Never seen Fed's FH weaker!

[kragster]

Credit to Murray for being aggressive today and playing some amazing tennis. But I have never seen Fed's FH lack so much sting. Even in recent times when Fed's movement has declined, his FH was always a shot he could rely on to finish the point. Today it looked like Murray was easily getting to pretty much every FH Fed hit and then was hitting much harder FHs back!

Even when I'm not a Fed fan, watching an iconic shot not performing anywhere near expectation made me sad! It's the equivalent of watching Sampras hit a mediocre serve or watching Nadal struggle to chase balls. Something doesn't feel right.

[joeri888]

Ive seen more errors with it but it was really slow out there. I think his backhand was very strong and kept him so close

[kragster]

Originally Posted by joeri888

Ive seen more errors with it but it was really slow out there. I think his backhand was very strong and kept him so close

To be honest I felt that this much was closer than it should have been. It sort of reminds me of the 2012 AO final between Nole and Nadal were Nole looked much better but somehow Nadal managed to push it to a 5th. That match was always Nole's to lose and today's match was Murray's to lose.

I hope Fedal come back strong and we have a 4 way rivalry going for a bit rather than a 2 way one.

[President]

For the last few years Federer's serve has been his best shot and the most important in his victories, his forehand declined starting in 2008.

[maxpotapov]

Federer felt disconnected from the ball, out of touch. It's like when you can not find the ball on the windy day. Or just on any day when your mind and your body do not click, not in sync. It happens with everybody, but other players can grind it out much better than Federer. His technique is too relaxed, too kinetic, he can not compensate by brute force so well. You know how Federer plays when he is in touch with the ball. Today he was not, hopefully he will build his rhythm up to the next final.

[TheNatural]

Fred hit the forehand great for most of the match. As Courier said the difference between the quality of Murray's return of serve and Fed's was enormous. Fed only hit a couple of offensive returns all match long. He needs to work on that.

[Kilco]

Fed cannot keep up with the modern game any longer. He is not strong like Nadal, Djok, Murray, Tsonga, Delpo, Berdych...etc.

[FlashFlare11]

Originally Posted by TheNatural

Fred hit the forehand great for most of the match. As Courier said the difference between the quality of Murray's return of serve and Fed's was enormous. Fed only hit a couple of offensive returns all match long. He needs to work on that.

I agree here. Roger's ROS on Andy's second serves was pretty poor. He'd go for the aggressive return on occasion (and won most, if not, all of those points), but, for the most part, decided to slice them back deep. Murray just promptly hit winner after winner when fed those shots. There were some incredibly frustrating moments where the second serve really wasn't hit well, yet Roger would play the same slice back at moments of 15-30 or 30-30.

[kalyan4fedever]

courts are slow , he was not able to get a clean winner and struggled, also he looked not motivated in this match and was playing casually which i didn't see him in quite some time... he always used to be some what tensed when he is down but in todays match i think he looked too cool...

[Netspirit]

The day was windy and the night conditions were super-slow. He could not hit through Murray (it is rarely possible anyway) so he had to trade groundstrokes with him.

His FH was not particularly atrocious, but it is a naturally offensive shot designed for hitting 1-2-3 winners, not pushing the ball for hours. Murray's FH is much better suited for that.

[mightyrick]

Federer was just tired. Ah, the curse of getting older.

Federer's strokes requires precision and power. When I watched the 5th set against Murray, even his first serve died and went away. He just couldn't generate the RH speed. He couldn't move fast enough to set his feet. I felt genuinely bad for him.

This is where I think great players retire. When they can only compete in 3-set ATP tourneys and can no longer grind out the grand slams... it's time to retire. I certainly wouldn't fault him for doing so.

[underground]

Fed's BH has out-performed the FH by a large margin during these 2 weeks.

[Alchemy-Z]

did you miss the 2008 french open final?

[TMF]

It lacks the punch and depth. He missed some of the inside-out fh which use to be his bread and butter shot.

[chrischris]

Originally Posted by Kilco

Fed cannot keep up with the modern game any longer. He is not strong like Nadal, Djok, Murray, Tsonga, Delpo, Berdych...etc.

isnt he? i think this is a bit of an exaggeration, thats putting it mildly.
fed is still very very good.
he can and will still get titles and be the one to enjoy in terms of tennis shotmaking and 'beauty' of play.

[TMF]

Originally Posted by Kilco

Fed cannot keep up with the modern game any longer. He is not strong like Nadal, Djok, Murray, Tsonga, Delpo, Berdych...etc.

Well if they are all 31 years old competiting one another then we can talk. Would it make sense to compare a 25 years old Fed against them at 31(given an oppotunity)? No.

Fed prime years is superior to their prime years.

[gsharma]

Not only the forehand but where is the bite in his backhand slice? I think his forehand lacking the zing could be down to playing two back-to-back 5-setters. Could it be a case of "dead arm"?

[nikdom]

Overall Roger looked the older man. Slower, weaker off his groundies except the BH (unfortunately Murray's is better), inconsistent and powerless on serve. If it wasn't for his hunger, experience and mental strength, this wasn't a 5 set match - could've easily been a 3 set drubbing.

Again nothing to take away from Murray, but as a Roger fan, I truly think this is how far Roger is going with his game. The top 2 are physically stronger, more powerful on their strokes, no obvious weaknesses and are serving like Roger never has. I doubt any tweaks to his game at this point will get Roger a slam.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but if Roger doesn't lift some weights, add more muscle to his upper body, add more pace to his first serve and go back to hitting the FH with greater punch, even Wimby is out of his reach now.

[dunlop_fort_knox]

the head to heads with djok and murray are going to start piling up against the GOAT.

[forzamilan90]

Originally Posted by dunlop_fort_knox

the head to heads with djok and murray are going to start piling up against the GOAT.

That depends on the circumstance. Just a few months ago Fed brat Murray at WTF and Djok got destroyed in Cinci. There was also Wimbledon. If Fed hasn't played an exhausting match beforehand and surface isn't a slow ***** hatdcourt I like his chances against Novak and Murray