Federer-Nadal starts in 3 hours, anyone staying up?

RonBurgundy

Gonna be great!

Estil

Have you heard of DVR?

RonBurgundy

I got up at 5:30 & watched the last 2 sets!

Connecticoin

If it weren't for Raffa, Federer would probably have 22 slams titles by now. Of course, Agassi would probably have 15 if it weren't for Sampras.

jdip9

Only caught the last couple of games.

I've never been a huge Federer fan, although I certainly respect his game. We're getting to the point where it is legitimate to ask if he'll ever win another major. Unless he catches a lucky break in a tournament (Rafa and/or Djokovic losing or getting hurt), I say no. Rafa and Djokovic have clearly passed him by, I can't see him beating both of them in the same tournament.

KeepItWarm

Sharapova should cruise. She's so tough on return serves and has a ton more experience than Azarenka.

Stay calm, go for it on first serves (let Azarenka commit the double-faults) and enjoy the ride. I love chick tennis!

lanemyer85

<< <i>Only caught the last couple of games.

I've never been a huge Federer fan, although I certainly respect his game. We're getting to the point where it is legitimate to ask if he'll ever win another major. Unless he catches a lucky break in a tournament (Rafa and/or Djokovic losing or getting hurt), I say no. Rafa and Djokovic have clearly passed him by, I can't see him beating both of them in the same tournament. >>



so you're surprised a player at the age of 30 would get passed up by a couple of guys 24 and 25 respectively in a sport where the average male player historically declines rapidly at 26? They should be breezing by Federer and yet he's regularly still in the mix most of the time...at least on faster surfaces. Look where Roger's similar aged peers are - Roddick, Hewitt, Ferrero, Nalbandian, Tommy Haas etc. You have one guy in Roddick who is fading badly who is about to drop out of the top 25. One in Nalbandian who is hanging on to relevance at #87, Hewitt and Haas are perpetually injured and aren't ranked in the top 100. and lastly you have Juan Carlos Ferrero who peaked at #1 in 2003. He's been bouncing around #50 ever since.

Why would Roger need a lucky break to beat Novak? He carved Novak up at the French, and had 2 match points on him at the US Open. What Djokovic has on Rafa, he doesn't have on Federer. Federer is a pure shot maker, Rafa and Djokovic are pure defenders. They have the tougher match-up between them when they're both constantly playing conservatively standing 65 feet behind the baseline trying to rip passing shots by each other at the first sign one breaks. Quite frankly, if Roger wasn't so stubborn, unwilling to change his gameplan, his refusal to breakdown video, or whatever his reluctance to change is, I think he could easily beat Rafa much more on non-clay surfaces. It's 5-5 career now, but if Fed would just monotonously pound Rafa's backhand side much more (like Djokovic does) to Nadal, Roger would probably be 8-2 on non-clay surfaces against Nadal.

soundgard

i miss the connors/McEnroe/lendl/wilander era

jdip9

I never said what Federer is doing isn't amazing, given his age. I simply asked the question if he can win another major - my opinion is that he probably can, but not if he has to go through both Rafa and Djokovic in the same tournament.

BTW...I wouldn't say he "carved him up" at the 2011 French...he needed two tiebreaks (7-5 in both) to win. And Fed was 0-4 vs. Novak on hard surfaces in 2011.

lanemyer85

and Federer won 4 of the previous 5 meetings before that. Who cares. The point was Federer doesn't need "luck" to beat him even at this stage of his career. And carving in tennis means something completely different than what you think it means. It's the brushing or carving on generating torque and spin, slicing, or in the case of a serve, a kick. Djokovic is probably at this stage the best returner in the game, and Fed carved him up with his slice backhand as well as that kick serve out in the deuce court at the French. 76% 1st serve points won + 18 aces on dirt is a large sum for a four set match from a guy who isn't a heavy server.

KeepItWarm

Well, my post above couldn't have been more wrong (regarding the women's final).

Men's final was absolutely incredible. Absolutely riveting in my opinion. So much better than anything offered by the NHL, NFL or NCAAB this weekend.

Connecticoin

<< <i>Well, my post above couldn't have been more wrong (regarding the women's final).

Men's final was absolutely incredible. Absolutely riveting in my opinion. So much better than anything offered by the NHL, NFL or NCAAB this weekend. >>



It was an awesome final. Could start a great rivalry like Borg-McEnroe. However, the best recent final was the Federer - Roddick Wimbeldon -- I really felt bad for Roddick, because I knew that was probably his last chance to win another major with Nadal, Djokovic, and Murray rising.