Federer's most exciting, well played tennis match???

[ryan33us]

What do you think some of Federers most quality tennis matches were so far???

[Nadal2]

vs. Roddick last year at Toronto. That's the best one I have seen.

[rhubarb]

Don't be silly. He choked that one, because he knew he was going to be number one.

vs. Roddick at Wimbledon 2003
vs. Agassi at Houston 2003 (both of them)

[AndyC]

the one that brought him to the attention of the masses

Vs Sampras at Wimbledon.

[lothar]

There was this one tournmanet last year i think where it was round-robin and Agassi ended up playing Roger first round and in the final. I think The first round match was the most exciting one i'd seen of Roger.

Anyone remember what i'm talking about?

[Nadal2]

Originally Posted by rhubarb

Don't be silly. He choked that one, because he knew he was going to be number one.

vs. Roddick at Wimbledon 2003
vs. Agassi at Houston 2003 (both of them)

Yeah, so some of it wasn't well played by him. So it doesn't fit under the category of his "best-played" matches. But he also asked what his most exciting matches were, and if he is playing well, his matches aren't going to be terribly exciting, because his opponents rarely have a chance.

[Feña14]

Yeah you mean the Masters Cup.

I have to say that the 2003 Wimbledon Semi is the best I have seen him play.

-Liam

[rhubarb]

Originally Posted by Nadal2

Yeah, so some of it wasn't well played by him. So it doesn't fit under the category of his "best-played" matches. But he also asked what his most exciting matches were, and if he is playing well, his matches aren't going to be terribly exciting, because his opponents rarely have a chance.

Ah, I see what you mean now My apologies.

For me that match was tense, and maybe exciting in the negative sense, because he just couldn't hold it together. I tend to find if he's playing great the matches are really exciting, even if he's bagelling the opposition. If he's just doing enough to get through, then it can be boring (but I'd still watch it).

[calculus]

That's the Houston Master Cup round-robin match. It's the first match that Federer played in that tournament, obviously he's not at the topform at the beginning of the match. But the way he won it is amazing, especially how he ended match with that cross court passing shot. Although I only recorded the last 2 sets ( have it on DVD) , I often watch it to feel the thrill of that match. After this one, he was just on a roll and nobody can tough him. He bagelled Nalbandia (in another RR match) and Agassi (in the final).

It's hard to tell which match is the best so far, Federer can show you a few new things each match. All his wimbledon matches just show how good he can be at his best surface. His match against Roddick in 2003 and 2004 are great examples.

My favorites are :

2004 Australian Open 4R: Federer vs Hewitt
2004 Australian Open Qtr: Federer vs Nalbandia

Since those matches played on a media speed hard court and Roger faced 2 best counter-punchers in the tour, you can see lot of rallies and how Federer figure out the way to beat them. It's the combination of silky shot making, cunning strategy and unmatched athletism.

[K!ck5w3rvE]

The best match involving Fed was the 2003 Davis Cup Semi-Final vs Australia when he played Hewitt in the reverse singles. Hewitt came from 2 sets down, with Fed serving for the match to win in 5. Awesome match.

[VamosRafa]

From my perspective, the best one was against Nadal this year in Miami.

But looking at it a bit more objectively, I'd say what he did against Andy at Wimbledon this year was pretty amazing. It wasn't pretty, but it got the job done.

He played much more beautiful tennis against Philippoussis the year before, but the match wasn't nearly so interesting.

In any event, both Wimbledon wins were spectacular.

But my favorite win was when he defeated Agassi in the first match of the Masters Cup in Houston last year. That was very dramatic, and very well done.

[yee]

Best performance is his match against Andy in last year Wimbledon. Absolutely spectacular tennis.

Just a sidenote to vamosrafael, the question is which is Federer's most well played tennis match. I noticed how you cannot stop talking about the Nadal match in Miami. With all this media connection you have, I'm surprised you didn't realise that Federer was sick during that tournament and it's no surprise he lost to Nadal there. Nadal is a spectacular player himself and I had watched many other of his great matches. Instead for you as a huge fan to keep brining up his win against a sick Federer is somewhat very puzzling to me honestly.

[James Brown]

she needs something concrete to promote rafa...lets face it, he hasnt done much..YET :> I want to see that match from miami. just how badly did federer play? (even though he was sick..the guy isnt human)

[yee]

He was blown off the court, James. Nadal completely outpowered Federer. I don't recall ever watching one match of Federer where he was forced as far behind from the baseline as this match. It's easy to tell he is hardly himself in that match. I'm certainly not giving excuse here for Federer but it's the fact.

Nadal is a fantastic player but this match against Federer is hardly any indication for a real match up between these two.

[yee]

and James, I believe Nadal will be the player to watch though. He hasn't done much it seemed but that's because he was out for injuries for past few months. If he can keep himself injury-free, he certainly has great potential.

Other well played tennis match of Federer, more recent ones against Hewitt in Hamburg TMS, against Andy in Toronto.

[AndyC]

yah the one against Hewitt was good.. Hewitt got bageled in the first set .

actually whenever Fed wins a tournament.. u can pretty much pick some great tennis.. on his part.. and if he's playing another great player even if they are blown of the court there will always be more than a few points which are excellent.

other matches from this year I've watched that I've really enjoyed?

Fed-Moya/Coria both from Hamburg.

Moya was actually playing pretty well and Fed still had an extra gear over him. Coria took the first set against Fed only to see Fed raise his game and blow him off the court.

I'll disagree with Susan about the second Wimbledon win. The first final was well played. I thought he was lucky to get through against Roddick actually.. the level of his play was definitely not up to his previous matches (maybe due to Roddick but I suspect more to the pressure of actually being in the final and defending the title).

[Rickson]

Originally Posted by lothar

There was this one tournmanet last year i think where it was round-robin and Agassi ended up playing Roger first round and in the final. I think The first round match was the most exciting one i'd seen of Roger.

Anyone remember what i'm talking about?

That was the Tennis Masters Cup in Houston.

[irishbanger]

Best match for drama, and I've seen them all, was the 2002 match at the Australian Open against Tommy Haas. Roger lost in the 5th 8-6.
The best match for displaying his skill was the 2003 Roddick semi.

[galain]

Gotta agree with K!ck5w3rE - that Davis Cup semi against Hewitt was probably the best tennis I've seen since Super Saturday at the 84 US Open.

[AndyC]

yeah it was a great comeback by hewitt.. but I think he would have done better to lose that one..

Fed seems to have taken that loss very personally and seems to relish taking revenge.. every meeting since that DC meeting has ended with a Hewitt loss and a bagel courtesy of Fedex