With each passing season, doesn't Federer get worse?

[Mike Sams]

2010...his last great showing at a Slam as he won the AO and lost in the QF and SF stages for the 3 remaining Slams.

2011...made 1 final, lost the rest in the QF and SF stages.

Yet Federer and his fans still remain upbeat about his chances of winning more Slams and regaining the #1 ranking.

I know he's in great health but how does he plan on winning anything with the likes of Djokovic and Nadal in his way? He can't beat them both back to back in a Slam. Even Federer fans know that.

[DjokovicForTheWin]

Murray has to be his friend.

[_maxi]

Originally Posted by Mike Sams

2010...his last great showing at a Slam as he won the AO and lost in the QF and SF stages for the 3 remaining Slams.

2011...made 1 final, lost the rest in the QF and SF stages.

Yet Federer and his fans still remain upbeat about his chances of winning more Slams and regaining the #1 ranking.

I know he's in great health but how does he plan on winning anything with the likes of Djokovic and Nadal in his way? He can't beat them both back to back in a Slam. Even Federer fans know that.

Yes, he gets worse. But I don't think the 2010 Federer was much better than the 2011 Federer. Both were worse than 2004-2007, but 2010-2011 Federer, and 2012, still has the chance, of winning one and maybe two slams before retirement. Doesn't mean he will, but he can. That's it.
Winning one slam, making a final or two, and winning some masters, can push him to #1 if we have a year where nobody dominates. Just like it used to happen in the past before the Federer era.

[Pwned]

Originally Posted by Mike Sams

2010...his last great showing at a Slam as he won the AO and lost in the QF and SF stages for the 3 remaining Slams.

2011...made 1 final, lost the rest in the QF and SF stages.

Yet Federer and his fans still remain upbeat about his chances of winning more Slams and regaining the #1 ranking.

I know he's in great health but how does he plan on winning anything with the likes of Djokovic and Nadal in his way? He can't beat them both back to back in a Slam. Even Federer fans know that.

Federer doesn't necessarily have to beat them back to back. And nobody on here knows anything about future results.

[ultradr]

Federer is certainly capable of winning another slam, IMHO. But he appeared
to be losing grip on slams this year, showing difficulties with top 10 players.

Then this his resurgence in 2011 indoor seasons: was it real resurgence or
top players basically tanked in this increasingly irrelevant indoor season ?

We will know by the main tennis season between Roland Garros and US Open
2012...

[TMF]

Originally Posted by Pwned

Federer doesn't necessarily have to beat them back to back. And nobody on here knows anything about future results.

True. Nadal lost in the QF at the AO in 2010 and 2011.

Past prime Fed is still a dangerous player on any given day. It will make it sweeter if he can win a slam in his 30s which some great players have failed

[FlashFlare11]

Originally Posted by TMF

True. Nadal lost in the QF at the AO in 2010 and 2011.

Past prime Fed is still a dangerous player on any given day. It will make it sweeter if he can win a slam in his 30s which some great players have failed

I don't understand the point of this discussion. Yes, Federer is not as good as he once was. He's 30. What did people expect? For him to get better? Once you're at the top, there's nowhere else to go but down.

[TMF]

Originally Posted by FlashFlare11

I don't understand the point of this discussion. Yes, Federer is not as good as he once was. He's 30. What did people expect? For him to get better? Once you're at the top, there's nowhere else to go but down.

Don't take those posters seriously when they say Fed is getting better. They are the same posters who said Nadal(5 years younger) has declined.

[FlashFlare11]

Originally Posted by TMF

Don't take those posters seriously when they say Fed is getting better. They are the same posters who said Nadal(5 years younger) has declined.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure all of Crazy Man's posts were sarcastic.

It's things like the title of the thread that are kind of questionable. I just mean that there's nothing to argue about. Yes, he's getting worse. Not his fault, it happens to everyone eventually.

But thanks TMF!

[Nathaniel_Near]

I think if Roger was to have one year where he makes a one final big push for greatness then it's 2012. Yep, his decline will continue and honestly I see him winning maybe 1 final slam or maybe 0, neither would surprise me.

[TheMusicLover]

Fed has been in decline ever since 2008. I know there are certain fans having come up with whatever excuses you can think of - you name it, mono (yes it had its influence, but just don't exaggerate it), "he doesn't care anymore", etc.

Fact is, no player stays on top forever, and Fed has already done an awesome job when it comes to consistency. He's dropped a few paces by now, such should be obvious. But as long as he remains in the top #4, he'll remain a contender for yet another slam title. Never count out a great champion like he is.

That said, even if he will remain at 16 GS titles, Fed fans will have nothing to complain about. I am just very happy that his decline seems to be a very gradual one, and am hoping for some late brilliancy from him in what might well be his last season.

[FlashFlare11]

Yes, he's declining. But when you're 30, there's not much to improve right.

We're still upbeat because if you look at the past year, it took an oustanding efforts from Djokovic, Nadal, and Tsonga to beat him. He still gives himself numerous chances and his losses were literally decided by a few points.

Besides, I think the majority of Federer fans just love to see him play. I know I'll be in tears the day he decides to retire and the thought of tennis without Federer is difficult to fathom. He's achieved everything there is so there's not much left but to enjoy the game.

Let's just enjoy what's left of this great champion's illustrious career!

[Nathaniel_Near]

Originally Posted by TheMusicLover

Fed has been in decline ever since 2008. I know there are certain fans having come up with whatever excuses you can think of - you name it, mono (yes it had its influence, but just don't exaggerate it), "he doesn't care anymore", etc.

Fact is, no player stays on top forever, and Fed has already done an awesome job when it comes to consistency. He's dropped a few paces by now, such should be obvious. But as long as he remains in the top #4, he'll remain a contender for yet another slam title. Never count out a great champion like he is.

That said, even if he will remain at 16 GS titles, Fed fans will have nothing to complain about. I am just very happy that his decline seems to be a very gradual one, and am hoping for some late brilliancy from him in what might well be his last season.

Predicting the same as me, then?

[TheMusicLover]

Originally Posted by Nathaniel_Near

Predicting the same as me, then?

I think so, yeah.
BTW I read some rumours (?) that Fed is planning to play a couple of exho's in South America (where he has never ever played before) at the tail end of the 2012 season. Should that be true, it surely feeds my suspicion that he might indeed call it quits at the end of 2012. I hope not.

[cc0509]

Originally Posted by TheMusicLover

I think so, yeah.
BTW I read some rumours (?) that Fed is planning to play a couple of exho's in South America (where he has never ever played before) at the tail end of the 2012 season. Should that be true, it surely feeds my suspicion that he might indeed call it quits at the end of 2012. I hope not.

He is winding down that much is certain. I think end of 2012 or end of 2013 and that will be it for him. Just my feeling.

[Benhur]

Federer has been playing the best tennis of all the top 4 since the USO, by some margin, and his record shows it. In these last six months he's won 41 of the 43 matches he played, winning 6 tournaments including the YEC and two Masters 1000. Even if you include the USO, where he barely lost to the top player in the world after having match points, he is 46-3 since then. He is 2-1 on the number 2 since then, and you can check his record against the rest of the top 10 since then. Federer's autumn has not yet gone beyond an Indian Summer that right now looks particularly golden. In this, Federer is not different from many of the all time greats before him who were also perfectly capable of playing at or very near their best level at the age of 30 and beating the best in the business -- all claims to the crippling effects of his age notwithstanding. What all time greats? Well, in receding order: Agassi, Sampras, Lendl, Connors, Laver, Rosewall, Gonzalez...and the historians will give you more names. Unless of course you believe that tennis changes at lightning speed and what was possible yesterday is not possible now. It's a popular belief, based mostly on journalistic illusions.

[Mick]

Originally Posted by Mike Sams

I know he's in great health but how does he plan on winning anything with the likes of Djokovic and Nadal in his way? He can't beat them both back to back in a Slam. Even Federer fans know that.

his fans hope that federer could pull off what jimmy connors has done, win a grand slam title at 31. federer has nadal and djokovic and connors had lendl and mcenroe, they were pretty tough too

[Crazy man]

It's the opposite actually. Federer has been improving each year. His footwork is what he's improved the most and this has translated into less errors in his game. The problem is guys like Nadal, Murray & Djokovic from Tsonga to Soderling have also been improving. Chumps like Roddick, Safin, Hewitt, Agassi, Nalbandian provided no challenege for Federer - hence why Federer struggles to beat guys as talented as himself (because he was caught off guard and couldn't deal with sudden challenges after playing chumps for years).



One of the things that Federer has improved the most is the forehand. Yep, it's not as strong as Djokovic's, Nadal's of Murray's but it's definately in the league just behind it (with Tsonga and Soderling) . Murray I think beats Federer in the forehand department simply because of the angles he can produce.


His backhand is as good as it was when Federer was supposedly better than ever (rofl....to think Federer's 05 level of play trumps 08+).


His serve has also improved, it's now a weapon singularly now.


His return....His return has improved. Guys like Roddick have good serves, but the game has improved on so many levels, Federer can break Roddick two or three times back in 05 but there are so many better servers (and players come to think of it) than Roddick. Someone like Tsonga is one - Federer was hopeless against him at Wimbledon due to Tsonga's serving ability. So again, Federer's return is good and was good against the average servers but not against the brilliance of the current generation.








To summarise, Federer is playing his best tennis ever each passing year and continues to improve. The fact is so are others who can play at a level as high as Federer. Federer didn't benefit from playing mediocre opponents and is now paying the price for it by not being able to step up to challeneges.









Federer's 2011 level would have seen him win all four slams in 2004 and 2005. Maybe even 2006 and 2007.

[stringertom]

As a Fedophile, I will be honest in my disappointment that '11 represented the end of his 8-year run with one or more major titles. Fed was there but Djok raised and called. Yet, there's reason to expect better results in '12. The intensity of the Djokdal rivalry may have taken the wind out of both their sails. Also, the Fed'Cone connection has had another full year to gel. Obviously, '12 is gonna be a huge year to steer direction for the rest of Fed's career. Victory in Victoria would go a long way to establishing that this season is not a swan song campaign. Stay tuned.

[Crazy man]

Originally Posted by stringertom

As a Fedophile, I will be honest in my disappointment that '11 represented the end of his 8-year run with one or more major titles. Fed was there but Djok raised and called. Yet, there's reason to expect better results in '12. The intensity of the Djokdal rivalry may have taken the wind out of both their sails. Also, the Fed'Cone connection has had another full year to gel. Obviously, '12 is gonna be a huge year to steer direction for the rest of Fed's career. Victory in Victoria would go a long way to establishing that this season is not a swan song campaign. Stay tuned.

Get him out of here!