Rolex Paris Masters 2018, ATP 1000

[Federberg]

My only regret is that Roger probably could have been more aggressive early. He was playing quite defensively in the first set which I was wondering why would chose to do.

yes with hindsight I can agree with that. But I have to admit I didn't see any other option at the time. I didn't feel comfortable about his chances on this surface. Also I very much doubt he has that much confidence in his game at the moment. It's not been that battle tested in recent times. He'll go away from this an reflect that he had better chances that he realised today

 

[DarthFed]

Forgot the year but he did that against Djokovic at Indian Wells as well. 7-1 or 7-2 TB loss I believe off the top of my head after being much better most of the match.

It was 2014. I remember that debacle well. Watching deep in the 3rd set today I had to remind myself that Roger would probably disappear in the TB. It's just where he is at mentally right now. That's why a longer break would have been good for him both mentally and physically.

 

[DarthFed]

He was keeping up in rallies with Djokovic. He served excellently. He returned well. As a fan, I am encouraged. And, also, I'm happy to see that even today their matches are so competitive. Nothing's changed after all these years. And that the guys are back. The Big 3 scene is back.

His return was an absolute disaster. I thought he played good first strike tennis on his serve and his serve the last two sets was great which it always needs to be against Djokovic. But any neutral rally he was usually toast and quick. And then the mental aspect was bad as we've seen so much of lately, both TB's were terrible.

 

[El Dude]

Overall an encouraging performance from Roger, in context. My worry, though, is it feels a bit like we’re back in 2014-15 when Roger just couldn’t get by Novak, except in the rare match. On the other hand, Roger might still have some room to improve while I think Novak is back to where he’s going to be. I look forward to a rematch in London.


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[DarthFed]

Don't know what it is about Novak's 2nd serve but Roger can't seem to buy a chance against it!

I have to say, this was a performance quite beyond what I thought Federer was capable of given his recent form. The fact that this was on such a slow surface makes it even more impressive. This puts his performance in Cincinnati into context. At their respective best I would take this sort of result in Paris, particularly when Roger wasn't serving particularly well. There was one point that showed what the new Federer backhand could potentially do, when he drilled a DTL backhand. It gives me hope that the old man might not be quite as done as I thought. These guys (Novak, Rafa and Federer) never cease to amaze me. It seems like we have to see them sign an official document retiring before we can ever write them off...

Roger has always made Djokovic's serve look like Isner. I really don't know what it is either but he rarely tries to mix up anything with the return and I wish he'd do that against Djokovic. I'd be surprised if he even puts more than 65% of Novak's second serves in play.

 

[Fiero425]

His return was an absolute disaster. I thought he played good first strike tennis on his serve and his serve the last two sets was great which it always needs to be against Djokovic. But any neutral rally he was usually toast and quick. And then the mental aspect was bad as we've seen so much of lately, both TB's were terrible.

WTF are you talking about? Federer was skilled enough to get some of Nole's best serves back and made him work to win the point! IDK what you expect from someone most of you are kvetchin' about being OLD! As much as I'd like him to leave the game, he obviously can rise to the occasion at times; just not when it really counts against Djokovic! He played damn well to take Nole to the limit; NUFF SAID ABOUT IT! :whistle:

 

[Denis]

I don’t agree about Fed being a mental midget this match. He did great on those break points. Totally clutched that second set.

 

[DarthFed]

WTF are you talking about? Federer was skilled enough to get some of Nole's best serves back and made him work to win the point! IDK what you expect from someone most of you are kvetchin' about being OLD! As much as I'd like him to leave the game, he obviously can rise to the occasion at times; just not when it really counts against Djokovic! He played damn well to take Nole to the limit; NUFF SAID ABOUT IT! :whistle:

What the fuck match did you watch? Djokovic won over 70% of his second serve points. He doesn't possess a big serve and it doesn't take magical skills to put a lot of them in play.

I wouldn't say Roger rose to the occasion, he just played a little better than the F level tennis we've seen the past few months. Most of all he finally served well aside from a large part of the first set. It was still a loss, who cares if he made it semi-interesting.

 

[GSMSampras]

Another opponent choking against Djokovic.
This sport has become a joke.
Djokovic picking up some cheap Masters trophies.

 

[The_Grand_Slam]

What the fuck match did you watch? Djokovic won over 70% of his second serve points. He doesn't possess a big serve and it doesn't take magical skills to put a lot of them in play.

I wouldn't say Roger rose to the occasion, he just played a little better than the F level tennis we've seen the past few months. It was still a loss, who cares if he made it semi-interesting.

Yeah it was definitely the passive returning of Djokovics second serve that cost him the match especially those two second serve returns when he was up 6-5 in the first TB
I think he won more % of points behind Djokovics first than second which is kinda pathetic.
At least the serve looks much better though.Should get through WTF RR easily I think.

 

[DarthFed]

I don’t agree about Fed being a mental midget this match. He did great on those break points. Totally clutched that second set.

And what about the TB's? He didn't get broken all match and still got dumped out of another big event. Anyways who cares, there are no moral wins. Some on this board have a very feminine view of sports.

 

[monfed]

faker is vulturing like no tomorrow..dull has broken his abdomen, fed is semi retired and the dickless generation can't win shit

 

[DarthFed]

Yeah it was definitely the passive returning of Djokovics second serve that cost him the match especially those two second serve returns when he was up 6-5 in the first TB
I think he won more % of points behind Djokovics first than second which is kinda pathetic.
At least the serve looks much better though.Should get through WTF RR easily I think.

Yeah he did win more on Nole's first serve and he still did a poor job on the first serve return. The second serve returning was a horror fest and that made things easy on Novak.

If he serves like this he has a shot at making the semis or even finals of YEC. But this was just one performance, his serve has been really off until today. I'm not expecting him to do anything at YEC, 1-2 seems more likely to me than anything else.

 

[monfed]

I don’t agree about Fed being a mental midget this match. He did great on those break points. Totally clutched that second set.

He should've totally clutched that first set too.

 

[Denis]

And what about the TB's? He didn't get broken all match and still got dumped out of another big event. Anyways who cares, there are no moral wins. Some on this board have a very feminine view of sports.

Oh yes, Fed lost alright. Just thought he did very well hanging in there today.

I don’t like this part of the season by the way. Pretty annoying they pack 3 slams within 4 months and we are left with this stuff a big chunk of the year. Even if today was good fun.

 

[monfed]

Look at faker's celebration after the victory. What a fucking fed hating saddo he is. Stupid gorilla should've broken his ankle in that slide. Tennis will be so much better off without this pusher.

 

[Denis]

Haha all these frustrated Fed clowns here: everyone ‘choking’ against Djokovic, whining about celebrations, Fed being too old, claiming Djokovic is a pusher. Lol, it’s gonna be a fun the coming years.

 

[Nadalfan2013]

This matchup is delicious. Can’t wait to see who will lose Hopefully it will be in either humiliating fashion 6-0, 6-0 or in a dramatic match after wasting 10 match points
::sw1::

A heartbreaking close loss... dreams do come true B-)

 

[DarthFed]

Oh yes, Fed lost alright. Just thought he did very well hanging in there today.

I don’t like this part of the season by the way. Pretty annoying they pack 3 slams within 4 months and we are left with this stuff a big chunk of the year. Even if today was good fun.

I don't think he did well hanging in. He handed those TB's on a silver platter. Basically didn't threaten Djokovic's serve the entire match due to his awful returning. Anyways Roger clearly should've packed the season in after USO. It was the obvious move but he didn't do it for some reason. And since then he is flailing about with weak results and a lot of long matches which won't be good for 2019.

 

[Denis]

H2h 25-22 in Novak’s favour now. Novak now definitely making up for those easy wins Fed got at the beginning when Novak was still a pup. Starting to reflect better their strengths.