Toughest matchups for Federer, in order

[Valdez737]

Nadal has been beating on Roger back-hand since the 1st time they played back when he was 17 year old kid. Nadal was the only guy able to beat prime Roger. He is the aniti Fed

Murry should be 2nd he always had a good h2h but just always choked at the slams. For some strange reason Murray game really bothers Roger even more so then Djokovic h2h says it all

the rest is what ever but get delpo off he always been Roger pigeon that us open was 1 in a million

[Beryl]

Originally Posted by Valdez737

Murry should be 2nd he always had a good h2h but just always choked at the slams. For some strange reason Murray game really bothers Roger even more so then Djokovic h2h says it all

Nadal, Simon and Murray have all more than bothered Federer during his career. There might be a pattern.

[Relinquis]

Simon is a talented player... Beast.

[veroniquem]

Originally Posted by cc0509

LOL at you saying Djokovic and Murray are tougher match-ups for Federer than Nadal is. Nadal is Federer's toughest match-up by far, the other three are way below Nadal for sure.

It depends on what surface. On clay and grass, no contest: Nadal. On hard court, it's not so clear. Djoko and Fed have played 22 times, twice as many times as Nadal and Fed: 11. Fed leads both head to head: 12-10 vs Djoko and 6-5 vs Nadal but Djoko has won 5 of their last 6 encounters on hard (vs 3-3 for Fed/Nadal), Djoko has beaten Fed at WTF (Rafa hasn't) and Djoko beat Fed 4 times in slams on hard (twice in straight sets, Rafa has beaten him twice, never in straights).
As for Murray, he's the only (top) player who LEADS Fed on hard court: 10-8

[NEW_BORN]

Nadal -always has been, always will be
Murray - can outlast Federer
Djokovic - can outplay Federer
Berdych - can outhit Federer
Simon - can outpush Federer

Having said that Federer himself is his own worst enemy

[Tiebreak100]

Originally Posted by timnz

Agree with this list except point 3

Murray only beat Federer over 5 sets at the AO. Federer at 31 recovery time isn't as good as it used to be. Having played 5 sets the previous round...he was a bit jaded. Haven't seen any evidence about this Murray level you refer to. Olympics was a bit of the same thing....though Federer genuinely was having an off day that day (not to take away anything from Andy's great play that day). Concerning point 1 I think it is a shame that the range of surfaces/conditions they played on wasn't more evenly spread especially during Federer's prime (many more indoor clashes would have evened out the clay). I think we would have a completely different result then. I do agree though that Nadal is a very tough brick for Federer to knock over.

What utter drivel. Have a glance at the head to head record and stop making terrible excuses why Murray pumped Federer at the Olympics, and then the Australian Open. How the match in Melbourne went 5 I will never know, it was a routine victory for Murray in every aspect of the game. He smashed him - like he has been doing regularly since he was a teenager.

[cork_screw]

Mine is

1. Nadal

2. Murray - He has found the formulae to beat fed now on all surfaces. The last two meetings were straight easy beat downs. They weren't even really that close. You never felt federer could come back and federer just felt over powered and was shanking forehands and backhands.

3. Berdych - Berdych is the poorman's kryptonite. He can beat fed, but really not anyone else in the top 4.

4. Djokovic

5. Benneteau

6. Tsonga

[SassyRamirez]

Originally Posted by cork_screw

Mine is

1. Nadal

2. Murray - He has found the formulae to beat fed now on all surfaces. The last two meetings were straight easy beat downs. They weren't even really that close. You never felt federer could come back and federer just felt over powered and was shanking forehands and backhands.

3. Berdych - Berdych is the poorman's kryptonite. He can beat fed, but really not anyone else in the top 4.

4. Djokovic

5. Benneteau

6. Tsonga

What are you talking about?

They are tied at 1-1 in their last two meetings, it was Federer who gave Murray a straight sets beatdown in the first of their last two meetings:

[WhiskeyEE]

Originally Posted by NEW_BORN

Nadal - Can outpush Federer
Murray - can outpush Federer
Djokovic - can outpush Federer
Berdych - can outhit Federer
Simon - can outpush Federer

Having said that Federer himself is his own worst enemy

Fixed 10 char

[TheCheese]

I would say Nadal is the only player that can consistently take the match out of Roger's hands besides a Berdych/Delpo/Tsonga if they're on fire that day.

With Murray and Djoko it's really a matter of how Roger is feeling. Those two just run down balls and Fed sometimes starts missing.

[kiki]

Borg, Mac, Laver,Connors....fortunately for Roger he hadn' t to play them....

[Flash O'Groove]

Remember that match-up is not about the absolute level but about how a player Y strength and weakness interact with player X strength and weakness.

Djokovic is the best player right now, so, even in the case of a bad match-up he can still win. I think Djokovic is more vulnerable to Fed than Nadal or Murray on HC, even if Federer might be a lesser player than them now.

Murray gave Fed a lot of trouble since day 2007, which prove the match-up issue for Fed. The slams finals are specials. It's the match-up in murray's head who made them so one sided.

Simon and Benneteau are by far the less talented player on this list, but somehow they give Fed a lot of trouble. I think they should be ranked higher than the big hitters, except Berdych.

[Rob31]

Originally Posted by Flash O'Groove

Remember that match-up is not about the absolute level but about how a player Y strength and weakness interact with player X strength and weakness.

Djokovic is the best player right now, so, even in the case of a bad match-up he can still win. I think Djokovic is more vulnerable to Fed than Nadal or Murray on HC, even if Federer might be a lesser player than them now.

Murray gave Fed a lot of trouble since day 2007, which prove the match-up issue for Fed. The slams finals are specials. It's the match-up in murray's head who made them so one sided.

Simon and Benneteau are by far the less talented player on this list, but somehow they give Fed a lot of trouble. I think they should be ranked higher than the big hitters, except Berdych.

"but somehow they give Fed a lot of trouble"
When playing well and confident, Simon's retrieving skills + movement + ability to play a more unpredictable game (sudden ability to change the pace of the ball on both wings- Federer insisted on that last point in his press conference after their encounter in AO 2011 for that matter) gave Fed a lot of trouble in the past.

[Rob31]

Originally Posted by Relinquis

Simon is a talented player... Beast.

Yep indeed- underrated talent
He played like a top 5 player against Del Potro in Marseille this year (it's not a joke).

[Wilander Fan]

Originally Posted by Federer20042006

1. Nadal. No explanation necessary.

2. Berdych. Emphasis on this being in the present. I'm sure this will be hotly contested, but I contend that Federer has a better chance of beating Djokovic/Murray at this point than he does Berdych.

3. Murray. Murray has a level that, if he plays to it, Federer can't match at this point.

4. Djokovic. Federer/Djokovic matches, even now, basically come down to a coin flip. If Federer comes out on fire, he can beat Djokovic anywhere but possibly at the AO. If Federer is lackluster, Djokovic will take him out.

5. Del Potro. I give him the edge over Tsonga as he's been tougher, more consistently. His backhand isn't something Federer can attack in the clutch moments, unlike with Tsonga.

6. Tsonga. Federer generally finds a way to handle him, but the serve and forehand power are still really dangerous to Federer.

7. Simon. They've only played 3 times, but this is not a guy Federer likes playing.

8. Benneteau. It's no longer just a fluke thing. He's beaten Federer twice and scared the crap out of him at Wimbledon.

I think alot of the match up issues are really about Federer wearing out in tournaments. He is old and breaks down. He basically is vulnerable to anyone late in a tournament but usually only runs into these particular players late in tournaments. The evidence is his record in the Masters where he meets these guys early.

[ivan_the_terrible]

To be honest, a lot of these guys have become more mentally committed in their matches against Fed (except Rafa who always knew his game troubles Rog). In previous matches, they would basically go away when Fed gets on a roll - this doesn't happen anymore. This was clear to me in the Dubai semi- Berdy won because he refused to blink.

I do believe that Fed has to realise this - there so only so much 'tweaking' he can do to his game. It's quite possible that the killer instinct is not there anymore, just a natural part of the aging process.

[Hawkeye7]

Originally Posted by Beryl

Small sample size. Isn't Djokovic 6-3 against Federer since the start of 2011?

They said lately. 2011 was 2 years ago.

[spinovic]

Djokovic, Nadal and Murray are without a doubt the toughest matchups for Federer.

Berdych has won two in a row against Federer. I wouldn't say Federer looked particularly sharp in either match and still nearly won the recent one in Dubai.

After that, I'd group Berdych, Delpo and Tsonga together because all are capable of overpowering Federer if they get hot.

After that, there's no one worth listing, IMO. Certainly others can and have beat him, but it generally takes a superb effort from them and/or Federer being off his game.

[dr325i]

Originally Posted by cc0509

LOL at you saying Djokovic and Murray are tougher match-ups for Federer than Nadal is. Nadal is Federer's toughest match-up by far, the other three are way below Nadal for sure.

And you are expressing that opinion based on the matchups done 1 year ago with Nadal playing joke tournaments last few weeks...

I would love to see them meet now. I believe it would change your opinion, just like 2011 WTF match up did...when Fed was toying with Nadal...

[Tropikal_Knights]

Juiced players.