"The court here (O2/WTF) is pretty quick" says Federer.

Roddick85

Hall of Fame
It will be interesting to see how Thiem does against Federer considering the results at IW this year where Federer basically ran out of options as he couldn't keep up with him from the back of the court. If the court is indeed fast, it might favor Federer over Thiem, but regardless, I think the margin between the 2 has been reduced on hard courts. I think Thiem could be more problematic than Zverev.
 
My expectations are extremely low.

If he doesn't beat Thiem, he can kiss his SF qualification goodbye.

Nope.
He stretched thiem to match points down on his best surface (straight sets as well).
This is federer's best & thiem's worst surface.

I am a realistic (i.e. "hand wringer") fan of Roger and I think he beats Thiem easily in straights.
Exactly.
It's rare to see you being 100% optimistic about old federer, but when you're, its safe to say that there's a gurantee
 
I don't think so. Those matches were all where Fed had match points or was 2 points away and he did not close it.

In Canada, he was totally sick.
IW 2019..
Fed converts one of two breakpoints at 1-1 thiem serve, and boom.
It's almost all over for thiem.
Another chances in 3rd set @ 4-3 on thiem serve.

Madrid 2019...
Actual matchpoints in 2nd set TB on thiem serve, he had to find a chip return to thiem BH...

Halle & Stuttgart 2016....
Come on man, 2016..
 
EuphoricThunderousAmericanavocet-size_restricted.gif
 

Keizer

Hall of Fame
Thiem and Zverev have won too many matches on luck against Fed. Time to stop that.

Thiem - IW, Madrid, Stuttgart

Zverev - Halle, Canada

All slower surfaces for Thiem. As for Zverev, he's regressed since then, clearly. Both in actual performance and in confidence.
 

tennisaddict

Bionic Poster
I am not impressed by that anymore given that he is just delaying the inevitable. He never goes down easily, but he always goes down regardless.
Spare a thought his contemporaries are coaches and retired professional and they don’t need to slug it out against ATG and players 15-20 years younger
 

mike danny

Bionic Poster
Spare a thought his contemporaries are coaches and retired professional and they don’t need to slug it out against ATG and players 15-20 years younger
They don't.

But if Fed is, he has to stop slugging it out and win already.

He has proven he can slug it out, but he hasn't proven he can win.
 

RaulRamirez

Legend
It's too much to call him a mental midget.The greatest tiebreak player and a winner of 20 slams can't be a mental midget.He is just not as strong as Nadal and Djokovic.There is no perfect player after all.
Agreed.
I root for Rafa and Novak, but also like and have huge admiration for Fed. One simply doesn't achieve close to what Fed has, if mentally weak.

I've never understood so many who near-idolize Roger referring to him as mentally weak - let alone "mental midget". As if God let them down personally. (But really, it's okay because Roger is still the greatly superior talent and player, or something like that.)

Let me be clear: This is not all Fed fans whatsoever, but a fairly high percentage.
 
They don't.

But if Fed is, he has to stop slugging it out and win already.

He has proven he can slug it out, but he hasn't proven he can win.
LOL! get off drugs
Let's wait and see if Djokovic wins it, then the surface can be proclaimed super slow, tennis died, yada yada.
Tennis didn't began until 2011.


Agreed.
I root for Rafa and Novak, but also like and have huge admiration for Fed.
B.S.
 

tennisaddict

Bionic Poster

If all courts played like the 80's and 90's , then there would not be any conversation on that topic.

If Wimbledon grass is chewed up before even we get 4R and players have endless baseline rallies on grass, that should tell you all you need to know.

All of Big 3 benefited from homogenization but the slowing down of courts helped Nadal and Djokovic the most.

No reason Becker is on record confirming Nadal and Djokovic will not win as much in 90's courts.
 
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