Monte Carlo Final - Wawrinka v. Federer

[Riotbeard]

What's frightening is that all the psychological roadblocks in front of Stan should be officially gone...

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

Stan won this match. Roger had no answer for Stan's groundies in the third set. He tried a couple things, did not work. Roger was on his heels in pretty much every rally in the third set. That does not mean Stan can do this every day but he is getting more consistent and when he does not overplay he can beat anyone...and has.

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

stanley could be looking at the world no1 rank later in the year.

 

[Fiero425]

Stanley could be looking at the world #1 rank later in the year.

Let's not go nuts now! :lolz: :snigger :laydownlaughing :nono :angel:

 

[Front242]

I think you guys are being too harsh. The plain truth is that absent of mental issues Stan is clearly a better a clay courter than Roger at this point. My ranking for clay right now would be Rafa, Nole, Stan, Roger, Ferrer in that order

Don't agree tbh with putting Stan above Roger on clay even at this stage. Stan's best showing at RG is QF (2013). Over the hill Roger also made the quarters last year (eventhough he lost dismally to Tsonga) but he made the semi final in 2012. Stan has a long way to go to be above Roger on clay.

 

[DarthFed]

Despite frustrations with Roger congrats to Stan. That is definitely a huge win for him in many ways (1st MS and finally beating Roger again). This really consolidates his standing as a top player.

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

Stanley could be looking at the world #1 rank later in the year.

Let's not go nuts now! :lolz: :snigger :laydownlaughing :nono :angel:

work it out brain damage. he is no1 in the race to London..if he keeps up he could be pushing for the no1 rank.

 

[Kieran]

I think you guys are being too harsh. The plain truth is that absent of mental issues Stan is clearly a better a clay courter than Roger at this point. My ranking for clay right now would be Rafa, Nole, Stan, Roger, Ferrer in that order

Don't agree tbh with putting Stan above Roger on clay even at this stage. Stan's best showing at RG is QF (2013). Over the hill Roger also made the quarters last year (eventhough he lost dismally to Tsonga) but he made the semi final in 2012. Stan has a long way to go to be above Roger on clay.

Don't forget the final in 2011! He was going great til 5-2 in the first... :snigger

 

[Front242]

I think you guys are being too harsh. The plain truth is that absent of mental issues Stan is clearly a better a clay courter than Roger at this point. My ranking for clay right now would be Rafa, Nole, Stan, Roger, Ferrer in that order

Don't agree tbh with putting Stan above Roger on clay even at this stage. Stan's best showing at RG is QF (2013). Over the hill Roger also made the quarters last year (eventhough he lost dismally to Tsonga) but he made the semi final in 2012. Stan has a long way to go to be above Roger on clay.

Don't forget the final in 2011! He was going great til 5-2 in the first... :snigger

Yeah, till someone decided to take his bandages off.

 

[Riotbeard]

Stanley could be looking at the world #1 rank later in the year.

Let's not go nuts now! :lolz: :snigger :laydownlaughing :nono :angel:

work it out brain damage. he is no1 in the race to London..if he keeps up he could be pushing for the no1 rank.

While it sounds crazy, I would not have picked Stan to win the Aussie or Monte Carlo and would have bet against it well beyond my income, when this year began, so I am not gonna say it can't happen.

 

[Federberg]

I think you guys are being too harsh. The plain truth is that absent of mental issues Stan is clearly a better a clay courter than Roger at this point. My ranking for clay right now would be Rafa, Nole, Stan, Roger, Ferrer in that order

Don't agree tbh with putting Stan above Roger on clay even at this stage. Stan's best showing at RG is QF (2013). Over the hill Roger also made the quarters last year (eventhough he lost dismally to Tsonga) but he made the semi final in 2012. Stan has a long way to go to be above Roger on clay.

I think we need to forget about yesterday, and look at now. Stan's game on clay for the last few years has really only been hampered by lack of belief. I think this is very exciting. I think we have a genuine player who can challenge the top 4. We should all be happy

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Congratulations to Stan. He deserves a big shout out for not giving up and believing in
himeslef despite being a set down.

IMO, the power of his groundstrokes did it. Backhand shot speed of 120 mph is
ridiculous.

Stan has signed up for Oeiras tournament also. If he has any sense he will immediately
withdraw from that 250 event. No need to unnecessarily play 3 weeks in a row before
RG and screw up one's chances at RG.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

One thing that can certainly be said of Stan is that his mental issues are a thing of past.

 

[Kieran]

I think you guys are being too harsh. The plain truth is that absent of mental issues Stan is clearly a better a clay courter than Roger at this point. My ranking for clay right now would be Rafa, Nole, Stan, Roger, Ferrer in that order

Don't agree tbh with putting Stan above Roger on clay even at this stage. Stan's best showing at RG is QF (2013). Over the hill Roger also made the quarters last year (eventhough he lost dismally to Tsonga) but he made the semi final in 2012. Stan has a long way to go to be above Roger on clay.

Don't forget the final in 2011! He was going great til 5-2 in the first... :snigger

Yeah, till someone decided to take his bandages off.

His feet were stinky, what would you expect him to do?

 

[Federberg]

I hope so GameSetAndMatch. If he truly believes then he has the power to upset even Rafa. And I have to say... his movement on the crushed brick is better than I remember

 

[Front242]

I think you guys are being too harsh. The plain truth is that absent of mental issues Stan is clearly a better a clay courter than Roger at this point. My ranking for clay right now would be Rafa, Nole, Stan, Roger, Ferrer in that order

Don't agree tbh with putting Stan above Roger on clay even at this stage. Stan's best showing at RG is QF (2013). Over the hill Roger also made the quarters last year (eventhough he lost dismally to Tsonga) but he made the semi final in 2012. Stan has a long way to go to be above Roger on clay.

I think we need to forget about yesterday, and look at now. Stan's game on clay for the last few years has really only been hampered by lack of belief. I think this is very exciting. I think we have a genuine player who can challenge the top 4. We should all be happy

Certainly nice to see new challengers rising to the top alright but Roger didn't play well from 0-15 5-5 on Stan's serve in set 2 and it's things like this that contribute to Stan's belief. I like his game but it's hard to watch Roger just throw away matches and huge chances at titles he's never won (and now never will) like today.

 

[Riotbeard]

I think you guys are being too harsh. The plain truth is that absent of mental issues Stan is clearly a better a clay courter than Roger at this point. My ranking for clay right now would be Rafa, Nole, Stan, Roger, Ferrer in that order

Don't agree tbh with putting Stan above Roger on clay even at this stage. Stan's best showing at RG is QF (2013). Over the hill Roger also made the quarters last year (eventhough he lost dismally to Tsonga) but he made the semi final in 2012. Stan has a long way to go to be above Roger on clay.

I think we need to forget about yesterday, and look at now. Stan's game on clay for the last few years has really only been hampered by lack of belief. I think this is very exciting. I think we have a genuine player who can challenge the top 4. We should all be happy

Certainly nice to see new challengers rising to the top alright but Roger didn't play well from 0-15 5-5 on Stan's serve in set 2 and it's things like this that contribute to Stan's belief. I like his game but it's hard to watch Roger just throw away matches and huge chances at titles he's never won (and now never will) like today.

To be fair though, saying that Fed didn't take advantage of his mental edge in second (which I think is true), isn't the same as saying he is better on clay than Stan. Stan's power game in my mind means the head to head shouldn't be so one-sided, and stan probably is a better clay player at this point, even if Fed should of won because Stan was intimidated mentally for most of the first two sets.

Edit: Also, while Fed didn't play great in the TB, Stan did, so Federer would have needed something pretty good to win it. Stan upped his game at the same time as Federer choked.

 

[Federberg]

I hear you Front.. but I can't help feeling something momentous just happened that could be for the better in mens tennis. For some reason Roger became passive. It happens to him on this surface sometimes. But on the positive side he's hitting the ball great, moving great. This loss was more about getting his tactics wrong. I think Roger can be very stubborn sometimes and he tries to employ the same strategies that worked in the past. He may very well be forced to change his approach against Stan after this. So this is a wake up call for him. Stan is NOT the same guy that could be toyed with anymore!

 

[Front242]

I hear you Front.. but I can't help feeling something momentous just happened that could be for the better in mens tennis. For some reason Roger became passive. It happens to him on this surface sometimes. But on the positive side he's hitting the ball great, moving great. This loss was more about getting his tactics wrong. I think Roger can be very stubborn sometimes and he tries to employ the same strategies that worked in the past. He may very well be forced to change his approach against Stan after this. So this is a wake up call for him. Stan is NOT the same guy that could be toyed with anymore!

A few key s&v moments threw him off a lot in set 1 and a few times in set 2 and Roger stopped that and played passive and poor tennis in set 3. Definitely poor tactics. Imo the point Roger hit a slice into the right side of the court instead of belting it for a winner was when he truly screwed set 3. That would've been 2-1 then and not 3-0. Very bad choice of shot.

 

[nehmeth]

What's frightening is that all the psychological roadblocks in front of Stan should be officially gone...

What I saw him do in the third set was what I expected him to do from the onset of the match - hence my pick for him to win in two. It was wonderful to watch him smoke Fed. :snigger