Fiero425 said:
Front242 said:
Roger made a ton of errors yesterday which didn't help his cause one bit. He was going toe to toe in the rallies but over hitting a lot and netting routine balls. Don't expect him to lose 6-1 or 6-2 sets to Novak much in the future.
If Roger tries to, as you say "go toe to toe" with Djokovic, the losses will be more embarrassing IMO! Can't you see Nole eats up pace? Going 20-30 strokes a rally will do the old man no good by a 4th set; be realistic! Roger committed errors, but they weren't all UF; many were forced by pace of shot and length of the rallies! :nono :angel: :cover
Depends what those 20-30 shot rallies entail. If there are lots of fast shots and angles requiring running then, fair enough, it's not clever to expend that kind of energy but there are many down the middle of the court shots or sliced backhands that do nothing to tire either guy out and it's simply a case of changing the pace to try and force the error from awkward spin and waiting for the moment to strike a winner.
Couldn't disagree more with the notion that Novak eats up pace btw. Why then has he never won Cincy? The pace of that court is the very reason he hasn't won there and why Roger's attacking game is so effective there. Roger's problem isn't the pace against Novak, it's a combination of him being slower with age, Novak in his prime and with quicker reaction speed, great return of serve, the courts all being slower these days and his mental block against Novak where his game that was at a very high level all tournament suddenly goes to pieces. It's happened at all the last slam finals they've contended and here in the semi also. Roger's game just isn't anywhere near what it was in the earlier rounds. Now some hardcore Djokovic fans will say he's not allowed to play his game but then I'd counter that by saying it's nonsense 'cos he can do so no problem in masters events, etc. The problem for Roger is the moment is getting to him on the big stage against Novak and he panics and isn't able to execute his game plan properly when it matters most. He does sporadically, but not the same level of consistency he had even not so long ago as 2011.
Until he fixes that major hiccup against Novak at the slams he'll continue to lose but it's entirely feasible for things to go his way sometime in the future if he works hard at it. He has all the shots in the book and just needs to calm his nerves and play freely with reduced pressure to execute properly in the big moments. Easier said than done of course but he's Roger Federer and if anyone can, he can but who knows how many more shots he'll get at Novak in the semis or finals of slams.
