Federer's Schedule for 2017

[Fiero425]

Beautiful, Federer did not deserve any of the applause he got.

I person 35.5 years old coming back from an injury-caused hiatus of 6 months, seeded no. 17 in a GS draw, comes through the tough draw. He beats Berdych, Nishikori, Wawrinka, Nadal. This is not sensational! Rightly said, it's not even sensational! Right? He beat his rival for the first time in 10 years in a slam at the age of 35. He got his biggest weakness against Rafa to work to his advantage and conquered his rival in a slam final. He pushed his limit to do the unthinkable trying to bring joy to his fans for a final time. Not cool, not significant, rightly said. :clap

The media did the right thing by giving the attention and admiration that was due. This is not to call Federer the god of tennis or something, probably, even GOAT. But just please take things in their stride.

You are putting words in my mouth. Who said anything about deserving applause or media doing the wrong thing? The point is that the reaction is more frenzied than warranted. It's not Roger's fault. Nor was it Agassi's fault. It's cool and amazing for us Roger fans but it's not earth shattering if put in perspective. Beating Nadal in the final was astonishing but hey Nadal too was 30+. You can't erase a decade of absolute butt kicking with that victory. Nishikori and Berdych?

Sampras' 2002 USO is in the same league. Age 32. Seeded 17. Eliminated in second round at Wimbledon by No. 145. Lost to no 70 and no 85 a week before US Open. He beat Roddick and Agassi to win. Or take Novak's 2014 Wimbledon to 2015 RG run. No one has done that since Laver. The media didn't notice those two achievements in this fashion.

Sampras' win in '02 a little more "out of the blue" IMO since he had gone over 2 years without winning any titles from 2000 Wimbledon to 2002 USO! He had literally dropped out of the top 20, was given a gift seeding of #17, and like Navratilova in '91 came out of nowhere to make the USO final! Lucky for Pete, his personal pigeon was there and he rose to the occasion to defeat Agassi in 4 sets! Martina not so lucky, running out of gas against Seles! :angel: :dodgy:

 

[Shivashish Sarkar]

Beautiful, Federer did not deserve any of the applause he got.

I person 35.5 years old coming back from an injury-caused hiatus of 6 months, seeded no. 17 in a GS draw, comes through the tough draw. He beats Berdych, Nishikori, Wawrinka, Nadal. This is not sensational! Rightly said, it's not even sensational! Right? He beat his rival for the first time in 10 years in a slam at the age of 35. He got his biggest weakness against Rafa to work to his advantage and conquered his rival in a slam final. He pushed his limit to do the unthinkable trying to bring joy to his fans for a final time. Not cool, not significant, rightly said. :clap

The media did the right thing by giving the attention and admiration that was due. This is not to call Federer the god of tennis or something, probably, even GOAT. But just please take things in their stride.

You are putting words in my mouth. Who said anything about deserving applause or media doing the wrong thing? The point is that the reaction is more frenzied than warranted. It's not Roger's fault. Nor was it Agassi's fault. It's cool and amazing for us Roger fans but it's not earth shattering if put in perspective. Beating Nadal in the final was astonishing but hey Nadal too was 30+. You can't erase a decade of absolute butt kicking with that victory. Nishikori and Berdych?

Sampras' 2002 USO is in the same league. Age 32. Seeded 17. Eliminated in second round at Wimbledon by No. 145. Lost to no 70 and no 85 a week before US open. He beat Roddick and Agassi to win. Or take Novak's 2014 Wimbledon to 2015 RG run. No one has done that since Laver. The media didn't notice those two achievements in this fashion.

No body's trying to erase a decade of butt-kicking. It, certainly, was only a victory on the 29th of Jan or whatever. But it deserved credit for it was unthinkable for us that he would do all of this at AO 2017. Just giving credit where it's due. Nothing more.

 

[lob]

He pushed his limit to do the unthinkable trying to bring joy to his fans for a final time. Not cool, not significant, rightly said. :clap

No one wins an ATP GS to bring joy to his fans. They win because competition is in their blood. It's too f&^%$ing hard to do it for any other reason.

 

[Shivashish Sarkar]

Beautiful, Federer did not deserve any of the applause he got.

I person 35.5 years old coming back from an injury-caused hiatus of 6 months, seeded no. 17 in a GS draw, comes through the tough draw. He beats Berdych, Nishikori, Wawrinka, Nadal. This is not sensational! Rightly said, it's not even sensational! Right? He beat his rival for the first time in 10 years in a slam at the age of 35. He got his biggest weakness against Rafa to work to his advantage and conquered his rival in a slam final. He pushed his limit to do the unthinkable trying to bring joy to his fans for a final time. Not cool, not significant, rightly said. :clap

The media did the right thing by giving the attention and admiration that was due. This is not to call Federer the god of tennis or something, probably, even GOAT. But just please take things in their stride.

You are putting words in my mouth. Who said anything about deserving applause or media doing the wrong thing? The point is that the reaction is more frenzied than warranted. It's not Roger's fault. Nor was it Agassi's fault. It's cool and amazing for us Roger fans but it's not earth shattering if put in perspective. Beating Nadal in the final was astonishing but hey Nadal too was 30+. You can't erase a decade of absolute butt kicking with that victory. Nishikori and Berdych?

Sampras' 2002 USO is in the same league. Age 32. Seeded 17. Eliminated in second round at Wimbledon by No. 145. Lost to no 70 and no 85 a week before US open. He beat Roddick and Agassi to win. Or take Novak's 2014 Wimbledon to 2015 RG run. No one has done that since Laver. The media didn't notice those two achievements in this fashion.

This is ridiculous. The guy who won was 35+ on the same note. Who cares what age they are? The age difference doesn't change and they are still playing on the tour. It wasn't an exhibition match played on a futuristic mars in 2030.

 

[lob]

..... it was unthinkable for us that he would do all of this at AO 2017.

That it was!

 

[Shivashish Sarkar]

..... it was unthinkable for us that he would do all of this at AO 2017.

That it was!

I apologise for having put words in your month. Trust me, I have been facing a lot of butthurt Federer haters elsewhere and I have been arguing with them. Hence, the disposition and the adrenaline. Sorry. I endorse your points.

 

[Front242]

Roger is already back to number 5 and counting this week.

 

[lob]

This is ridiculous. The guy who won was 35+ on the same note. Who cares what age they are? The age difference doesn't change and they are still playing on the tour. It wasn't an exhibition match played on a futuristic mars in 2030.

Yes, but it was still a close affair. A couple of mistakes by Roger or a couple of fewer mistakes by Rafa and none of us would be wasting our time arguing minutiae of the victory or their age. We would be bemoaning how deep Rafa is in Roger's head

 

[lob]

I apologise for having put words in your month. Trust me, I have been facing a lot of butthurt Federer haters elsewhere and I have been arguing with them. Hence, the disposition and the adrenaline. Sorry. I endorse your points.

Cool. No apologies required. I know where you are coming from.

 

[Shivashish Sarkar]

I apologise for having put words in your month. Trust me, I have been facing a lot of butthurt Federer haters elsewhere and I have been arguing with them. Hence, the disposition and the adrenaline. Sorry. I endorse your points.

Cool. No apologies required. I know where you are coming from.

I didn't get you?

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Roger is already back to number 5 and counting this week.

Fed is #4 at the moment in live rankings by a razor thin margin of 5 points over Raonic.

However, Fed, Rafa, Raonic and Nishikori are all close to each other and will end up taking slots 4 through 7 at the end of Miami in some order. Andy, Nole and Man have their rankings safe at 1,2 and 3 respectively.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

I have a minor theory about Fed's decision to play in Miami. I actually feel he will continue to play in Miami in the next few years.

As you age, the first thing that takes toll is the recovery time. Body needs more time to recover. Both IW and M being Masters tourneys held over two weeks, the players play on alternate days (for the most part) and this format will be especially suitable for players who need more recovery time.

 

[mightyjeditribble]

I have a minor theory about Fed's decision to play in Miami. I actually feel he will continue to play in Miami in the next few years.

As you age, the first thing that takes toll is the recovery time. Body needs more time to recover. Both IW and M being Masters tourneys held over two weeks, the players play on alternate days (for the most part) and this format will be especially suitable for players who need more recovery time.

Yeah i was thinking that at IW. It will be interesting to see how he deals with playing several matches on consecutive days this year.

That being said, Fed had three five setters in Australia in the space of a week I think, and managed to cope with that ...

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[El Dude]

One thing that seems different about Fed this year is that he's not fading in the 5th set. Not sure if that is borne out by the stats, but let's take a look at five-setters over the last few years:

2017: 3-0 (three at the AO)
2016: 1-1 (W v. Cilic, L v. Raonic at Wimbledon)
2015: None
2014: 1-2
2013: 2-1
2012: 2-0
2011: 1-2
2010: 1-1
2009: 4-2
2008: 2-1
2007: 1-0
2006: 1-1
2005: 1-2
2004: 1-0
2003: 0-3
2002: 0-1
2001: 3-0
2000: 3-1
1999: 0-2

Career: 27-20, or 57%

What is interesting to note is that he has already played three five-setters this year, which is as many as he's played in a year since 2009 - and he's still got three Slams to play. Actually, the 2017 AO is the only time he's ever played three five-setters in a single tournament.

Anyhow, I think his performance at AO speaks to some combination of better physical endurance and/or mental fortitude. His career record in five-setters isn't exactly stellar (for comparison, Rafa is 19-9, or 68%, and Novak is 27-9, or 75%). And if you take out his first few years and 2017, from 2002-16 he has barely won more than half: 18-17.

 

[Shivashish Sarkar]

One thing that seems different about Fed this year is that he's not fading in the 5th set. Not sure if that is borne out by the stats, but let's take a look at five-setters over the last few years:

2017: 3-0 (three at the AO)
2016: 1-1 (W v. Cilic, L v. Raonic at Wimbledon)
2015: None
2014: 1-2
2013: 2-1
2012: 2-0
2011: 1-2
2010: 1-1
2009: 4-2
2008: 2-1
2007: 1-0
2006: 1-1
2005: 1-2
2004: 1-0
2003: 0-3
2002: 0-1
2001: 3-0
2000: 3-1
1999: 0-2

Career: 27-20, or 57%

What is interesting to note is that he has already played three five-setters this year, which is as many as he's played in a year since 2009 - and he's still got three Slams to play. Actually, the 2017 AO is the only time he's ever played three five-setters in a single tournament.

Anyhow, I think his performance at AO speaks to some combination of better physical endurance and/or mental fortitude. His career record in five-setters isn't exactly stellar (for comparison, Rafa is 19-9, or 68%, and Novak is 27-9, or 75%). And if you take out his first few years and 2017, from 2002-16 he has barely won more than half: 18-17.

He had to work on many aspects to win another slam. That is how tough winning a slam is.

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[Frode789]

So the Fed seems to want two months of free time before RG, skipping all 3 clay masters. Shame. I was really hoping he would do a warm up masters in Madrid or Rome.

 

[mightyjeditribble]

Yeah, a bit surprised that he would go into RG without a warm-up. But then again, he didn't play a formal tournament before the AO ...

By now, he obviously knows what works best for him, and his focus is clearly going to be on Wimbledon. It's equally clear that rankings aren't a particular priority for him ...

 

[mightyjeditribble]

Here's a link btw (in German).

http://www.srf.ch/sport/tennis/atp-tour/federer-will-sandsaison-fast-gaenzlich-auslassen

 

[GameSetAndMath]

So the Fed seems to want two months of free time before RG, skipping all 3 clay masters. Shame. I was really hoping he would do a warm up masters in Madrid or Rome.

That is what he says now. But, I take his today's comments to mean that he will definitely not play Monte Carlo and definitely not play more than one warm-up tourney on clay.

I do think that he will change his mind and play in Rome or at least I hope, he does so.

Roger likes his breaks in long stretches. So, if at all he decides to play in one warm-up tourney before RG, it is likely to be Rome and not Madrid. I like this better as he has not yet won Rome, but won Madrid multiple times.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

In the post-match presser Roger says "Also part of the situation was that my knee was really strange on the clay last year, so maybe being away from the clay as much as possible maybe is a good thing as well." He also says "then I'll get on the clay probably two weeks before the French. That's the plan for now."

Basically, this means he does not want to get on the clay anytime before that (two weeks before RG).
This means Madrid is also eliminated with a high degree of confidence. The only Masters in the period two weeks before RG is Rome. Hence, there is a good chance that we may see him there. I really doubt that he would want to walk into RG without at least one warm=up tourney. Of course, there is always the possibility of Roger deciding just to be on the practice court for two weeks before RG.
But, I do think after six weeks of R&R, he would wan to compete in Rome.

I like this as he has already won Madrid multiple times whereas he has never won Rome before.
I also like this because Rome is more useful as a prep for RG in comparison to Madrid which is at high altitude.

Here is the full transcript of the post Miami Final presser