Federer vs Tsonga - 2013 AO quarter-finals

[TheMusicLover]

Originally Posted by namelessone

Apparently Fed's BP conversion rate in this tourney so far is about 29%(19/66).

:facepalm:

Djoko's is 43%(26/60)
Murray is around 56%(41/73)
Ferrer has 44%(34/77) BP conversion.

It's true that Fed had a tougher draw but he certainly isn't making things easier on himself or his fans.

You've been following the match via the scoreboard, I suppose?

It's a common mistake people make, attributing a poor BP-conversion % to the reciever only. Well, there was someone else involved in this match, too, who served great and showed great gutsy attacking play about every time he got into trouble. I'd advise you to have a look at Tsonga's final serve game, in which he fended off four MPs - three of those saves were because of his awesome, all-or-nothing attacking shots, not because Federer f*cked *p.
Give some credits to the one that deserves them.

Federer has already achieved what I hoped for him to do at this tournament, considering the draw and all. Anything more would be a bonus, but I'm far from as negative as some over here are.

Djokovic has already shown that he's not unbeatable. Murray, has he had ONE decent opponent yet?

[joeri888]

29% is not THAT bad, since Fed was winning 34% of receiving points overall.
Always compare it to overall receiving points won. OF COURSE Fed will have a worse conv. than Murray and Djokovic, the same way as he's expected to have a higher bp saved %

[sbengte]

Originally Posted by zagor

Well he first has to beat Murray who also isn't a slouch in the defense department on HC before worrying about Novak.

I would have loved to see both Murray-Djoker and Fed-Djoker matches. Too bad Murray is in Fed's half so only the latter is a possibility now. Fed-Murray matches are not closely contested for some reason and they have never played a 5 setter , I think ?

[sbengte]

Originally Posted by Steve0904

Well I was way wrong on my prediction. Impressive fight from Tsonga. He seems to have upped his mental game with Rasheed as his coach because the "old" Tsonga would've folded after one of the first or third sets. As for Federer, well he'll have to play a lot better than that to beat Murray, but I never count him out.

When did Rasheed take over as Tsonga's coach ? Was he his coach when Tsonga came back from two sets down to take their Wimby '11 encounter in 5 ?

[Relinquis]

Originally Posted by Relinquis

I can't see Tsonga threatening Federer, it would be different if Tsonga was playing a grinder; if he is lucky he will be able to break him once, only to be broken himself. I vote Fed in 3.

I was so wrong. A lot of grit by Tsonga. Love the attacking style and all court play. Hope to see more of this in future matches.

[NastyWinners]

I just woke up. Solid sleeping schedule arrangement I have here.

[Sid_Vicious]

Was this match really that great? The AO website is calling it one of the best AO matches ever.

[Netspirit]

Originally Posted by Sid_Vicious

Was this match really that great? The AO website is calling it one of the best AO matches ever.

No, it was just "tough". Lots of grinding from both players. Painful break-backs. Fed: good topspin backhands - especially down the line, poor serving and erratic forehands, very little net play. Tsonga: trying to hit Fed off the court, solid backhands, net play, clutch serving.

[Bobby Jr]

Originally Posted by joeri888

29% is not THAT bad, since Fed was winning 34% of receiving points overall.
Always compare it to overall receiving points won. OF COURSE Fed will have a worse conv. than Murray and Djokovic, the same way as he's expected to have a higher bp saved %

I agree. People make way too much of break point converted percentage when it's actually one of the more pointless stats there is.

The break stat which is important (after "did I win or not?" ) is whether you broke or not when you had a chance. If you had 15 chances in a return game to break and you finally got there your break percentage is actually 100%. All those other points actually become immediately irrelevant if you are eventually successful.

The breaks per break point percentage is about as misguided a stat as percentage of service games won per game points held. You could win 6-0 6-0 and only have a 10% conversion rate on that.

[Bobby Jr]

Originally Posted by Netspirit

No, it was just "tough". Lots of grinding from both players. Painful break-backs. Fed: good topspin backhands - especially down the line, poor serving and erratic forehands, very little net play. Tsonga: trying to hit Fed off the court, solid backhands, net play, clutch serving.

Lots of grinding? Average rally length was only 4 point something.

Backhands...
Federer also made 16 backhand errors and only hit 6 winners (Tsonga uneblievably hit 28 backhand errors and only 4 winners)

Forehands...
Federer made 29 errors and hit 10 winners, Tsonga 33 errors and 17 winners.

How did Federer win the final set?.... He won 17 of 37 return points compared to Tsonga's 5 of 25. Also won 14 of 17 net points - more than any other set - by miles.

[Steve0904]

Originally Posted by sbengte

When did Rasheed take over as Tsonga's coach ? Was he his coach when Tsonga came back from two sets down to take their Wimby '11 encounter in 5 ?

I believe it was late 2012, he "scouted" the competition and kept his eye on Tsonga at the WTF last year, but I think he officially took over just this past offseason. So to answer your question. No he was not.

[Netspirit]

Originally Posted by Bobby Jr

Lots of grinding? Average rally length was only 4 point something.

Yes, lots of grinding. Rallies were short, but there were a lot of them, a lot of games were played, and a lot of games went to deuce.

Backhands...
Federer also made 16 backhand errors and only hit 6 winners (Tsonga uneblievably hit 28 backhand errors and only 4 winners)

Federer typically does not hit many winners with his backhand. He went DTL and often either won the point outright or wrong-footed Tsonga and gained control over the point.

How did Federer win the final set?

Tsonga was gassed in the final set. The final set was hardly competitive and does not reflect their level of play during the first 4.

[kpktennis]

Originally Posted by BreakPoint

More likely the flu epidemic has caught up with Federer. He normally hardly sweats at all but he's been sweating a lot tonight.

He must have stopped taking his PEDs out of an abundance of caution after the Lance Armstrong debacle

[BeHappy]

Originally Posted by Bobby Jr

Lots of grinding? Average rally length was only 4 point something.

Backhands...
Federer also made 16 backhand errors and only hit 6 winners (Tsonga uneblievably hit 28 backhand errors and only 4 winners)

Forehands...
Federer made 29 errors and hit 10 winners, Tsonga 33 errors and 17 winners.

How did Federer win the final set?.... He won 17 of 37 return points compared to Tsonga's 5 of 25. Also won 14 of 17 net points - more than any other set - by miles.

On a very slow court there will always be lots of unforced errors, especially when both players can move like fed and tsonga.