What now for Roger?

[Murat Baslamisli]

Knew it. This is why I didn't even watch the match. Throw him under a bus? No, of course not, he is punished enough by this alone. Thanks, Fed, now go stick that Wilson wand up your ass.

[video=youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6zJPdRshgE[/video]

 

[Front242]

Knew it. This is why I didn't even watch the match. Throw him under a bus? No, of course not, he is punished enough by this alone. Thanks, Fed, now go stick that Wilson wand up your ass.

Seriously, this kind of response from you is common. The bloke is an octogenarian in tennis terms and he played a great match, had a great tournament, but you come out with this sh1te? :cover

He didn't play a great match. He was far better last year. He got lucky let's be honest in set 2 in that tiebreak. It could well have been over in 3 sets and that couldn't mean he played a great match. Winning 1 point in the first set tiebreak does not = played great. Novak was very solid and hit less than half the errors Roger did and as always Novak's return of serve was great but Roger was not great today. I wasn't expecting him to win anyway but I expected a better showing than that, especially the first set tiebreak as mentioned. I mean seriously, 1 point won there? That alone makes it not a great performance.

 

[Puppet Master]

Knew it. This is why I didn't even watch the match. Throw him under a bus? No, of course not, he is punished enough by this alone. Thanks, Fed, now go stick that Wilson wand up your ass.

Seriously, this kind of response from you is common. The bloke is an octogenarian in tennis terms and he played a great match, had a great tournament, but you come out with this sh1te? :cover

Hey now, I am pissed that he gave me any hope at all with Friday's performance. That is all. I am not being delusional, just genuinely disappointed. I wish I had something better to do in my free time so that I don't watch tennis. Cringe cringe and cringe.

 

[Front242]

Gasquet won 2 points in the first set tiebreak in the semi ffs And this is Roger Federer! No, that was not great. Of course he played great at times, but not enough and certainly nowhere near how well he did last year. If you want to label it a great loss (which no loss is anyway) he'd need to lose tiebreaks 8-6 not 7-1 and sets 7-6 or 7-5 not 6-3.

 

[DarthFed]

Knew it. This is why I didn't even watch the match. Throw him under a bus? No, of course not, he is punished enough by this alone. Thanks, Fed, now go stick that Wilson wand up your ass.

Seriously, this kind of response from you is common. The bloke is an octogenarian in tennis terms and he played a great match, had a great tournament, but you come out with this sh1te? :cover

To be fair he played a bad match even for 34 year old Roger standards. He needed a great performance to win and even that might not have been enough but it'd have been a lot more competitive. He's played worse in GS finals and at a much younger age so it happens. You play in 26 finals there will be a few bad performances. He will be back.

 

[Kieran]

Knew it. This is why I didn't even watch the match. Throw him under a bus? No, of course not, he is punished enough by this alone. Thanks, Fed, now go stick that Wilson wand up your ass.

Seriously, this kind of response from you is common. The bloke is an octogenarian in tennis terms and he played a great match, had a great tournament, but you come out with this sh1te? :cover

He didn't play a great match. He was far better last year. He got lucky let's be honest in set 2 in that tiebreak. It could well have been over in 3 sets and that couldn't mean he played a great match. Winning 1 point in the first set tiebreak does not = played great. Novak was very solid and hit less than half the errors Roger did and as always Novak's return of serve was great but Roger was not great today. I wasn't expecting him to win anyway but I expected a better showing than that, especially the first set tiebreak as mentioned. I mean seriously, 1 point won there? That alone makes it not a great performance.

It doesn't. A 34 year old not getting his a$$ handed to him by the #1 at Wimbledon is already a great performance. He had set point in the first, rode the disappointments well, and made a match of it, before Nole upped the ante in the third, which was what we should expect. Roger has had a great tournament and gave his fans another jolly ride through dreamland. I dunno what anyone else could expect. He leaves his guts out there, and so-called tennis fans are telling him to ram his racket where the sun don't shine? :cover

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

He visibly ran out of legs. As good as Roger is with his hands, pro tennis at this level is played with legs. Roger had none after the second set. The question is, what can he do about it...

 

[herios]

He visibly ran out of legs. As good as Roger is with his hands, pro tennis at this level is played with legs. Roger had none after the second set. The question is, what can he do about it...

Pray to have a better serving day

 

[Front242]

Seriously, this kind of response from you is common. The bloke is an octogenarian in tennis terms and he played a great match, had a great tournament, but you come out with this sh1te? :cover

He didn't play a great match. He was far better last year. He got lucky let's be honest in set 2 in that tiebreak. It could well have been over in 3 sets and that couldn't mean he played a great match. Winning 1 point in the first set tiebreak does not = played great. Novak was very solid and hit less than half the errors Roger did and as always Novak's return of serve was great but Roger was not great today. I wasn't expecting him to win anyway but I expected a better showing than that, especially the first set tiebreak as mentioned. I mean seriously, 1 point won there? That alone makes it not a great performance.

It doesn't. A 34 year old not getting his a$$ handed to him by the #1 at Wimbledon is already a great performance. He had set point in the first, rode the disappointments well, and made a match of it, before Nole upped the ante in the third, which was what we should expect. Roger has had a great tournament and gave his fans another jolly ride through dreamland. I dunno what anyone else could expect. He leaves his guts out there, and so-called tennis fans are telling him to ram his racket where the sun don't shine? :cover

I'm not disputing he had a great tournament, clearly reaching the final at almost 34 is pretty damn impressive, as was the match he played against Murray. I'm talking only about the final, the most important match where he did not play great and nowhere near the level of last year. He lost both but played much, much better last year.

 

[Puppet Master]

He visibly ran out of legs. As good as Roger is with his hands, pro tennis at this level is played with legs. Roger had none after the second set. The question is, what can he do about it...

I don't know if you remember Murat, but we already discussed this during the Istanbul tournament, either get stronger so that he can hit through a wall, or pack your bags, well not now, but knowing how much this truly frustrated Fed, that might happen a lot quicker than we think.

 

[Kieran]

He didn't play a great match. He was far better last year. He got lucky let's be honest in set 2 in that tiebreak. It could well have been over in 3 sets and that couldn't mean he played a great match. Winning 1 point in the first set tiebreak does not = played great. Novak was very solid and hit less than half the errors Roger did and as always Novak's return of serve was great but Roger was not great today. I wasn't expecting him to win anyway but I expected a better showing than that, especially the first set tiebreak as mentioned. I mean seriously, 1 point won there? That alone makes it not a great performance.

It doesn't. A 34 year old not getting his a$$ handed to him by the #1 at Wimbledon is already a great performance. He had set point in the first, rode the disappointments well, and made a match of it, before Nole upped the ante in the third, which was what we should expect. Roger has had a great tournament and gave his fans another jolly ride through dreamland. I dunno what anyone else could expect. He leaves his guts out there, and so-called tennis fans are telling him to ram his racket where the sun don't shine? :cover

I'm not disputing he had a great tournament, clearly reaching the final at almost 34 is pretty damn impressive, as was the match he played against Murray. I'm talking only about the final, the most important match where he did not play great and nowhere near the level of last year. He lost both but played much, much better last year.

That's just disappointment talking. Nole shoulda been done in four last year as well. He's making heavier weather out of these finals than he should be. Federer is a physical specimen, to be preserved in formaldehyde and displayed to science students. He's achieving remarkable levels for a nigh-on 34 year old. You all should be glad, too, cos even I'm saying it: we'll miss the old stubborn bass turd when he's gone...

 

[Front242]

It doesn't. A 34 year old not getting his a$$ handed to him by the #1 at Wimbledon is already a great performance. He had set point in the first, rode the disappointments well, and made a match of it, before Nole upped the ante in the third, which was what we should expect. Roger has had a great tournament and gave his fans another jolly ride through dreamland. I dunno what anyone else could expect. He leaves his guts out there, and so-called tennis fans are telling him to ram his racket where the sun don't shine? :cover

I'm not disputing he had a great tournament, clearly reaching the final at almost 34 is pretty damn impressive, as was the match he played against Murray. I'm talking only about the final, the most important match where he did not play great and nowhere near the level of last year. He lost both but played much, much better last year.

That's just disappointment talking. Nole shoulda been done in four last year as well. He's making heavier weather out of these finals than he should be. Federer is a physical specimen, to be preserved in formaldehyde and displayed to science students. He's achieving remarkable levels for a nigh-on 34 year old. You all should be glad, too, cos even I'm saying it: we'll miss the old stubborn bass turd when he's gone...

Nah, not disappointment talking. As I said, I didn't think he'd win anyway but disappointed he didn't make more of a match of it, then yes. Absolutely. 1 point won in the first set tiebreak?! Gasquet got 2!

 

[BIG3]

He only need someone to take Novak down, at least wear him out in semi, then anything could happen. He can beat anyone else, except Rafa in RG.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

He visibly ran out of legs. As good as Roger is with his hands, pro tennis at this level is played with legs. Roger had none after the second set. The question is, what can he do about it...

Pray to have a better se4rving day

Towards the end of the second set or thereabout, he was serving %90 first serves in for that set, and it was still awfully close... Against Nole, sometimes it doesn't matter...:-/

 

[DarthFed]

^ That was the only set he served well in. Last year he served a lot better and had a ton less errors, but this year I thought he played more aggressive. With more aggressive hitting there will be more errors but it was way too many today and a lot on routine shots. He should just try to put this one out of the memory bank.

 

[Federberg]

^i don't understand why he didn't at least try the tactic that worked so well with Andy. He was hitting his approaches to the sides. I know Novak is better but it was worth a try. He seemed to have lost a step. Sigh.. He peaked one round too early!

 

[DarthFed]

Nole hits so much better on the run, that might be a factor in how he was hitting his approach shots. Overall I thought his net play was pretty good. The backhand, which has been really good all year, really let him down. And he just didn't serve well enough to make up for it. A great serving performance may have made this competitive at least.

 

[calitennis127]

Nole hits so much better on the run, that might be a factor in how he was hitting his approach shots. Overall I thought his net play was pretty good. The backhand, which has been really good all year, really let him down. And he just didn't serve well enough to make up for it. A great serving performance may have made this competitive at least.

This was a very competitive match.

 

[Moxie]

After an amazing performance in the semifinal, it looked like Roger had found the level he needed to win Wimbledon. He really looked like the Roger of old, a Roger that we haven't seen consistently since at least 2009, and only in smaller and smaller doses since. But a combination of the fact that he simply couldn't maintain that level and that Novak is a better player than Murray led to his loss. Very disappointing for Roger and his fans (but congrats to Novak and his!).

I can't help but wonder if this will be remembered as the last real chance Roger had at winning a major. I know, he's still #2 in the world but the window keeps narrowing. I honestly don't think he can beat Novak in a Slam final; anyone else, maybe. But how many more chances will he get? He's made it to five finals in the last six years, so we're talking less than one final per year. He's going to be 34 at the next Slam. I think also there just isn't the weakness in the tour that allowed someone like Pete Sampras to win a last Slam in 2002 or Andre in 2003. In 2002-03 there was no equivalent to prime Novak Djokovic blocking the way, or ever-hungry Andy Murray. Hewitt wasn't on that level and Roger wouldn't be there for another year or so.

So here's what I fear: The fire will be out of Roger after this one. I don't like to speculate in this way, but can't help but feel it to be a strong possibility. I don't expect him to retire, but I wouldn't be surprised if this was his last Slam final and that while he'll play through this year and next in order to get one more shot at the Olympics, today's loss may be too hard to fully recover from. I suppose there is always hope that Novak is upset earlier on, but right now Roger must feel that he simply doesn't have what it takes to beat him on the big stage.

Or maybe I am just projecting my own disappointment and loss of heart? :cry :snicker

I'm sorry for your disappointment, Dude, as a fellow tennis fan with a favorite. (And I don't think you're throwing Roger under the bus...nor do I think BB does, or that you don't understand the mentality of a champion.) I'm quoting you back from the OP to say this: what if Novak had lost that marathon to Anderson? Not to put salt in it with a "what if," but this is what will keep the ever-optimistic Mr. Federer in the hunt for another while. I think everyone has conceded that, with Djokovic looming, at least, Roger probably needs some help to get another Major. But he's hanging close by for his chances. Of course the window is closing, but it doesn't take the entire draw to come up with Legionnaire's Disease for him to get an opportunity he could take. He still beats a good proportion of the field on most days.

 

[DarthFed]

Nole hits so much better on the run, that might be a factor in how he was hitting his approach shots. Overall I thought his net play was pretty good. The backhand, which has been really good all year, really let him down. And he just didn't serve well enough to make up for it. A great serving performance may have made this competitive at least.

This was a very competitive match.

Very routine 3rd and 4th sets. Very competitive first two sets, overall a mildly competitive match.