Who played the best match vs Federer at the USO in 2004-2008?

metsman

metsman

G.O.A.T.
Blake 06, Roddick 07, Hewitt/Agassi 05 would probably be the next best after Agassi in 04. Then the other usual suspects like Roddick 06, Djokovic 07/08, Andreev 08, Kiefer in 05 bears mentioning.
 
mike danny

mike danny

Bionic Poster
If we're talking only the latter stages, like QF's and beyond, it's like this:

1. Hewitt in 2005
2. Djokovic in 2008
3. Agassi in 2005
4. Roddick in 2006
5. Roddick in 2007
6. Djokovic in 2007
7. Blake in 2006

Otherwise, Andreev in 2008.
 
K

KINGROGER

G.O.A.T.
NatF said:
Something like...

Top tier

Roddick 2007 QF
Agassi 2004 QF
Hewitt 2005 SF
Agassi 2005 F

Top-mid tier

Djokovic 2008 SF
Roddick 2006 F
Blake 2006 QF
Djokovic 2007 F
Andreev 2008 4R
Click to expand...
I’d add Djokovic 08 to that top list as well.

Not sure Agassi 05 was better than Roddick 06 either. Fed was playing worse but still ended up cruising in 4.
 
zagor

zagor

Bionic Poster
Gonna go with Roddick 2006 USO, really rediscovered his mojo that summer after hooking up with Connors (earlier that year he fell out of the top 10). If I remember correctly he had 0-40 on Fed's serve in the 3d set so he wasn't that far off from pushing it to 5.

Also won the real slam, beating JCF in the final and had MPs against Fed at TMC later that year. Definitely feel like he started approaching the net better under Jimbo which helped him put a bit more pressure on Fed who was just too comfortable against him in a regular rally. His BH seemed more solid too.
 
abmk

abmk

Bionic Poster
zagor said:
Gonna go with Roddick 2006 USO, really rediscovered his mojo that summer after hooking up with Connors (earlier that year he fell out of the top 10). If I remember correctly he had 0-40 on Fed's serve in the 3d set so he wasn't that far off from pushing it to 5.

Also won the real slam, beating JCF in the final and had MPs against Fed at TMC later that year. Definitely feel like he started approaching the net better under Jimbo which helped him put a bit more pressure on Fed who was just too comfortable against him in a regular rally. His BH seemed more solid too.
Click to expand...

Roddick played better in the USO 07 QF match IMO.
Fed had no BPs in the first 2 sets vs him.

3rd set of USO final, Federer saved 4 BPs at 2 all, Roddick saved 4 BPs at 2-3. Then federer broke with Roddick serving at 5-6.
 
zagor

zagor

Bionic Poster
abmk said:
Roddick played better in the USO 07 QF match IMO.
Fed had no BPs in the first 2 sets vs him.

3rd set of USO final, Federer saved 4 BPs at 2 all, Roddick saved 4 BPs at 2-3. Then federer broke with Roddick serving at 5-6.
Click to expand...

Was mostly thinking SF/F matches when I wrote that but yeah good point, their 2007 USO QF was very high quality. Roddick was just pummeling the ball like in the old days but Fed's transition from defense to offense and his passing shots were impeccable, it was so hard to blow him off court in those days. Was it in that match that Roddick was egging on the crowd in tiebreak on SP just for Fed to hit an ace (lol)? Shame Roddick wasn't on the other half that year, could have reached the final again (would have loved to see him play Novak that USO).

By that token you could also say Fed-Lopez 4th round which was a similar match in some ways. One of the absolute best matches I've seen Deliciano play in his career, really forced Fed to bring out his best tennis and come up with some outrageous passing shots.
 
zagor

zagor

Bionic Poster
J011yroger said:
What does his 03 Cincy win have to do with anything?

J
Click to expand...

2006 Cincy, he beat JCF in the final.

Gonzo and baby Murray (who beat Fed) in SF/QF. Roddick played some of this best tennis that tourney after his initial struggle with Bracciali (a great under 6'0 server, gave Roddick quite a scare in Wimbledon the year before as well).
 
NatF

NatF

Bionic Poster
zagor said:
Was mostly thinking SF/F matches when I wrote that but yeah good point, their 2007 USO QF was very high quality. Roddick was just pummeling the ball like in the old days but Fed's transition from defense to offense and his passing shots were impeccable, it was so hard to blow him off court in those days. Was it in that match that Roddick was egging on the crowd in tiebreak on SP just for Fed to hit an ace (lol)? Shame Roddick wasn't on the other half that year, could have reached the final again (would have loved to see him play Novak that USO).

By that token you could also say Fed-Lopez 4th round which was a similar match in some ways. One of the absolute best matches I've seen Deliciano play in his career, really forced Fed to bring out his best tennis and come up with some outrageous passing shots.
Click to expand...

I nearly included Lopez in my list, he played one the best return games I've ever seen from him to get the break.
 
J011yroger

J011yroger

Talk Tennis Guru
zagor said:
2006 Cincy, he beat JCF in the final.

Gonzo and baby Murray (who beat Fed) in SF/QF. Roddick played some of this best tennis that tourney after his initial struggle with Bracciali (a great under 6'0 server, gave Roddick quite a scare in Wimbledon the year before as well).
Click to expand...

Dang, forgot he won in 06. Good one.

J
 
abmk

abmk

Bionic Poster
zagor said:
Was mostly thinking SF/F matches when I wrote that but yeah good point, their 2007 USO QF was very high quality. Roddick was just pummeling the ball like in the old days but Fed's transition from defense to offense and his passing shots were impeccable, it was so hard to blow him off court in those days. Was it in that match that Roddick was egging on the crowd in tiebreak on SP just for Fed to hit an ace (lol)? Shame Roddick wasn't on the other half that year, could have reached the final again (would have loved to see him play Novak that USO).

By that token you could also say Fed-Lopez 4th round which was a similar match in some ways. One of the absolute best matches I've seen Deliciano play in his career, really forced Fed to bring out his best tennis and come up with some outrageous passing shots.
Click to expand...

yeah, 46:44.

Didn't really remember that


yeah, Fed-Lopez match was pretty good as well. Lopez played really well in sets 1,2 and 4 and federer picked it up from set 2 onwards.
I did the stats for that match recently :

https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?threads/federer-lopez-uso-2007-4r-stats.603339/
 
BHServe

BHServe

Semi-Pro
Just finished watching the 47min higlights of that Andreev match. Taking nothing away of Andreev’s great match and so on, but Federer looked very mediocre in his standards.

By the way, I’ve never seen Fed so frustrated and angry through a whole match. There were obviously many reasons for that (Andreev constantly lucking out with net cord etc.) but clearly there was also frustration to a great degree due to his own performance.
 
NatF

NatF

Bionic Poster
BHServe said:
Just finished watching the 47min higlights of that Andreev match. Taking nothing away of Andreev’s great match and so on, but Federer looked very mediocre in his standards.

By the way, I’ve never seen Fed so frustrated and angry through a whole match. There were obviously many reasons for that (Andreev constantly lucking out with net cord etc.) but clearly there was also frustration to a great degree due to his own performance.
Click to expand...

That match had one of the most epic Federer celebrations of all time at the end.
 
Steve0904

Steve0904

Talk Tennis Guru
I'd say Agassi in 2005 simply because he was actually ahead of Federer for a very short time and riding a huge wave of momentum. The 2004 match went 5 sets, but I'm not sure it would've under normal conditions, I feel like Federer would've finished that in 4. The Hewitt SF in 2005 was well played by Hewitt as well but I never felt he had a chance at winning.

I can't pick any straight set matches even though some were closer than the scoreline suggests (i.e Roddick and Djoker in 2007). And I can't pick anything from 2008. Federer was too bad for most of that tournament. Only played anything close to prime level in the SFs and Finals.

The Blake and Roddick matches in 2006 and the Lopez match in 2007 deserve mention too, as most people have noted.
 
zagor

zagor

Bionic Poster
NatF said:
That match had one of the most epic Federer celebrations of all time at the end.
Click to expand...

I always found it a bit funny, he looked like a little kid stomping his feet.

2008 USO IMO was the start of Fed being a crowd favourite, he was just too dominant before that year.
 
NatF

NatF

Bionic Poster
zagor said:
I always found it a bit funny, he looked like a little kid stomping his feet.

2008 USO IMO was the start of Fed being a crowd favourite, he was just too dominant before that year.
Click to expand...

Don't ruin it for me man :D

And yeah when he started to look like more of an underdog people really took to him.
 
abmk

abmk

Bionic Poster
Steve0904 said:
I'd say Agassi in 2005 simply because he was actually ahead of Federer for a very short time and riding a huge wave of momentum. The 2004 match went 5 sets, but I'm not sure it would've under normal conditions, I feel like Federer would've finished that in 4. The Hewitt SF in 2005 was well played by Hewitt as well but I never felt he had a chance at winning.

I can't pick any straight set matches even though some were closer than the scoreline suggests (i.e Roddick and Djoker in 2007). And I can't pick anything from 2008. Federer was too bad for most of that tournament. Only played anything close to prime level in the SFs and Finals.

The Blake and Roddick matches in 2006 and the Lopez match in 2007 deserve mention too, as most people have noted.
Click to expand...

Fed did finish Agassi in 4 sets in 05.The 3rd set in the 2004 QF was close as well. Federer only snuck it out at the end.

Agassi wasn't suffering from back pain either in 04. He was ready to go full 5 sets at high level in 04. In 05, you always knew there was a chance that he'd be tired if he didn't get it done in 4 sets.
 
Steve0904

Steve0904

Talk Tennis Guru
abmk said:
Fed did finish Agassi in 4 sets in 05.The 3rd set in the 2004 QF was close as well. Federer only snuck it out at the end.

Agassi wasn't suffering from back pain either in 04. He was ready to go full 5 sets at high level in 04. In 05, you always knew there was a chance that he'd be tired if he didn't get it done in 4 sets.
Click to expand...

I knew that. I picked Agassi in 2005 simply because that's the one match I thought Federer might lose if Agassi had won the 3rd set. By that token, I guess Roddick in 2006 might've been a tougher opponent though.
 
NatF

NatF

Bionic Poster
abmk said:
Fed did finish Agassi in 4 sets in 05.The 3rd set in the 2004 QF was close as well. Federer only snuck it out at the end.

Agassi wasn't suffering from back pain either in 04. He was ready to go full 5 sets at high level in 04. In 05, you always knew there was a chance that he'd be tired if he didn't get it done in 4 sets.
Click to expand...

I feel like Federer would have won in 4 had the match not been delayed in 2004, the break and wind definitely equalised things IMO.
 
abmk

abmk

Bionic Poster
Steve0904 said:
I knew that. I picked Agassi in 2005 simply because that's the one match I thought Federer might lose if Agassi had won the 3rd set. By that token, I guess Roddick in 2006 might've been a tougher opponent though.
Click to expand...

yeah, but I still think fed could've come back in set 4 and then finished it off in set 5. I think the bigger factor of course was that Agassi did take Fed to 5 in 04 (granted conditions made it a sort of lottery in the 4th and 5th sets) and there was a clearly bigger chance of Fed losing that one.
 
zagor

zagor

Bionic Poster
Steve0904 said:
I knew that. I picked Agassi in 2005 simply because that's the one match I thought Federer might lose if Agassi had won the 3rd set. By that token, I guess Roddick in 2006 might've been a tougher opponent though.
Click to expand...

Never felt Fed was gonna lose that match against Agassi. I felt Andre was playing on borrowed time and would run out of steam sooner or later or Fed would stop leaking BH errors or both.
 
Steve0904

Steve0904

Talk Tennis Guru
zagor said:
Never felt Fed was gonna lose that match against Agassi. I felt Andre was playing on borrowed time and would run out of steam sooner or later or Fed would stop leaking BH errors or both.
Click to expand...

Very possible. I just felt like Agassi might ride the emotional wave all the way to the end. Improbable as it may seem now, it seemed like a real possibility to me at the time, but then again I was a nervous 15 year old back then.

Federer gets that type of crowd support now, but he definitely didn't get it in that match. Or the Blake and Roddick matches at the USO for that matter.
 
zagor

zagor

Bionic Poster
Steve0904 said:
Very possible. I just felt like Agassi might ride the emotional wave all the way to the end. Improbable as it may seem now, it seemed like a real possibility to me at the time, but then again I was a nervous 15 year old back then.

Federer gets that type of crowd support now, but he definitely didn't get it in that match. Or the Blake and Roddick matches at the USO for that matter.
Click to expand...

Or even Novak in 2007 USO F as funny as that may seem right now, when Novak was the fungoing underdog doing imitations and having Robert De Niro in his box.

It's just one of those Fed's later career developments that are took for granted now.
 
Red Rick

Red Rick

Bionic Poster
J011yroger said:
That's just because they didn't play at the French where Roddick's topspin forehand and devastating cross court backhand would have evened things up a little.

J
Click to expand...
Actually, Roddick is 1-0 vs Federer in tiebreaks on clay. They played once, it was 3 sets. It was the only set Federer lost in Madrid that year.

Soderling went down in straights
Blake went down in straights
Roddick went to a decider
Del Potro went down in straights
Nadal went down in straights
 
BHServe

BHServe

Semi-Pro
NatF said:
That match had one of the most epic Federer celebrations of all time at the end.
Click to expand...

It did, and the celebration after that break in the fifth looked like he just won a grand slam final. Goes to show how rough day at the office that was.
 
Tshooter

Tshooter

G.O.A.T.
NatF said:
Something like...

Top tier

Roddick 2007 QF
Agassi 2004 QF
Hewitt 2005 SF
Agassi 2005 F

Top-mid tier

Djokovic 2008 SF
Roddick 2006 F
Blake 2006 QF
Djokovic 2007 F
Andreev 2008 4R
Click to expand...

I saw all of these in person except Blake which I watched a little on TV (like Blake was ever beating Fed :rolleyes:).

I vote Andreev as the only player that I felt in the moment actually had a chance to pull it off.

Roddick 2007. Forget it. Agassi 2004 was played over two days (Thursday evening and Friday day). The day had some incredibly windy conditions which I think helped Agassi with his short strokes make it closer than it would or should have been. Hewitt 2005 ? Awful match that was never in any doubt.

 
Last edited:
mike danny

mike danny

Bionic Poster
Tshooter said:
I saw all of these in person except Blake which I watched a little on TV (like Blake was ever beating Fed :rolleyes:).

I vote Andreev as the only player that I felt in the moment actually had a chance to pull it off.

Roddick 2007. Forget it. Agassi 2004 was played over two days (Thursday evening and Friday day). The day had some incredibly windy conditions which I think helped Agassi with his short strokes make it closer than it would or should have been. Hewitt 2005 ? Awful match that was never in any doubt.
Click to expand...
Hewitt 2005 USO SF wasn't an awful match. That was the best Hewitt played against peak Fed. And it was a pretty high quality match.
 
AiRFederer

AiRFederer

Hall of Fame
Roddick had real good chances of beating or at least taking Roger to 5 in their career. Contrary to what their H2H says, Roddick was really a top tier player at that time. Was always in SF and Fs of tourneys he excelled in and only really lost to Fed in most cases during his prime.
 
MeatTornado

MeatTornado

Talk Tennis Guru
abmk said:
Roddick played better in the USO 07 QF match IMO.
Fed had no BPs in the first 2 sets vs him.

3rd set of USO final, Federer saved 4 BPs at 2 all, Roddick saved 4 BPs at 2-3. Then federer broke with Roddick serving at 5-6.
Click to expand...
The frustrating part is that I remember Andy being the better player for the majority of that 3rd set. Fed seemed kind of flat iirc.
 
abmk

abmk

Bionic Poster
MeatTornado said:
The frustrating part is that I remember Andy being the better player for the majority of that 3rd set. Fed seemed kind of flat iirc.
Click to expand...

nah, not really. Both were playing well, at a similar level. Roddick didn't seem the better player to me.
 
MeatTornado

MeatTornado

Talk Tennis Guru
abmk said:
nah, not really. Both were playing well, at a similar level. Roddick didn't seem the better player to me.
Click to expand...
Been a pretty long time since I've watched the highlights, and even longer since the actual match. Maybe it was just wishful thinking?
 
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