Roger come apart like that before

It had to happen sooner or later! He was depending on the kid to choke giving him his chance, but he blew it!

 

[Fiero425]

Donskoy the kid...is 26 y old :huh:

Compared to grandpa Fed, Donskoy's a babe in the woods! Never heard of him! It's been happening to Nadal; bound to happen to the GOAT! I just hope those dreamers making out this was Roger's 2nd coming after his AO win reflect and try to be more rational and judicious with predictions of extending his career records further as if the tour will allow it without a fight! #1's off the table! :nono :cover - - http://fiero4251.blogspot.com/2016/08/fan-page-novak-nole-djokovic.html - -

 

[sid]

I think for now the number 1 spot belongs to the Big 2 atm,thay are both miles away from the rest in ranking points.

 

[britbox]

Just woke up to that news @Twisted. 6 pts on the spin? Jeez....

 

[DarthFed]

Only one bad miss in there and that came on MP, he hit 4 winners in a row to get to 5-5 and then had a service winner to make it 6-5. The guy played tremendous but obviously Roger had every opportunity to win, 3 MP's in the 2nd set TB and 1 or 2 bad misses there. Then serving for it at 5-3 he played a pretty bad game though Donskoy also had a couple nice winners I think. Fed actually served over 70% on the match and didn't play bad, it's just disappointing mostly due to him not being able to get a bunch of points. I'm still holding out hope he gets a top 4 seed at Wimby, if he wins a couple tourneys along the way that's great.

 

[El Dude]

I didn't watch the match, but a bit worrisome in that I've been wondering whether the Australian Open will be a last great push by Roger, and whether or not he'll be able to muster the focus and drive to continue playing at a high level. I know this is only one match, but he should have won it easily.

 

[britbox]

I got the impression that he'd barely picked up a racquet since the AO, so understandable I guess... although it's usually hard to pick against him here.

Big win for Donskoy. I'll watch the highlights...

 

[Fiero425]

I didn't watch the match, but a bit worrisome in that I've been wondering whether the Australian Open will be a last great push by Roger, and whether or not he'll be able to muster the focus and drive to continue playing at a high level. I know this is only one match, but he should have won it easily.

Maybe, but for the most part people flipped out making this out to be Roger's 2nd coming and only the beginning of his run back to #1! I couldn't have been more nauseated, but this loss today will stay some of that BS! :nono :cover

- - http://fiero4251.blogspot.com/2016/08/fan-page-novak-nole-djokovic.html - -

 

[El Dude]

I never thought it was his "second coming," but I did (and do) think the following is possible:

1. He has returned to 2014-15 form, with maybe an improved backhand.
2. His confidence is strengthened after getting two monkeys off his back: Beating Rafa in a Slam final and, well, winning a Slam for the first time in 4 1/2 years.
3. Novak struggling and possibly starting to decline, Rafa aging, and Andy being Andy = a more open field at the top than in 2014-15.

Given those three points, I still think he has a decent chance to win Wimbledon and/or the US Open and/or a Masters or two and/or the World Tour Finals.

 

[the AntiPusher]

I never thought it was his "second coming," but I did (and do) think the following is possible:

1. He has returned to 2014-15 form, with maybe an improved backhand.
2. His confidence is strengthened after getting two monkeys off his back: Beating Rafa in a Slam final and, well, winning a Slam for the first time in 4 1/2 years.
3. Novak struggling and possibly starting to decline, Rafa aging, and Andy being Andy = a more open field at the top than in 2014-15.

Given those three points, I still think he has a decent chance to win Wimbledon and/or the US Open and/or a Masters or two and/or the World Tour Finals.

I don't think Rafa who is only 11months older than the Djoker/Murray twins is declining due to age, just needs to grow a pair of big testicles. Why is he playing with so much cautious these days..

 

[GameSetAndMath]

That is unbelievable. I did not watch it. But, Donkey is a qualifier and so I thought it should be straightforward.

This is a surface that Fed loves, being fast and has won on it seven times before. Fed had a day of rest before playing this. So, pretty much there is no excuse.

But, I am not ready to get alarmed as I am willing to cut him some slack especially after the high of winning AO. Couple of years ago, he lost to Ramos-Vinlos in Shanghai (after the high of reaching the finals of Wimbledon and USO and the low of not being able to cash either one). So, motivation may be an issue.

But, I hope his ranking does not fall below 12. As long as his ranking remains in top 12 (there is a high chance of that), his draw at IW should not be too difficult.

 

[El Dude]

I never thought it was his "second coming," but I did (and do) think the following is possible:

1. He has returned to 2014-15 form, with maybe an improved backhand.
2. His confidence is strengthened after getting two monkeys off his back: Beating Rafa in a Slam final and, well, winning a Slam for the first time in 4 1/2 years.
3. Novak struggling and possibly starting to decline, Rafa aging, and Andy being Andy = a more open field at the top than in 2014-15.

Given those three points, I still think he has a decent chance to win Wimbledon and/or the US Open and/or a Masters or two and/or the World Tour Finals.

I don't think Rafa who is only 11months older than the Djoker/Murray twins is declining due to age, just needs to grow a pair of big testicles. Why is he playing with so much cautious these days..

Maybe because he's aging and has lost a bit?

A larger portion of Rafa's game is based his movement. Obviously this is true of all players, but Rafa more so than most. Now let's say that Rafa loses just a fraction of movement - he can't quite do what he used to do, which erodes his confidence.

Consider this possible narrative: We last saw him at the peak of his powers in 2013, maybe into 2014 when he won his last Slam around the time he turned 28 years old. But looking back at the record, and if memory serves me, it seems that he slipped a bit after the US Open 2013. He had regained the #1 ranking, and entered 2014 defending points and wasn't able to repeat his first half performance of 2013, with some surprise defeats in the clay season (Ferrer at Monte Carlo, Almagro at Barcelona) and only winning Madrid when Nishikori was injured.

Anyhow, he wins one more at Roland Garros, then loses early at Halle and to Kyrgios in the fourth round of Wimbledon; not unexpected as he had clearly decline on grass already. But still, he seems a bit off from the previous year.

He skips the American tour with a wrist injury, and tries to come back in Asia but clearly is rusty, and then suffering from appendicitis. He hangs up his racket for the year.

He comes back in 2015 and struggles. Clearly something is off. What is it? Again, let's play with the idea of losing a hair of movement - which may actually go back to late 2013, when he was probably exhausted from his epic early season surge back to #1. But let's say Rafa really starts noticing his loss of movement in 2015, and is never able to recover his 2013 form. 2015 ends up being his worst year since 2004, despite him remaining healthy all year, playing in all four Slams and nine Masters for the first time since 2007.

2016 starts even worse, with that first round loss at the Australian Open to Verdasco. But he shows signs of life in clay season, winning Barcelona and Monte Carlo. But then injury strikes again and he withdraws from Roland Garros and skips grass season, including Wimbledon. He comes back later in the year but struggles.

So we've now had over three calendar years - from late 2013 to early 2017 - in which Rafa has played at a lower level than his peak. There have been moments, and certainly he looked really good at the AO, but I have a hard time saying he's not showing his age. If he looked declined from age 28-30, I don't know why 30-31 and older will show renewal.

That said, maybe he adjusted a bit at the AO, and is no longer trying to play the game he played through 2013. Maybe 2014-16 was 28-30 year old Rafa trying to be his younger self, a game he can no longer play. We know that Roger adjusted in late 2013 and early 2014, both overcoming injury, but also playing with a new racket and a more aggressive, attacking style. He didn't return to even his 2010-12 form, but he did create a kind of late career plateau that has kept him among the elite. Maybe Rafa can do the same for a couple years.

 

[mrzz]

I saw the match. It was different from what it seem you guys think. Donskoy was hitting like there was no tomorrow, Federer seemed to be one million miles away... so he could hit a fantastic shot followed by a stupid mistake. That was a weird combination, and oddly enough it produced a good match.

Nobody choked in this match -- sorry, people repeat it so often that I am getting sick of it. Federer lacked a bit of focus on his MP´s, and in one of them Donskoy stringed a return that was unbelieveable. When Donskoy served or the match Federer played two fantastic points to get to 0-30, and from then it was obviously hard to close it out. On the breaker, again Federer lost focus, and Donskoy nailed it.

It is just one match, so I really do not think anything can be read out of it. The guy just won his 18th slam, it is only normal that he could not give a flying fck to this second rounder...

 

[El Dude]

Short version: I think Rafa might have lost a bit of movement starting in late 2013, and was never able to recover, which in turn impacted the rest of his game, eroding his confidence. If we want to be optimistic about AO, we can consider the possibility that he adjusted his game a bit to accommodate his older physical skills. I certainly didn't see a player that lacked testicles, as AP put it, just one that was outplayed by Roger's surprising testicular growth!

 

[mrzz]

Hey, @Twisted, I watched it all too, without getting in to details I was under the impression that Federer was, as Rory Gallagher would put it, a million miles away...