Gerry Weber Open, Halle, Germany, ATP 500

[the AntiPusher]

This is bad scheduling. They should have placed Sasha first in view of his doubles match. That way, he could have got "suitable rest" during the 65 minutes that Roger would take to send off Khachanov.

Sasha will be aight..he is only 20..he probably can play for another 3 hours afterwards.

 

[Moxie]

So, what - he's not allowed to still be rusty after playing 4 tournament matches in the last 2 months? And since when has Roger ever been the King of Break Point Conversions? He's commented himself that he misses a lot of break point opportunities but by staying aggressive all the time he also creates more opportunities than other guys. And lest we forget - it's a TUNE-UP event. He's not going to be razor sharp at this time. When he needs to raise his game a level in big matches this year he's proven that he's able to do that.

His bp conversion ratio was the point, though as I said, just poking at Darth re: the 2008 W. final. For a tune-up, I'd say he's looking pretty sharp, so no real worries.

 

[Carol]

And now watching Zverev very emotional complaining to the Chair Umpire while Bautista looked cold like the ice

 

[DarthFed]

Reasons are correct, but they changed it in 2000.

The surface first changed in 2001 I think but they went to a different, heavier ball in 2006 slowing things down further.

 

[DarthFed]

Be careful SS..Darth may have you exiled from Fed Fandom for making such an honest proclamation.

As for AO, if it had been slower..Rafa would be trying to tie Federer's gs total instead of 3 behind..IMO

And if grass was faster Rafa wouldn't have a career slam and would possibly be 7-8 slams behind Fed.

 

[DarthFed]

"AO played faster than normal "

Why you think..

They got exactly what they wanted, a great appearance by Roger..they lucked out on Rafa making the finals but it was designed to benefit the Beloved

Well they didn't change the surface or ball at all but they apparently resurfaced it later than normal so it wasn't worn out as much. After the slowing of Wimbledon and USO, Fed deserves a few breaks.

 

[the AntiPusher]

Well they didn't change the surface or ball at all but they apparently resurfaced it later than normal so it wasn't worn out as much. After the slowing of Wimbledon and USO, Fed deserves a few breaks.

I always wondered why the lost to Cilic 2014 USO aka cough drop didn't bother you as much as the lost to Delpo at 2009 USO. That's the match Roger had no business losing.

 

[atttomole]

I read that the Wimbledon grass was changed after the 2001 tournament. From 2002, they have been using a different type of grass.

http://nationalpost.com/sports/tenn...yers/wcm/4982c5e3-ff2b-41ac-988a-205cf6e40d51

 

[atttomole]

Precisely, they changed from 70:30 rye:red fescue to 100 % rye.

 

[Shivashish Sarkar]

I always wondered why the lost to Cilic 2014 USO aka cough drop didn't bother you as much as the lost to Delpo at 2009 USO. That's the match Roger had no business losing.

Nobody is so massively a favourite for any match that he cannot even lose. Cilic was very good in that open. That's why he went on to win the title. I remember that day when Roger's semi-final was played. Djokovic was out earlier and I started to think "Only Cilic and Nishi left, this is number 18". And after 2 hours or so, I was down and depressed. Cilic played lights out tennis fearlessly. He was hitting winners everywhere. I remember people said it is one of the best performances of the decade probably even better than Roger's 04-07. So, it was Cilic's victory much more than it was Roger's loss.

 

[isabelle]

Khachanov/Mr Vavrinec could be interesting

 

[the AntiPusher]

The Russian played well as he could but choked at the end to grandpa Fed,

 

[the AntiPusher]

Nobody is so massively a favourite for any match that he cannot even lose. Cilic was very good in that open. That's why he went on to win the title. I remember that day when Roger's semi-final was played. Djokovic was out earlier and I started to think "Only Cilic and Nishi left, this is number 18". And after 2 hours or so, I was down and depressed. Cilic played lights out tennis fearlessly. He was hitting winners everywhere. I remember people said it is one of the best performances of the decade probably even better than Roger's 04-07. So, it was Cilic's victory much more than it was Roger's loss.

So massively a favorite for any match that he cannot lose

I truly agree but as you have discovered since the merger, some of these die hard Fed fans dont share that sentiment. If Rafa or Novak looses then they are in a bigger decline than Trump's approval rating as PUTUS, However, if its Roger, he was too sympathetic towards his good friend who is on his last days on the tour or Fed played like "ATP" Fed . You not gonna get too much "the opponent simply outplayed Roger"..not a chance from this cast of characters.

 

[DarthFed]

I always wondered why the lost to Cilic 2014 USO aka cough drop didn't bother you as much as the lost to Delpo at 2009 USO. That's the match Roger had no business losing.

Cilic was incredible that match and that was 2014 vs. 2009. Much different Roger. He never was close in that match. The one in 2009 is the one he had no business losing, he served for a 2 sets to 0 lead and choked it and then lost from a 2 sets to 1 lead.

That ended up being one huge match too, Fed won the following AO so he would've had a non-calendar year slam. And he also would've set the record for winning a major 6 times in a row and would be the all-time champ at the USO too.

 

[the AntiPusher]

Cilic was incredible that match and that was 2014 vs. 2009. Much different Roger. He never was close in that match. The one in 2009 is the one he had no business losing, he served for a 2 sets to 0 lead and choked it and then lost from a 2 sets to 1 lead.

That ended up being one huge match too, Fed won the following AO so he would've had a non-calendar year slam. And he also would've set the record for winning a major 6 times in a row and would be the all-time champ at the USO too.

Rafa did the same in 2008 SW19, had a two sets to love lead but "choked " the next to sets in tiebreakers but was able to regain his competitive advantage and composure at age 21 to slay TMF

 

[DarthFed]

Fed choked a 4-1 lead in the 2nd set that match and was 1-13 on BP's. There was nothing mighty about him that day, thus the embarrassing loss.

 

[DarthFed]

Anyways not the best match from Fed today. I thought he didn't do a good enough job avoiding the Khachanov forehand much like the Donskoy match. I watched from 4-2 in the 1st set and I didn't see him go down the T once serving from the deuce court, it'd be one thing if the guy's forehand was weak but he was waiting on the forehand return every time after awhile and making Fed pay.

 

[DarthFed]

I like the guy's game though he is not well-rounded yet. Every shot is blasted, and there isn't really a Plan B. That makes him dangerous but you still need defense and point construction to be a top player today.

 

[the AntiPusher]

Fed choked a 4-1 lead in the 2nd set that match and was 1-13 on BP's. There was nothing mighty about him that day, thus the embarrassing loss.

there's lies the problem.. you say that he choked a 4-1 lead while he was in his prime at the height of his powers.. This is too close to being impossible.. Could Sampras ever choke at Wimbledon with a 4-1 lead.. no a chance in Hades,, Same with Fed,, I dont agree,, your hypothesis doesnt allow for adjustments or strategic counters made by the opponent, Rafa ran off 5 straight games to win the 2nd set 6-4; I dont recall who had the advantage in the 3 rd set but Rafa blew some major opportunities to close it out in 3 sets,, this was based on the counters that Roger was able to execute, Slow start to a final happens due to a lot of reasons but the primary is that the opponents are able to play at a higher level than the other player regardless who is the favorite. That's why it is the best of 5 sets ,, the cream typically rises to the top

 

[DarthFed]

Fed had BP's 2 different games in the 3rd set too, people tend to forget that and only focus on the 0-40 game he got out of at 3-3.

As for 4-1 you've watched and played the game enough to know that no good player loses 5 straight games on grass unless they are screwing up royally. His serve abandoned him and he was hitting tons of errors. Also you have to remember what was going on recently, he got blown out at RG and earlier that year he blew a 5-1 lead at Hamburg and lost the first set, and he blew a 4-1 lead (I think) in both sets of Monte Carlo. Those collapses were playing a factor and a big part of why he came out innpathetic fashion the first couple of sets.

Also 2008 clearly wasn't the height of his powers, that'd be 2006. 2008 was like Rafa's 2014, mostly chalked full of disappointing results.