Roger Federer is still pretty good at tennis. 2 Grand Slams this year and he's about to turn 36. Didn't drop a single set at Wimbledon (though he ended up with a relatively easy draw). Would not have predicted this!
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Federer's draw was favourable and fluffy but to his credit his level of play has been exceptional. Especially those first two sets against Raonic. Unfortunately the Wimbledon final was a big letdown with dreadfully boring tennis where Roger's biggest battle seems to have been staying focused and not letting himself get distracted by Cilic's mental breakdown. It was just too much pressure for Cilic poor guy, normally they have such incredible powers of focus and concentration but they are human after all.
Federer looks incredible though. It appears that staying healthy and getting lots of (old man) rest is working out well for him. It is quite an incredible resurgence at 35. Full credit to the guys legendary skills and experience, but at this point his team & management (his wife I think provides much of the decision making guidance?) look especially sharp and deserve a big share of the credit. Especially when one considers all the other top players wearing themselves out physically by just playing too much for their age & physical condition (Murray and Djokovic and Nadal).
This year's US Open should be extremely open and forgiving in terms of the draw for the younger players gunning for their first big win.
Federer looks incredible though. It appears that staying healthy and getting lots of (old man) rest is working out well for him. It is quite an incredible resurgence at 35. Full credit to the guys legendary skills and experience, but at this point his team & management (his wife I think provides much of the decision making guidance?) look especially sharp and deserve a big share of the credit. Especially when one considers all the other top players wearing themselves out physically by just playing too much for their age & physical condition (Murray and Djokovic and Nadal).
This year's US Open should be extremely open and forgiving in terms of the draw for the younger players gunning for their first big win.
Szlia
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While the draw opened up nicely for him, he still had to play three guys that beat him in Grand Slam, two of them in Wimbledon! But it's true that both the draw and the way the final unfolded made that 19th Grand Slam title a tad underwhelming compared to the AO win over Nadal earlier in the year.
We'll see how thing goes on the way to the US Open, but with Djokovic having an elbow injury that could take him out of the game for a while, Murray who nurses a hip problem and Nadal who "only" reached the final of the US open 3 times in 12 attempts, you have to wonder if Federer will not cruise through the draw like he did this fortnight.
A little fun fact from earlier in the week: Federer reached his 42nd GS semi final. Djokovic reached 31, Nadal 25 and Murray 21! All four stats are impressive in their own right. Federer for the sheer number. Djokovic for the number compared to the number of GS he played (31/51 slightly above Federer). Nadal because he won 22 of these 25 semi finals! Murray because it shows that despite his way smaller title count he is indeed way above all the other players and a part of the Big 4.
We'll see how thing goes on the way to the US Open, but with Djokovic having an elbow injury that could take him out of the game for a while, Murray who nurses a hip problem and Nadal who "only" reached the final of the US open 3 times in 12 attempts, you have to wonder if Federer will not cruise through the draw like he did this fortnight.
A little fun fact from earlier in the week: Federer reached his 42nd GS semi final. Djokovic reached 31, Nadal 25 and Murray 21! All four stats are impressive in their own right. Federer for the sheer number. Djokovic for the number compared to the number of GS he played (31/51 slightly above Federer). Nadal because he won 22 of these 25 semi finals! Murray because it shows that despite his way smaller title count he is indeed way above all the other players and a part of the Big 4.
Szlia
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So... this week is the Canadian ATP1000. In even years it takes place in Toronto and in odd years in Montréal. This year is definitely a very odd year. Before the start of the even we already knew it was a bit strange: Djokovic is officially out of commission until the end of the season to treat his elbow, the same with Wawrinka for his knee, Murray is off this week and the next to nurse his hip and Cilic is also injured. On top of that, Berdych pulled out and got replaced by a lucky loser and later we saw that Del Potro, Raonic and Kyrgios were not fit enough to compete at their best. This decimated draw apparently gave ideas to a number of underdogs and up and comers, because days after days we saw seeds fall like flies to the hand of inspired veterans (Haase, Anderson, Mannarino) or a refreshing bunch of youngsters (Donaldson, Chung, Shapovalov, Schwartzman).
End result: There were only 6 seeds left in the round of 16 and now, in quarter final, the only seeds standing are N°2 Federer, N°4 Zverev and N°12 Bautista Agut!
N°1 Nadal fell in epic match to candadian 18 year old explosive leftie Shapovalov. N°3 Thiem fell to the court coverage and consistency of the diminutive argentinian Schwartzman. N°5 Nishikori served I think twice for the match and lead 6-2 in the third set breaker before falling to Monfils. N°6 Raonic was not fit enough to beat an unusually solid Mannarino. N°7 Dimitrov somehow lost to veteran Haase (6-1 in the 3rd!). N°8 Tsonga struggling for confidence, lost to a very much in form Querry (semi in Wimby, title in Cabo). N°9 Goffin was not consistent enough against korean youngster Chung, etc etc etc....
The funny part is that Federer played a very poor match against Ferrer Thursday and he will face Bautista Agut next, so the title is not in the bag for him and the oddest ATP 1000 in ages could become even more odd!
End result: There were only 6 seeds left in the round of 16 and now, in quarter final, the only seeds standing are N°2 Federer, N°4 Zverev and N°12 Bautista Agut!
N°1 Nadal fell in epic match to candadian 18 year old explosive leftie Shapovalov. N°3 Thiem fell to the court coverage and consistency of the diminutive argentinian Schwartzman. N°5 Nishikori served I think twice for the match and lead 6-2 in the third set breaker before falling to Monfils. N°6 Raonic was not fit enough to beat an unusually solid Mannarino. N°7 Dimitrov somehow lost to veteran Haase (6-1 in the 3rd!). N°8 Tsonga struggling for confidence, lost to a very much in form Querry (semi in Wimby, title in Cabo). N°9 Goffin was not consistent enough against korean youngster Chung, etc etc etc....
The funny part is that Federer played a very poor match against Ferrer Thursday and he will face Bautista Agut next, so the title is not in the bag for him and the oddest ATP 1000 in ages could become even more odd!
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Greatest indeed, it is kind of crazy how he just breezed through this 20th.
I was happy to see him win but must concede that a lot of luck went into this open run such a success. Perhaps a little like the one French he won without Nadal in the way. It is pretty incredible that Murray, Djokowic Nadal are all injured again and voila! The golden path is just laying out there for Federer, a slam ripe for picking. He still had to play extremely well, however the next generation of players is as of yet still lacking a genuine consistant challenger of the Djokowic/ Murray/Nadal calibre.
Not to put down Cilic, who played extremely well, but Cilic is green compared to Nadal or Djokowic in a final. You could tell Cilic was there physically but IMO crumpled mentally in the 5th while Federer just had to keep his cool enough to ride things out with his experience.
The sun is finally setting on Federer's career.... slowly... just not quite there yet . You can see the writing on the wall: watching Cilic toy a little with Federer, especially in the 4th set, reminded me much of Lend McEnroe being moved around the court by young Sampras and Agassi. But Federer's skills really are sublime and on top of them, he posseses a true mastery over the complete game to achieve such feats at his age.
How many slams can Federer have left in him? It is incredible that he might have a chance at 1 or 2 more slams in the year he turns 37! It will be interesting to see if he rolls the dice on the clay court season or plays it safe to save himself for Wimbledon.
I was happy to see him win but must concede that a lot of luck went into this open run such a success. Perhaps a little like the one French he won without Nadal in the way. It is pretty incredible that Murray, Djokowic Nadal are all injured again and voila! The golden path is just laying out there for Federer, a slam ripe for picking. He still had to play extremely well, however the next generation of players is as of yet still lacking a genuine consistant challenger of the Djokowic/ Murray/Nadal calibre.
Not to put down Cilic, who played extremely well, but Cilic is green compared to Nadal or Djokowic in a final. You could tell Cilic was there physically but IMO crumpled mentally in the 5th while Federer just had to keep his cool enough to ride things out with his experience.
The sun is finally setting on Federer's career.... slowly... just not quite there yet . You can see the writing on the wall: watching Cilic toy a little with Federer, especially in the 4th set, reminded me much of Lend McEnroe being moved around the court by young Sampras and Agassi. But Federer's skills really are sublime and on top of them, he posseses a true mastery over the complete game to achieve such feats at his age.
How many slams can Federer have left in him? It is incredible that he might have a chance at 1 or 2 more slams in the year he turns 37! It will be interesting to see if he rolls the dice on the clay court season or plays it safe to save himself for Wimbledon.
Szlia
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One of the most impressive thing for me is his will to win. He often makes tennis looks effortless, but when it is needed he is still able to dig deep, to put the blue overall on and work hard.
A refreshing side effect of his age is how candid he is now in the interviews. After the final he straight up said he was super nervous during the whole day of wait leading to the evening time final and that he felt it might very well be Cilic's turn to win after a couple close matches at the end of last year. He even said that he had a similar feeling before his match against Berdych! A guy who beat him on occasions, but the most recent one was in 2013 and since then Federer won their nine meetings dropping only a grand total of two sets in the process!
As for the rest of the season, Murray and Djokovic are in deep trouble with their ailments. Nadal a little less so, but his injuries trouble messed with his pre-season training regimen and his most recent niggle will also prevent him to prepare properly for that american swing before the clay. As a result he might spend his whole season trying to play catch up with the form he should have. If Nadal makes a poor clay season leading to the French, then I can see Federer making the gamble to play it this time. But if Nadal is competitive, Federer will wish him fun in the dirt and will focus on his main goal: Wimbledon.
A refreshing side effect of his age is how candid he is now in the interviews. After the final he straight up said he was super nervous during the whole day of wait leading to the evening time final and that he felt it might very well be Cilic's turn to win after a couple close matches at the end of last year. He even said that he had a similar feeling before his match against Berdych! A guy who beat him on occasions, but the most recent one was in 2013 and since then Federer won their nine meetings dropping only a grand total of two sets in the process!
As for the rest of the season, Murray and Djokovic are in deep trouble with their ailments. Nadal a little less so, but his injuries trouble messed with his pre-season training regimen and his most recent niggle will also prevent him to prepare properly for that american swing before the clay. As a result he might spend his whole season trying to play catch up with the form he should have. If Nadal makes a poor clay season leading to the French, then I can see Federer making the gamble to play it this time. But if Nadal is competitive, Federer will wish him fun in the dirt and will focus on his main goal: Wimbledon.
Araxen
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Szlia
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He was a bit lucky in this campaign because while he played some very good matches (and he had to against Haase and Seppi) he also somehow survived a shocker against Kohlschreiber during which he had trouble finding the court with his ground strokes. He stayed afloat thanks to his serve and he managed to elevate his level of play in two small bursts: at the end of the first set breaker and at the end of the 2nd set. That was enough for a 7-6 7-5 win. The first few games of the final against Dimitrov were also no laughing matter. The bulgarian was the one dictating play, taking the risks and making (or losing) all the points. Sadly for Dimitrov he made too many unforced errors and gifted an early break from which he never recovered (also I think he was not 100% so he possibly ran out of gas way faster than he normally would).
Even more than the N°1 ranking, the craziest thing is that since his return 14 months ago, he lost a total of 5 matches. What the actual fuck?
Even more than the N°1 ranking, the craziest thing is that since his return 14 months ago, he lost a total of 5 matches. What the actual fuck?
MrHolland420
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Any predictions for Wimbledon? Just looked at draw, and Federer got lucky with both Djokowic and Murray in the bottom half. It should be clear sailing through SF but I do not think he can pull off another miracle personally. SF is where old age will finally tip the scales towards normalcy and Federer will fun out of steam.
I am really looking forward to see how the new Canadian Shapovalovs game has evolved since last year.
I am really looking forward to see how the new Canadian Shapovalovs game has evolved since last year.
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Szlia
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The main impact of age is the mental and physiological tear and wear. While he has some back issues that came and went, a small ankle issue years ago and a minor knee surgery, he is by and large in great shape and probably will still be for several years. Stamina, strength and coordination are hardly affected with aging. Recovery time is more of a problem, but it should not be in a Grand Slam on grass. Mentally, he showed both his hunger and love of the game time and time again and apparently loves the constant travelling around the world (which is the most draining thing for many). I guess that being able to afford to travel with his whole family and use the best transportations and accommodations available helps!
Federer's main problem is not that he is older than just about everyone in the draw, it's that this past week in Halle he just did not play very well. His offensive play lacked creativity, the net play was at time a bit dubious and the backhand was a liability, especially when it came to passing shots. He nailed a couple critical ones on key points, but, most of the time, his opponents could go to the net without much worries after attacking his backhand. For the positive, the serve and forehand worked ok.
It's difficult to assess Federer's chances without seeing if some rest and training will help him play at a better level in Wimbledon. As far as the draw go, there were some low seeded or unseeded floaters that you wanted to avoid. He avoided Djokovic, Murray, Kyrgios and Lopez, but he has Karlovic near him (3rd round potentially), Coric who played an extremely good match in Halle's final to beat him (4th round) and Querry or Muller potentially in quarter (along Anderson or grass lover but somewhat less menacing Gasquet). On paper, the opponent in the semi would be a very much in form Cilic. Not the worst draw for sure, but first thing first: let's see how he fares in the supposedly 'easy' first couple of rounds against Lajovic (a clay / regularity player as far as I remember) and Lacko or an unkown french qualifier.
Federer's main problem is not that he is older than just about everyone in the draw, it's that this past week in Halle he just did not play very well. His offensive play lacked creativity, the net play was at time a bit dubious and the backhand was a liability, especially when it came to passing shots. He nailed a couple critical ones on key points, but, most of the time, his opponents could go to the net without much worries after attacking his backhand. For the positive, the serve and forehand worked ok.
It's difficult to assess Federer's chances without seeing if some rest and training will help him play at a better level in Wimbledon. As far as the draw go, there were some low seeded or unseeded floaters that you wanted to avoid. He avoided Djokovic, Murray, Kyrgios and Lopez, but he has Karlovic near him (3rd round potentially), Coric who played an extremely good match in Halle's final to beat him (4th round) and Querry or Muller potentially in quarter (along Anderson or grass lover but somewhat less menacing Gasquet). On paper, the opponent in the semi would be a very much in form Cilic. Not the worst draw for sure, but first thing first: let's see how he fares in the supposedly 'easy' first couple of rounds against Lajovic (a clay / regularity player as far as I remember) and Lacko or an unkown french qualifier.
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Szlia
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Federer beat Lajovic with extreme ease, but it's difficult to know where Federer is at since the opposition was very tame. He served well and he was very dangerous when he had any kind of ball that was somewhat short on his forehand side. Lajovic did not manage to put the Federer's backhand under scrutiny, but the few we saw did not inspire much confidence, notably with topspin backhand having trouble finding depth. We'll see how it goes in the next round...
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Been prioritizing spare time @ work for football over tennis but I found the reason for Federer's lacklustre performance! :
Roger Federer's Uniqlo Deal Pushes His Endorsement Earnings To Highest By An Athlete
The gear endorsement mojo was out of alignment with his old Nike sneakers! Tis going to take a tournament or two to break the gear in! Sounds like hes shopping around for new sneaker deal.... *sigh* what a crazy levels f*ked up world.
Going to try to catch tomorrow afternoon's match to see if hes warming up at all in the second round.
Roger Federer's Uniqlo Deal Pushes His Endorsement Earnings To Highest By An Athlete
The gear endorsement mojo was out of alignment with his old Nike sneakers! Tis going to take a tournament or two to break the gear in! Sounds like hes shopping around for new sneaker deal.... *sigh* what a crazy levels f*ked up world.
Going to try to catch tomorrow afternoon's match to see if hes warming up at all in the second round.
a c i d.f l y
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Zzen
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Are definitely getting licked tonight. Almost an entire Wimbledon fortnight without having to listen to that cunt grunt from Sharapova.
She da real MVP.
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Szlia
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What I have seen of the match against Lacko makes me a little more optimistic about Federer's chances. Lacko offered a much stronger opposition than Lajovic, so we got to see some defending and counter-attacks from Federer as well as a nice array of backhands. The next round could have been Karlovic, but Dr Ivo lost to Struff in a serving marathon. Struff has a pretty big game so he can be dangerous, but, more often than not, he does not fit together properly all the pieces of the puzzle. He might be doing something right though since he reached his first 3rd round in a Slam in 20 attempts. After that it's Manarino or Medvedev, two tricky opponents, but Federer should still be the heavy favorite.