Roger Federer reflects on Novak Djokovic's 'exceptional year'

G

goldengate14

Professional
Tshooter said:
I don‘t know off my head. Maybe. But I’ve learned from TTW wisdom that it wasn’t “the biggest match potentially of last 60 years” because apparently everyone and his brother has been oh so close to completing the CYGS. :giggle:
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In real terms if not linear Federer has been closest.
 
Tshooter

Tshooter

G.O.A.T.
goldengate14 said:
In real terms if not linear Federer has been closest. If we change what CYGS means then Federer has been closest. If we change it sufficiently Federer has won the CYGS multiple times.
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FIFY.

And now I’m leaving the thread. Catch you in the next one.:)
 
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Sudacafan

Sudacafan

Bionic Poster
Tshooter said:
What you are presenting is a gross distortion:

Every player intending to play all four Majors in a particular year begins the year with a “CYGS attempt.“. Your list is not a “summary of CYGS attempts“ but a list of players (presumably complete?) that won at least 16 matches in one year among the four Majors. The number 16 and the list being arbitrary. And you ignore the essential CYGS element that all matches must be won in order. Your presentation may suggest incorrectly to some that number of matches won determines how close you are to completion — which it does not. For example, apart from 1983, Borg never even made an attempt at the CYGS but your presentation suggests that he had some traction on the prize 3x***.:rolleyes: Or take a player that loses in the final of the AO and wins the other three Majors (27 matches): that players CYGS journey like every other player other than the AO winner began and ended two weeks after it started, in January.:(

***note a diminished prize in his day due to the relative lack of AO prestige. Also note the AO field was only 64 in 1978/79/80 (so only 6 matches to win the title).
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The list I presented does consider the matches in correct order for a CYGS attempt.
I really don’t understand where you say it’s wrong.
Are you disregarding that in the Borg years, the sequence started in RG, and not in AO as I clarified in a prior post?
If it's incomplete and players with more than 2 slams won in CYGS order are missing, please inform.
 
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Steve0904

Steve0904

Talk Tennis Guru
I would've bet on Fed to win the CYGS in one of 06 or 07 (most likely 06) if he had beaten Nadal at RG. Sue me.

I understand the pressure ramps up and all that jazz, but I just don't believe prime Fed ever loses to anyone besides Nadal on clay on that 06 tour. Blake and Roddick gave him decent matches at the USO I suppose, but neither guy was beating him under any circumstances IMHO.
 
Sunny014

Sunny014

Legend
GOD made Federer face the tougher version of Nadal throughout his prime while Novak faced the easier version of Nadal throughout his prime.

This is was nature's way of preventing Federer from making a mockery of Tennis by making some unbreakable records....

Federer was for sure doing the CYGS in 2006 if not stopped by Nadal and a very high chance of doing the CYGS in 2007 as well if not stopped by Rafa, no amount of pressure was gonna stop him in 06 and even in 07 there is a high chance he would not have lost, Nadal wasn't ever gonna stop Roger at W07 IF Fed had won Roland Garros and neither was Novak stopping Fed at the USO.

Lock in 06 and 07, no pressure would stop him, he was invincible in those years.
 
Sunny014

Sunny014

Legend
Nadal_Django said:
Not only match wins but Fed now achieves a hypothetical CYGSs on this forum. Amazing :oops:
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Why do you always have to say negative things?
Have you ever said anything positive in your life about other players?
You sound like a very bitter poster whose only motive is to praise Novak and say negative things about other players due to your own insecurity!
 
T

Tennisgods

Hall of Fame
Sunny014 said:
Why do you always have to say negative things?
Have you ever said anything positive in your life about other players?
You sound like a very bitter poster whose only motive is to praise Novak and say negative things about other players due to your own insecurity!
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That’s exactly what he is.
 
Jokervich

Jokervich

Hall of Fame
pj80 said:
Roger Federer said Novak Djokovic had a "truly exceptional" year, even as the world No. 1 fell short of winning a calendar grand slam at the US Open.

Federer, who is recovering from knee surgery having last played at Wimbledon in July, added that he thinks achieving a calendar grand slam is still a possibility in the men's game.

"I think it is possible that it's going to happen again," he told Eurosport.
"We saw it with Novak, myself and Rafa (Nadal) that we come extremely close, but just doing it, I think you need a bit of luck, you need perseverance, strength, you need everything.
"That's why I think it's going to be hard but it's possible ... What Novak did this year was, of course, truly exceptional."

He said that he's "recovering well" from the surgery and is in the process of undergoing rehab.

"I've had no setbacks, every day's a better day, I'm feeling strong and excited for what's to come," Federer said.

"I experienced it, of course, already a little bit last year, and I was actually surprised how somewhat easy it was for me to go through the rehab process because I know it's not everybody's favorite thing to do, especially as a top athlete.

"But I think maybe, after all these years of traveling, it was also nice to be home, having more time for the family and other things.

"Of course, I wish I could be back on a tennis court as quick as possible, but I have to be patient. Look, it's a slower period right now. I've got to take it step by step and so far so good, so I'm very happy."

Roger Federer reflects on Novak Djokovic's 'exceptional year' (msn.com)
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I want to see Roger Federer reflecting on 40-15.:sneaky:
 
Nadal_Django

Nadal_Django

Legend
Sunny014 said:
Why do you always have to say negative things?
Have you ever said anything positive in your life about other players?
You sound like a very bitter poster whose only motive is to praise Novak and say negative things about other players due to your own insecurity!
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I'm saying a lot of positive things, especially about the next/current gen of players. But that's not very popular on this forum, isn't it!? :(
 
Hitman

Hitman

Bionic Poster
Tennisgods said:
I disagree, he was one win away. Ignore all this stuff about pressure etc, Federer was statistically one win away, just as Novak was.

I think Federer knows how close he came. An FO win doesn’t change his Wimbledon and USO’s in those years, in my opinion of course.
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Yeah, lets ignore that stuff that separates the men from the boys.....everyone can hit forehands and backhands, it's how you deal with the moments in the pressure moments that make the great players stand out. So yeah, lets agree to disagree on this.
 
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Azure

Azure

G.O.A.T.
Fedforever said:
I think we're ignoring the context in which Federer is talking here. He was asked whether it's POSSIBLE to do a CYGS.

There are two parts to this : is a player capable of getting to four Finals in the same year -- is it achievable physically and can a player reach that high level of tennis over the different surfaces? Clearly yes, as both Federer and Novak have done this in the same era.

The second part: can they sustain that under the pressure of going for the CYGS, given the extra media pressures that there are since Laver's day? On that, the jury is still out.

If Federer is asked (which he is) "is the CYGS achievable" then he has every right to point to his own record as proof that it should be possible.

If asked "did you or Novak get closer to achieving a CYGS" then he would be wrong to claim that he and Novak were equally close since clearly Novak was much closer. But he wasn't asked that question.
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Too much logic for gppd ;)
 
Hitman

Hitman

Bionic Poster
Tennisgods said:
27 out of 28 wins for each guy in the calendar year.
I get the stuff about continuous wins, pressure etc but anyone saying that being one altered result away isn’t close is being churlish to be honest.
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Disagree. Federer didn't play Wimbledon and USO with the Grand Slam on line, no matter how much people want to think he did.
 
R

Ray Mercer

Hall of Fame
Hitman said:
Yes, but the pressure is what makes it such a gigantic task, or we can just say 4 in a row is 4 in a row. The game is played between the ears more than anything else.

And yes pyjamas do take the shine off Djokovic's 2015 run.
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You don’t think Fed has faced tremendous pressure before? I would argue the pressure he faced after Nadal went down at 2009 RG was more than what Novak faced at the US Open. Novak just had to beat a couple bums in Medvedev and Zverev. He should have been feeling great knowing the competition right now is pure garbage.
 
W

Waves

Semi-Pro
Fed dancing around the fact that Djokovic had the best year in recent memory. But at least he did acknowledge it was exceptional.

Buuut…I’m a bit confused. Are posters saying that Novak’s cygs attempt failed because he couldn’t handle the pressure? Surely not! Couldn’t be! He is the warrior! So what is it, he couldn’t take the heat, or really there is no extra heat, and he just got beat by a better tennis player on that day? Or there is extra pressure and he handled it just fine, he just got beat, but was blubbering like a baby mid match just because, which is something I’ve never seen or heard of…evar.
 
T

Tennisgods

Hall of Fame
Hitman said:
Yeah, lets ignore that stuff that separates the men from the boys.....everyone can hit forehands and backhands, it's how you deal with the moments in the pressure moments that make the great players stand out. So yeah, lets agree to disagree on this.
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You know what I mean. I think it’s something that may or may not be relevant to a greater or lesser degree in these types of streaks. I’m still not certain that it’s what did for Novak, I think his difficult run to the final took it out of him personally…
 
T

Tennisgods

Hall of Fame
Hitman said:
Disagree. Federer didn't play Wimbledon and USO with the Grand Slam on line, no matter how much people want to think he did.
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History books will record he went pretty damn close and he knows he did too. It’s fine to say Novak went closer, but I think winning 3 out of 4 slams and losing the final of the other in a calendar year is deserving of more respect than you Novak fans are giving him. I don’t buy that Novak’s was any kind of greater achievement; it would have been had he sealed the deal but it’s all academic now.
 
wangs78

wangs78

Legend
The people who keep saying Djokovic’s 27/28 is much tougher than Federer’s and Nadal’s are really grasping at straws here. If there is any extra pressure for the guy who won the first three Slams of the year it will only be in the last match (the final) of the USO when he is on the verge of winning the CYGS. And Djokovic did not get within a mile that day bc he couldn’t even get a break of serve until that final set when he was already down two breaks against Daniil. If anything, it’s more plausible that the player who has won the first three Slams of the year will have an aura of invincibility such that his opponents at the USO would be facing immense pressure and playing too defensively or too aggressively thinking that if they don’t they would have no chance to win against the player who has been redlining since the start of the year. It’s really lame of all the Djokovic fans who keep making a fool of themselves with their dumb argument.

If anything is to be said of Djokovic’s USO final performance it’s simply how pathetic it was. We’ve seen Fed on many occasions play a younger rival (Nadal and Djokovic especially) in big matches like Wimby ‘08 (vs Nadal), USO ‘14 (Djokovic), Wimby ‘14, ‘15 and ‘19 (Djokovic) where he almost always went the distance (5 sets) if not 4. These were matches most of us regardless of whether we were Fed or Djoker fans had us glued to our sofas watching for 4+ hours as we saw the older Fed fight till the end. Djoker on the hand, despite having his great year and facing someone who has never even won a single Slam, could not summon anything to make the match interesting. On the most momentous stage of his career, he put on a pathetic showing.
 
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zagor

zagor

Bionic Poster
Fedforever said:
I think we're ignoring the context in which Federer is talking here. He was asked whether it's POSSIBLE to do a CYGS.

There are two parts to this : is a player capable of getting to four Finals in the same year -- is it achievable physically and can a player reach that high level of tennis over the different surfaces? Clearly yes, as both Federer and Novak have done this in the same era.

The second part: can they sustain that under the pressure of going for the CYGS, given the extra media pressures that there are since Laver's day? On that, the jury is still out.

If Federer is asked (which he is) "is the CYGS achievable" then he has every right to point to his own record as proof that it should be possible.

If asked "did you or Novak get closer to achieving a CYGS" then he would be wrong to claim that he and Novak were equally close since clearly Novak was much closer. But he wasn't asked that question.
Click to expand...

Pretty much, of course Novak was closer, obviously. However Fed has every right to believe he was close to CYGS in some of his peak years (especially 2006). It's not really a ridiculous argument from Fed or anything.
 
MichaelNadal

MichaelNadal

Bionic Poster
zagor said:
Pretty much, of course Novak was closer, obviously. However Fed has every right to believe he was close to CYGS in some of his peak years (especially 2006). It's not really a ridiculous argument from Fed or anything.
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Apparently it is from the armchair experts lol
 
zagor

zagor

Bionic Poster
Waves said:
Fed dancing around the fact that Djokovic had the best year in recent memory. But at least he did acknowledge it was exceptional.

Buuut…I’m a bit confused. Are posters saying that Novak’s cygs attempt failed because he couldn’t handle the pressure? Surely not! Couldn’t be! He is the warrior! So what is it, he couldn’t take the heat, or really there is no extra heat, and he just got beat by a better tennis player on that day? Or there is extra pressure and he handled it just fine, he just got beat, but was blubbering like a baby mid match just because, which is something I’ve never seen or heard of…evar.
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I don't think he was done in by pressure actually, he just hit a wall physically (Zverev match emptied the tank basically) and ran into a guy who had an exceptional serving day and can rally with him on HC.
 
RaulRamirez

RaulRamirez

Legend
zagor said:
I don't think he was done in by pressure actually, he just hit a wall physically (Zverev match emptied the tank basically) and ran into a guy who had an exceptional serving day and can rally with him on HC.
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In some proportion, I think it was all three things: weight of historical achievement, a bit out of gas, but perhaps mostly, a cool-headed, well-playing Medvedev. No way to assign percentages, but maybe 20/30/50?
 
zagor

zagor

Bionic Poster
RaulRamirez said:
In some proportion, I think it was all three things: weight of historical achievement, a bit out of gas, but perhaps mostly, a cool-headed, well-playing Medvedev. No way to assign percentages, but maybe 20/30/50?
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Hard to quantify it, let's say if Novak didn't go full distance with inspired Zverev but still crumbled in the final I'd give far more weight to CYGS pressure. His problem seemed the legs to me, not his head.

Of course, Med played great entire tourney and brought it in the final, certainly deserves a lot of credit.
 
RaulRamirez

RaulRamirez

Legend
zagor said:
Hard to quantify it, let's say if Novak didn't go full distance with inspired Zverev but still crumbled in the final I'd give far more weight to CYGS pressure. His problem seemed the legs to me, not his head.

Of course, Med played great entire tourney and brought it in the final, certainly deserves a lot of credit.
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Oh, Med deserves full credit. Novak is a great big match player, but not impervious to pressure. And as Johnny Mac pointed out, when feeling nerves, it can affect your movement as well. Still, I I formally gave that factor 20%.
 
RaulRamirez

RaulRamirez

Legend
zagor said:
Pretty sure Fed understands the concept of CYGS and knows far more about Laver than 99% of the forum. People just disagree with his opinion, which is fine.
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?? I wasnt commenting on Fed's comment - just the simple concept of what constitutes closer to the (true) GS.

Analogy: Joe DiMaggio has long held MLB's consecutive game hitting streak - 56 games.

Player A hits in 27 games, his streak gets snapped and then he immediately has another 28-game hitting streak.

Player B hits in 55 consecutive games, but can't get a hit in his 56th game.

Both players hit in 55/56 games, but Player B came much closer.
 
zagor

zagor

Bionic Poster
RaulRamirez said:
Oh, Med deserves full credit. Novak is a great big match player, but not impervious to pressure. And as Johnny Mac pointed out, when feeling nerves, it can affect your movement as well. Still, I I formally gave that factor 20%.
Click to expand...

Of course it can affect your legs but eventually nerves would settle in, especially when it comes a champ like Novak.

You could be right obviously, I'm saying how it looked from my perspective but yeah, it's rarely easy to quantify all the factors determing the outcome of a tennis match, there are so many of them.
 
zagor

zagor

Bionic Poster
RaulRamirez said:
?? I wasnt commenting on Fed's comment - just the simple concept of what constitutes closer to the (true) GS.

Analogy: Joe DiMaggio has long held MLB's consecutive game hitting streak - 56 games.

Player A hits in 27 games, his streak gets snapped and then he immediately has another 28-game hitting streak.

Player B hits in 55 consecutive games, but can't get a hit in his 56th game.

Both players hit in 55/56 games, but Player B came much closer.
Click to expand...

Novak being closer doesn't mean Fed wasn't close himself.
 
Djokodal Fan

Djokodal Fan

Hall of Fame
Tennisgods said:
That’s why all you guys are out here claiming Djokovic got “closest” to CYGS huh? You know he hasn’t got the clear daylight he needs yet… Can’t you just wait and come back to boast when he has?
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I wasn’t talking about CYGS at all. I know that he didn’t win it. But I like how Federer thinks he is equivalent and placing along side Djokovic. How times have changed!
 
Sudacafan

Sudacafan

Bionic Poster
zagor said:
Novak being closer doesn't mean Fed wasn't close himself.
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Novak‘s closeness was 2x Fed‘s.
According to the 28 matches scorecard CYGS progression, Novak’s best was 27 in 2021, Fed’s best was 13 in 2006 and 2007, and Nadal’s best was 10 in 2009. No comparison possible.
 
T

T007

Hall of Fame
Hitman said:
He knows it was an insane year, though I don't agree with his statement that he and Nadal were extremely close, both never won the first two slams of the year and dealt with the mental pressure that came with each subsequent slam. Novak is the only one who got close.

Yes Federer especially and Nadal once got very close to a NCYGS, or simply 4 in a row, but even there, Novak has done that.
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Djokovic wasn't close as he was 3 sets away.
In 2006-7 Federer was 2 sets away as he lost in 4 sets to Nadal in FO on both ocassions.
Nadal lost early in USO.

Needless djoko fanatics won't accept it.
 
T

T007

Hall of Fame
Djokodal Fan said:
I wasn’t talking about CYGS at all. I know that he didn’t win it. But I like how Federer thinks he is equivalent and placing along side Djokovic. How times have changed!
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It doesn't matter the end result is similar...djokovic won 3/4 and Fed too ended up with that 3 times and Nadal once.
 
N01E

N01E

Hall of Fame
You can clearly see who responded "50%" to every question in probability classes in this thread.

Also, this is almost as good as that one time Nadal said he was leading the race before getting injured, while he was already 600 points behind.
 
F

Fedforever

Hall of Fame
OK, one more go.

This seems to be the closest translation of what Federer said - remember he was talking in German so something may be lost.

If it will happen that a player is winning the GS?

So we can infer from this: the question was something like "Do you think someone will win the CYGS one day?"

I think the possibility is there for sure. I think we have seen with Rafa, with Novak lately and also myself that it is possible

So all he's saying here - is that the Big 3 have shown it is possible - i.e that a player can achieve the necessary fitness and tennis level to make it doable. If for instance, no player had ever achieved more than two slams in a year we might legitimately believe that it may be impossible to do, but clearly that is not the case.

It's extremely difficult for sure. The problem is physically and mentally as the 5 set matches won't get easier. Therefore it has to be really rated highly what Novak did this year. That was absolutely top class. Simply amazing.

So he's basically saying the problem is that the pressure increases as you go on and therefore what Novak did in this year was "top-class" - he uses this phrase in the German interview. In other words he's saying the exact same thing as the Novak fans on this board.

Just to end with an example from another sport: in football (the English type) there used to be something called the "Impossible Treble" - winning the League Championship, The FA Cup and the European Cup in the same year. In 1977 Liverpool came close by winning two and reaching the FA Cup Final and in 1984 achieved "a" Treble but with the League Cup instead of the FA Cup. This was taken as proof by some that it was indeed impossible.

Twenty - two years later the feat was actually achieved by Manchester United. Because of course Liverpool had proved, not that it was impossible, but that it was perfectly possible with maybe a little bit of luck to carry you over the line.

Just as Federer and Novak have proved that it is possible. Some day it will be achieved.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1439944367012302852
 
Gary Duane

Gary Duane

G.O.A.T.
Hitman said:
He knows it was an insane year, though I don't agree with his statement that he and Nadal were extremely close, both never won the first two slams of the year and dealt with the mental pressure that came with each subsequent slam.
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In 2006 Fed lost the 4th set in a TB to Nadal. If the TB went the other way it would have gone to 5. I'd say that's pretty close because at a time he won 5 Ws and 5 USOs in a row. Remember that Nadal at that time was a beast on clay. No one got 4 in a row because of RG unless Nadal was clearly way under his best because of many factors. Fed never faced a way sub par Nadal at RG. Novak has twice.
 
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U

urban

Legend
I have seen the Fed interview in German, and he said with reffering to himself to having had a chance for GS, a word more "natürlich ich", which means "naturally me". He is always a bit cocky, when it comes to him. Now at least he congratulates Novak for his 2021 season, and that is good and correct. And that there is a possiblity to win a GS, is a (pretty lame) truth. Maybe he should have asked himself, why no man in 52 years could emulate the feat.
That Fed always faced peak Nadal on clay, is a cliche. He lost to a very young and still improving Nadal in 2005 or 2006, in 2011 Nadal played one of his wort RGs and still won against a Fed, who had just peaked against Djoker. He lost on dry and fast conditions, with or without wind. He won only 2 matches on clay vs. Nadal, when Nadal was deadly tired. in 2006, he lost to Nadal on very fast clay at Rome and on hard court, too.
 
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Hitman

Hitman

Bionic Poster
T007 said:
Djokovic wasn't close as he was 3 sets away.
In 2006-7 Federer was 2 sets away as he lost in 4 sets to Nadal in FO on both ocassions.
Nadal lost early in USO.

Needless djoko fanatics won't accept it.
Click to expand...

No. He was two sets and two slams away. Unless you have convinced yourself that RG was the 4th slam those seasons. And lets not be saying Federer would be winning for sure, we saw in 2009 how Nadal faltered at his very pet slam when he was on course, and he was a bigger fav there than Fed ever was at W and USO.
 
Hitman

Hitman

Bionic Poster
Ray Mercer said:
You don’t think Fed has faced tremendous pressure before? I would argue the pressure he faced after Nadal went down at 2009 RG was more than what Novak faced at the US Open. Novak just had to beat a couple bums in Medvedev and Zverev. He should have been feeling great knowing the competition right now is pure garbage.
Click to expand...

And what about when he had Wimbledon 2021 on his racket, how did that go? I know Federer has dealt with tremendous pressure before, but lets not pretend like he hasn't cracked under it either.
 
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