Federer 2014 vs. 2015?

[Third Serve]

Here's a thread where you all probably won't have an agenda motivating you to pick one or the other (though I'd actually kinda like to see you try, ngl).

Simple stuff, really. Was Fed better in 2014 or 2015? Those two were the Fedberg years when Fed picked up Edberg as a coach and began to implement more net play in his game to hide his loss of movement. He went all-out aggressive a lot of the time, and whether it truly paid off in the end is up for debate, but that's for a different thread. Also, he completed the Dubai-Halle-Cincy-Basel Slam set in both years so we know they were peak years. Anyway, here's a couple of the stats for both years:

2014

Spoiler

Slam performances:

AO: Lost in straights to Nadal in the semifinals
RG: Lost in five sets to Gulbis in the fourth round
W: Lost in five sets to Djokovic in the final
USO: Lost in straights to Cilic in the semifinals

ATP Finals: Won all three round-robin matches, pulled out of the final due to injury

Masters 1000 performances:

Indian Wells: Lost in three sets to Djokovic in the final (fairly underrated match imo)
Miami: Lost in three sets to Nishikori in the quarterfinals
Monte-Carlo: Lost in three sets to Wawrinka in the final (had MPs, probably his best chance of winning MC)
Madrid: N/A
Rome: Lost in three sets to Chardy in the opening round
Canada: Lost in straights to Tsonga in the final (yes, it was Tsonga's memorable 2014 Canada run)
Cincinnati: Won in three sets against Ferrer in the final
Shanghai: Won in straight sets against Simon in the final (including two memorable matches such as the opening round against Mayer and the semifinal against Djokovic)
Paris: Lost in straights to Raonic in the quarterfinals

Other tournament results:

Brisbane: Lost in three sets to Hewitt in the final
Dubai: Won in three sets against Berdych in the final
Halle: Won in straight sets against Falla in the final
Basel: Won in straight sets against Goffin in the final

Win rate: 73-12 (85.9%)
Year-End ranking: #2
Bonus fact about 2014: Fed led the H2H against Djokovic this year, 3-2

2015

Spoiler

Slam performances:

AO: Lost in four sets to Seppi in the fourth round
RG: Lost in straights to Wawrinka in the quarterfinals
W: Lost in four sets to Djokovic in the final
USO: Lost in four sets to Djokovic in the final

ATP Finals: Won all three round-robin matches and lost in straight sets to Djokovic in the final

Masters 1000 performances:

Indian Wells: Lost in three sets to Djokovic in the final (I don't remember this one as well as 2014)
Miami: N/A
Monte-Carlo: Lost in straights to Monfils in the third round
Madrid: Lost in three sets to Kyrgios in the opening round
Rome: Lost in straights to Djokovic in the final
Canada: N/A
Cincinnati: Won in straight sets against Djokovic in the final (he didn't even get broken once in this tournament)
Shanghai: Lost in three sets to Ramos-Vinolas in the opening round
Paris: Lost in three sets to Isner in the third round

Other tournament results:

Brisbane: Won in three sets against Raonic in the final
Dubai: Won in straight sets against Djokovic in the final
Istanbul: Won in straight sets against Cuevas in the final
Halle: Won in straight sets against Seppi in the final (had a particularly close match against Kohlschreiber in the opening round)
Basel: Won in three sets against Nadal in the final (another underrated match)

Win rate: 63-11 (85.1%)
Year-End Ranking: #3
Bonus fact about 2015: Federer and Djokovic played a whopping eight times this year, with Fed winning 3 of the total 6 matches Djokovic lost this season

To cap it off, Federer 2014 leads in the following metrics:

Year-End Ranking
Win rate
Masters 1000s

Federer 2015 leads in the following metrics:

Slam finals reached
Total tournaments won

Fed also played the better version of Djokovic in 2015, so factor that in however you may.

My verdict is 2014 for the win, with the caveat that Fed played his best tournament of the two years in Cincinnati 2015. Disgust.

 

[Poisoned Slice]

How many twitter followers did he have in 2014&2015?

 

[Deleted member 780630]

Reached higher highs in 2015 and was more efficient and surgical in getting the job done. A bit more consistent in 2014, but he had to work harder each match.

Also overplayed in 2014, which is why he mugged up winnable tournaments like MC, USO, and YEC that year. In 2015, he just ran into a better Djokovic.

 

[Noleberic123]

2015 easily

 

[The Guru]

I'm of the opinion that Federer was better in the 15 W final than 14 so that makes this pretty easy when you've got the monster gap in USO level too. An ok showing in the AO SF doesn't make up that ground and 15 Fed was better at RG for what it's worth. Outside the slams Fed was on an absolute tear from start of grass through the USO and at no point during 2014 was Fed on that level. Fed maybe a tad bit more consistent in 14 but even so it's still 15 by a comfortable margin.

 

[Third Serve]

Hmm, I expected a few more people to vote for 2014 here. He definitely reached higher highs in 2015, I won’t dispute that, but I felt he was certainly more consistent throughout 2014 (and not even by a small amount either) and I feel that really goes a long way.

 

[Deleted member 771911]

2015 Fed

 

[RS]

2017 Federer was the best older Federer. 2014/2015 Federer lacked the ground game but 2015 probably gets the slight edge because of the Wim 2015 SF and Cincy which were peak level.