This is the beginning of The Decline

[Luxilon Borg]

No, this is not the beginning of The Decline because Rog lost.

It is because of the way he played.

He looked as SLOW as I have ever seen him. His shots had no sting what so ever..really not pushing back Ramos. I knew mid match what I have been dreading is finally upon us.

The only thing that kept him in it was his serve.

This is upon the heels of his ageless, dynamic performance all summer and through September.

As they say in boxing, fighters can age overnight.

 

[lacatch]

No, this is not the beginning of The Decline because Rog lost.

It is because of the way he played.

He looked as SLOW as I have ever seen him. His shots had no sting what so ever..really not pushing back Ramos. I knew mid match what I have been dreading is finally upon us.

The only thing that kept him in it was his serve.

This is upon the heels of his ageless, dynamic performance all summer and through September.

As they say in boxing, fighters can age overnight.

LOL

 

[herios]

One negative event, does not make a trend.
You can just call it a blip
:nono

 

[Luxilon Borg]

One negative event, does not make a trend.
You can just call it a blip
:nono

I have never seen him that sluggish, that slow off the mark, hitting chop forehands, and having his ball just not move through the court.

I've watched every televised match he has played since 2002. And dozens in person.

 

[Kirijax]

I have no idea if this is going to happen to Federer, but I wouldn't be surprised. The level he has gotten back to after a bad 2013 has been amazing. I feel the same way about Serena and Sharapova as well. The end could come suddenly. You never know. I hope he has just one more Slam left in him before it happens though.

 

[Luxilon Borg]

I have no idea if this is going to happen to Federer, but I wouldn't be surprised. The level he has gotten back to after a bad 2013 has been amazing. I feel the same way about Serena and Sharapova as well. The end could come suddenly. You never know. I hope he has just one more Slam left in him before it happens though.

Trust me I am in no hurry to see him go. I want him to play until 40 lol.

But the truth is athletes in one on one competitions sports can and do go off a cliff suddenly.

Boxers talk not only about the fight where they suddenly knew it it was over for them, and they can often pinpoint the round..they just feel they can't react and are moving in slow motion.

I hope am I seriously mistaken.

 

[DarthFed]

The beginning of his decline was either 2008 or 2010 depending on your POV. 2015 is just another step down. The end of his decline figures to be when he retires...

 

[herios]

One negative event, does not make a trend.
You can just call it a blip
:nono

I have never seen him that sluggish, that slow off the mark, hitting chop forehands, and having his ball just not move through the court.

I've watched every televised match he has played since 2002. And dozens in person.

I believe you, you have tons more matches seen him than me. But, it could just be a very bad day in the office, who knows, maybe a sleepless night for some reason.
I am going by what Chris Evert said, when you spent over a decade at the top and you in your thirties, sometimes you just feel like I am not in the mood. Then it will be hard to drag yourself to make it happen.
Now, if he starts to pull repeatedly similar matches, that would be another story.

 

[Luxilon Borg]

One negative event, does not make a trend.
You can just call it a blip
:nono

I have never seen him that sluggish, that slow off the mark, hitting chop forehands, and having his ball just not move through the court.

I've watched every televised match he has played since 2002. And dozens in person.

I believe you, you have tons more matches seen him than me. But, it could just be a very bad day in the office, who knows, maybe a sleepless night for some reason.
I am going by what Chris Evert said, when you spent over a decade at the top and you in your thirties, sometimes you just feel like I am not in the mood. Then it will be hard to drag yourself to make it happen.
Now, if he starts to pull repeatedly similar matches, that would be another story.

I hear what Chris Evert says..she is spot on..but Rog had 4.5 weeks off. He also is the defending champ, so not being in the mood is unlikely.

I hope it was just one bad day.

 

[Kirijax]

One negative event, does not make a trend.
You can just call it a blip
:nono

I have never seen him that sluggish, that slow off the mark, hitting chop forehands, and having his ball just not move through the court.

I've watched every televised match he has played since 2002. And dozens in person.

I believe you, you have tons more matches seen him than me. But, it could just be a very bad day in the office, who knows, maybe a sleepless night for some reason.
I am going by what Chris Evert said, when you spent over a decade at the top and you in your thirties, sometimes you just feel like I am not in the mood. Then it will be hard to drag yourself to make it happen.
Now, if he starts to pull repeatedly similar matches, that would be another story.

This. I'll wait to see him do several times until I make my verdict. Maybe he just wanted to hurry up and get the heck out of China.

 

[Luxilon Borg]

I have never seen him that sluggish, that slow off the mark, hitting chop forehands, and having his ball just not move through the court.

I've watched every televised match he has played since 2002. And dozens in person.

I believe you, you have tons more matches seen him than me. But, it could just be a very bad day in the office, who knows, maybe a sleepless night for some reason.
I am going by what Chris Evert said, when you spent over a decade at the top and you in your thirties, sometimes you just feel like I am not in the mood. Then it will be hard to drag yourself to make it happen.
Now, if he starts to pull repeatedly similar matches, that would be another story.

This. I'll wait to see him do several times until I make my verdict. Maybe he just wanted to hurry up and get the heck out of China.

The smog??

 

[Kirijax]

I believe you, you have tons more matches seen him than me. But, it could just be a very bad day in the office, who knows, maybe a sleepless night for some reason.
I am going by what Chris Evert said, when you spent over a decade at the top and you in your thirties, sometimes you just feel like I am not in the mood. Then it will be hard to drag yourself to make it happen.
Now, if he starts to pull repeatedly similar matches, that would be another story.

This. I'll wait to see him do several times until I make my verdict. Maybe he just wanted to hurry up and get the heck out of China.

The smog??

Bingo. Some of if wafts over into Japan where I live. It's a nasty haze that you don't want to be breathing.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

I blame this thread on Kirijax's idea of giving prize to threads with lots of posts and views. People write stilly things to get a reaction and then the prize.

 

[Kirijax]

I blame this thread on Kirijax's idea of giving prize to threads with lots of posts and views. People write stilly things to get a reaction and then the prize.

LOL. I thought the same thing. But it does have merit. Federer's loss last night was odd.

 

[Luxilon Borg]

I blame this thread on Kirijax's idea of giving prize to threads with lots of posts and views. People write stilly things to get a reaction and then the prize.

LOL. I thought the same thing. But it does have merit. Federer's loss last night was odd.

Bingo. He could not get passed 2nd gear. An extremely rare occuremce.

 

[nehmeth]

I blame this thread on Kirijax's idea of giving prize to threads with lots of posts and views. People write stilly things to get a reaction and then the prize.

LOL. I thought the same thing. But it does have merit. Federer's loss last night was odd.

Bingo. He could not get passed 2nd gear. An extremely rare occuremce.

I hope Lux is just being facetious. One poor tournament does not signal the end. Roger is having a nice long leisurely sail into his sunset years.

Let's give it a few more months before all the lemmings go running for the cliffs.

 

[isabelle]

The beginning of his decline was either 2008 or 2010 depending on your POV. 2015 is just another step down. The end of his decline figures to be when he retires...

This

 

[DonDropShot]

Poor Rog. People forget he has 4 kids. He probably spends most of the day cooking for their persnickety palettes, changing diapers, giving them tennis instruction, helping with homework (hey, nursery school isn't all naps & graham crackers), while Mirka's sitting on her butt, eating bon-bons, watching Oprah, sticking pins in Stan Wawrinka dolls. He's probably exhausted before he hits the court.

 

[isabelle]

Poor Rog. People forget he has 4 kids. He probably spends most of the day cooking for their persnickety palettes, changing diapers, giving them tennis instruction, helping with homework (hey, nursery school isn't all naps & graham crackers), while Mirka's sitting on her butt, eating bon-bons, watching Oprah, sticking pins in Stan Wawrinka dolls. He's probably exhausted before he hits the court.

Don't forget the last but not the least : he has to stand his awful wife !!

 

[Kieran]

Poor Rog. People forget he has 4 kids. He probably spends most of the day cooking for their persnickety palettes, changing diapers, giving them tennis instruction, helping with homework (hey, nursery school isn't all naps & graham crackers), while Mirka's sitting on her butt, eating bon-bons, watching Oprah, sticking pins in Stan Wawrinka dolls. He's probably exhausted before he hits the court.

Don't forget the last but not the least : he has to stand his awful wife !!

His wife is not awful! She's loyal and she sits and suffers through all his matches, like a pained sphinx. There's nothing about her that suggests she's awful, though...