https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwylB-aR6LI#t=6155
Can you think of specific points that defines other players careers?
Can you think of specific points that defines other players careers?
Is this the single most important point in Federer`s career?
- Thread starter ARFED
- Start date
Goosehead
Legend
knew it would be that point. Federer not only back from 0-2 sets down, 3-4, 30-40 2nd serve down, but comes back 1-2 in sets v del potro in sf.
thing is he missed with a nightmare forehand to go break point down, then at bp down 2nd serve Federer had "some incredibly big wilanders" :twisted: and after getting his 2nd serve in.. hits the famous forehand.
Federer was so sh1te before then..he turned things around just in time.
thing is he missed with a nightmare forehand to go break point down, then at bp down 2nd serve Federer had "some incredibly big wilanders" :twisted: and after getting his 2nd serve in.. hits the famous forehand.
Federer was so sh1te before then..he turned things around just in time.
SpicyCurry1990
Hall of Fame
I'd say Djoker vs Fed 15-40 double match point cross court return winner at 2011 USO SF is in the same ballpark. It secured his #1 ranking that year and a USO on his resume.
If Djoker misses that he loses the match, Rafa goes on to beat Fed and defend a non-clay title for the first time in his career and splits the slams with Nole 2-2, having only lost 1 slam meeting against him. Nole still has 0 USOs.
With Djoker being gassed for the end of season stretch and only a 2000 pt gap, not a 4000 pt gulf separating them, perhaps Nadal plays Valencia and Paris and earns enough points to retake #1 with a good enough WTF performance.
If Djoker misses that he loses the match, Rafa goes on to beat Fed and defend a non-clay title for the first time in his career and splits the slams with Nole 2-2, having only lost 1 slam meeting against him. Nole still has 0 USOs.
With Djoker being gassed for the end of season stretch and only a 2000 pt gap, not a 4000 pt gulf separating them, perhaps Nadal plays Valencia and Paris and earns enough points to retake #1 with a good enough WTF performance.
monfed
Banned
The Green Mile
Bionic Poster
Yes, but the thread says "Most important in Federers career". Nonetheless it was most annoying when Djokovic hit that winner then proceeded to take the match...
SpicyCurry1990
Hall of Fame
Yes, but the thread says "Most important in Federers career". Nonetheless it was most annoying when Djokovic hit that winner then proceeded to take the match...
Opening post also asks for similar moments defining other players careers.
Ralph went on to beat Fed at AO 12 + AO 14, both times fairly convincingly. AO is Ralph's worst slam and a much faster hardcourt than USO, probably one of the fastest courts in the game.
No reasons to suspect Ralph would lose to Fed there considering he is 20-1 there since 2010 (only loss being the Nole 2011 match) and has won 6 slam matches in a row over Fed.
Add in that USO historically is pretty similar to AO for Fed, but since 09 has been worse (F, W, SF, SF, SF, SF = AO vs F, SF, SF, QF, 3rd = USO).
Only slam Fed can beat Nadal in is Wimby.
I'd give him a punchers chance on fast hard court masters series though (like Indian Wells) or indoors (WTF) even though he did get wrecked in straights the last time he played Nadal in each of these...
I have to agree with OP, I mean Federer would have no career grand slam if not for that point. The double match point at 2011 US Open SFs is definitely closely following the Haas point. I would not totally rule out Federer winning against Nadal in the hypothetical final that would have followed. It is unlikely though.
The Green Mile
Bionic Poster
Woops, my bad, sorry. 2 misreads in a day... i might take a break.
Warmaster
Hall of Fame
Chanwan
G.O.A.T.
Federer20042006
Banned
You are absolutely clueless.
heninfan99
Talk Tennis Guru
Good choice OP. Nice clip showcasing the mental strength of a GOAT.
sbengte
G.O.A.T.
Let's put it this way : Ralph was one point away from USO 2011, and had Djoker not come back from MP down, Ralph would be 3 time USO champ today and there is no doubt about it.
I know it is a big assumption, but it is similar to what we think Novak would have done in RG 2011 if Fed had not come in the way.
oberyn
Professional
Not if sure if this counts as an actual point or not, but it looms pretty large, historically speaking, for both guys' careers.
1-1 0-30, Lendl serving against McEnroe in the 1984 French Open Final. That’s when McEnroe walked over to a camera man and shouted something into his headset.
Up to that point, Johnny Mac had been dominating, winning sets 1 and 2 in just over 1 hour. Lendl held serve, and got himself back into the match.
1-1 0-30, Lendl serving against McEnroe in the 1984 French Open Final. That’s when McEnroe walked over to a camera man and shouted something into his headset.
Up to that point, Johnny Mac had been dominating, winning sets 1 and 2 in just over 1 hour. Lendl held serve, and got himself back into the match.
SpicyCurry1990
Hall of Fame
I'm saying at this point Nadal would be heavily favored to win at any slam besides Wimby because he just dominates the match-up and its tough for Fed to overcome that in any 3/5, outside of maybe his best tournament on his best surface.
I'd give Fed a punchers shot on his next best surfaces, fast hard court and indoor (and Nadal's worst surfaces) at a masters series/WTF since it is only a 2/3. But we saw Nadal beat Fed in both of those environments even last year at Indian Wells and the WTF in straights, so Nadal is still favored I would say, but Fed has a shot. Unlike AO where needed 3/5 pretty much makes it impossible even if the court conditions are somewhat similar.
Why? You don't agree that AO is a faster court than USO and one of the faster courts on tour?
abmk
Bionic Poster
yeah, in 2013, federer's worst year since ages ..he's playing clearly better now.
it isn't -- you are utterly clueless ...
Start da Game
Hall of Fame
one point never defines a tennis match, let alone a career......haas would have choked away that match even if he served for it at 5-3......haas despite winning the first two sets kept believing all through that he had no balls to win that match......he just did not want to win that match......
D
Deleted member 512391
Guest
To be fair, Federer couldn't do much with that break point. Nadal served well to his backhand and Fed barely put it back. Although the forehand which gave him that break point was absolutely insane...we don't see these type of shots from him anymore..
Hood_Man
G.O.A.T.
For Fed I'd say the point at 2-2 in the first set tiebreak of the 2003 Wimbledon final.
He and Philippoussis had both been holding serve in that first set, but at 6-5 Fed gets a small window with a 0-30 to bring him two points within winning the first set.
Philippoussis however wins the next 4 points, wrong footing Federer in one of them, holds on for 6 all, and then wins the first point on Fed's serve in the tiebreak.
The mini beak was handed back and both guys are back on serve, but on Fed's serve at 2-2 there's a long rally where Fed gets stretched out wide, and things are looking dangerous.
However, he stays on his feet, gets an opening for the forehand, and when it lands in for 3-2 you can see in his roaring fist pump just how important that point was for him.
Moments later, at 5-4, it's Philippoussis instead who now seemingly loses his nerve with a double fault, handing Fed a 6-4 lead with 2 set points. Fed hits a forehand wide with the first one, but takes the second with an unreturnable serve of his own, and he takes the all important first set.
If Fed had gone down a mini break for a second time at 3-2, perhaps things could have gone differently for him.
He and Philippoussis had both been holding serve in that first set, but at 6-5 Fed gets a small window with a 0-30 to bring him two points within winning the first set.
Philippoussis however wins the next 4 points, wrong footing Federer in one of them, holds on for 6 all, and then wins the first point on Fed's serve in the tiebreak.
The mini beak was handed back and both guys are back on serve, but on Fed's serve at 2-2 there's a long rally where Fed gets stretched out wide, and things are looking dangerous.
However, he stays on his feet, gets an opening for the forehand, and when it lands in for 3-2 you can see in his roaring fist pump just how important that point was for him.
Moments later, at 5-4, it's Philippoussis instead who now seemingly loses his nerve with a double fault, handing Fed a 6-4 lead with 2 set points. Fed hits a forehand wide with the first one, but takes the second with an unreturnable serve of his own, and he takes the all important first set.
If Fed had gone down a mini break for a second time at 3-2, perhaps things could have gone differently for him.
SpicyCurry1990
Hall of Fame
1 - He is playing better now, he probably was at his best at AO 14 since Wimby 12...and still lost to Nadal in straights.
2 - Perhaps I am mistaken, but didn't the USO start putting sand in their courts to slow USO down around 10 years ago? I thought it was much slower now than in the 90s and at even below AO levels. If I am mistaken in that assumption I stand corrected.
Also I realize an error in implication in my post. I did not mean to imply AO/IW were some of the fastest courts compared to other masters hardcourts (Paris, Cincy, Shanghai, Rogers all being faster of course) but that they were some of the faster courts on tour compared to the slow clay courts Nadal has a history of dominating Fed on.
The point was he has been consistently winning on fast as wells as slow courts over Fed, so I don't think its dangerous to assume he wins at USO if they play.
it simply isn't. It's a slow hard court which favours hard court western grip baseliners like Djokovic, hence his relative dominance there. US is slower than it used to be but is still significantly faster than Australian. Where are you getting your facts from?
I agree Federer doesn't have much chance on any surface against Nadal any more. But even a few years ago he would have had a decent chance at the US and Wimbledon and would have been favourite on indoors. Slow hard court (Oz) and French nadal is big favourite. that is how it works. A bit like the Murray split with Djokovic with the exception of indoors (as Djoko does well there). But Murray is slightly favored on grass, level or so at the US and other surfaces Djokovic is favoured.
SpicyCurry1990
Hall of Fame
Just addressed this above, I meant IW/AO were fast relative to clay to point out Nadal's dominance on different court speeds (since they haven't played on grass or fast hard court recently except WTF last year).
But yes I did think that when USO was slowed down, it was made slower than AO, my mistake.
Carsomyr
Legend
No, because it's not.
kOaMaster
Hall of Fame
This was of course a very very crucial point.
I also remember the first point of the last game in the Sampras - Federer match where federer (to Sampras suprise?) hits a massive backhand return winner.
It wasn't at a very special moment but I remember me watching the match and at that point I knew Federer is going to actually win!
And that win against Sampras stood for a lot in Federers career. Without that I'm not sure whether he made it.
I also remember the first point of the last game in the Sampras - Federer match where federer (to Sampras suprise?) hits a massive backhand return winner.
It wasn't at a very special moment but I remember me watching the match and at that point I knew Federer is going to actually win!
And that win against Sampras stood for a lot in Federers career. Without that I'm not sure whether he made it.
Federer20042006
Banned
Of course not. It's not. AO is one of the slowest hardcourts on tour, and US Open has always been much faster.
Tennis_Hands
Banned
Yes, and not only him.
Anyone with basic knowledge for the sport, who has watched matches at both AO and US Open ......
Oh, wait..
:roll:
President
Legend
Also his lack of a shock absorber/rubber band on his racquet, unlike the majority/a lot of pros these days. That totally changes the sound of the shot. He hits his shots pretty spinny too, so its less "pingy" than Andy Murray's sound off the racquet (who also has no shock absorber, but hits much flatter)
Cup8489
G.O.A.T.
Fed uses the power pads too, whereas I don't believe Murray does. Either way... it's such a spectacular sound.. it makes me want a Pro Staff Immediately. I have the gut and Poly ready to go!
monfed
Banned
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