Rome 2013 SF: Federer v. Paire

[DarthFed]

It won't be as easy a final as today's match against Berdych was for him and Fed's playing well enough to bring it to 3 sets imo. At least it's points gained for Federer. Lost in a similarly dismal fashion here to Djokovic in the semis as he did in RG, overhitting balls by 10 miles and shanking like a pro butcher. Reaching a final is at least a major confidence boost and gaining points is valuable as he's lost tons this year. I'd rather Fed kept making finals even if he loses to Nadal and further dents the h2h. At this stage in his career, even reaching finals is a major achievement. Keeps his ranking high and there'll always be a day he plays better than whoever his opponent may be.

When it's Fed vs. Nadal the form coming in means nothing. We've seen this time and time again. Nadal will roll forehand after forehand to the one handed backhand and it's match over. You might get a fake competitive scoreline but nothing more, especially on clay.

The second Roger thinks it's a good achievement just to make the final is when he will truly be on his way out. Thankfully, he still thinks higher of himself than that. A final here is a good building block to hopefully be peaking for Wimbledon, the next tournament for him that really matters where he also has a legit chance to win.

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Federer would definitely prefer reaching the final, even with the risk of losing to Nadal. At this point, what's another loss against Nadal on clay? Not that it's a given mind you. But a loss to Paire on the other hand? That's bad.

Exactly! Aside from the point where another loss to Rafa isn't a big deal. Making the pathetic a little more pathetic is not something to dismiss. But losing to Paire here would be worse and Roger is better off just giving himself the 1-5% chance of winning the final.

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

Federer has been in majestic form sooooo >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.

surely he will destroy 'au paire' in two groovy sets.

 

[huntingyou]

Exactly! Aside from the point where another loss to Rafa isn't a big deal. Making the pathetic a little more pathetic is not something to dismiss. But losing to Paire here would be worse and Roger is better off just giving himself the 1-5% chance of winning the final.

How it can be pathetic when Rafa has been the superior player H2H? You want the lesser one to win? and please don't use the match-up as an excuse because both Novak and Murray are match-up nightmare for Rafa and he still leads both of them.

Get over Federer's made believe image. The longer he sticks around, the higher the probability for that H2H to look even more beautiful. Maybe he should beat Rafa tomorrow and take matters into his own hands.

 

[DarthFed]

Exactly! Aside from the point where another loss to Rafa isn't a big deal. Making the pathetic a little more pathetic is not something to dismiss. But losing to Paire here would be worse and Roger is better off just giving himself the 1-5% chance of winning the final.

How it can be pathetic when Rafa has been the superior player H2H? You want the lesser one to win? and please don't use the match-up as an excuse because both Novak and Murray are match-up nightmare for Rafa and he still leads both of them.

Get over Federer's made believe image. The longer he sticks around, the higher the probability for that H2H to look even more beautiful. Maybe he should beat Rafa tomorrow and take matters into his own hands.

The H2H is pathetic. I'm not saying losing to Rafa is pathetic let alone on clay. But 10-19 when you are more than a decent player is well...pathetic!

 

[Front242]

How bad is the semifinal going to be that we are discussing the final on this thread... before the semi has started.

A bit harsh on Paire alright!

 

[tenisplayrla08]

Well Paire got to 40 before Fed in the first game of the match with Fed serving. Soooo.... this could be the week it all comes together for him. We could see him play like Gulbis did against Nadal, except, Fed isn't as good as Nadal on clay.

 

[Srini]

I think Fed doesn't like the fact that Rafa is waiting in the finals, I see that "do I need to win this match?"kind of expression on his face usually that expression comes up while facing Berdych or Rafa.

 

[El Dude]

Watch Fed I'm a bit worried. He seems to be playing well but he's got to convert that triple break point. Plus, he's getting aced a lot and hasn't aced once (through 3-3). Paire is no pushover.

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Paire just broke Federer. Here come the shanks.

 

[Front242]

Watch Fed I'm a bit worried. He seems to be playing well but he's got to convert that triple break point. Plus, he's getting aced a lot and hasn't aced once (through 3-3). Paire is no pushover.

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Paire just broke Federer. Here come the shanks.

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Yup, I also sensed after losing those break points and the game that he'd lose his own serve. Paire didn't need to do much to save the break points either. Just a poor patch of play from Fed. If he has 3 break points and fails the win the game that's not a good omen.

 

[El Dude]

Don't know why Paire insists on trying those dropshots on Federer - they're not working.

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Well he just broke back, so that's good. He seems to be oscillating back and forth - doesn't seem as confident as vintage Federer, but also not as erratic as "crappy" Federer. If he can bring his B game he should be able to win this, but his C game won't be enough.

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That was quick - won his service point in the time it took me to write that last paragraph!

 

[Front242]

Paire's one hell of a player. Demolished Granollers as well. Very impressed by him tonight. Great to watch on clay.

 

[El Dude]

Agreed, Front242. If he keeps this up he's going to be at least a #10-15 player along the lines of Simon and Almagro, maybe even breaking into the top 10 at some point. Would love to see him play Gasquet - that could be an interesting match.

 

[Johnsteinbeck]

Fed keeps giving away gifts in the tb, and so does Paire - a bit sad to watch there.

also, Paire developed the "body return" here - keeps handcuffing Fed with returns right into his hip, it seems.

Paire gifts away one too many. bold play by Fed to take the set though.

 

[tenisplayrla08]

Am I the only one who feels like Fed to escape with that set. I mean, it's the same old story. Paire couldn't really hold up mentally. But.... even in the midst of that, it looked like he was playing better tennis. His bad was worse than Feds. But his good was better than Feds.

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

fed was ok, a bit down in level with previous matches..but au paire fell apart in the TB.

 

[tenisplayrla08]

This drop shot is killing Paire. It is a sure sign that he isn't up for it mentally. It's like, as soon as he gets up in the match or a set, he goes for that drop shot as if to throw the lead away. Just weak.

 

[Front242]

Great hotdog/tweener by Paire. As good as any Fed would've done. Awesome.

 

[Johnsteinbeck]

that slice bh dtl was a treat, i must say.

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wow, those two bh's - is Nole still in this tournament?

 

[Front242]

Awesome DTL BH from Paire.

 

[tenisplayrla08]

Well those two shots were nice from Paire. If he can do that more often he can beat Federer and a lot of other guys in the top 10 and maybe eek out some wins against the other members of the top 4.