Finally Respected Commentators acknowledge Feds mono!

Japanese Maple · Sep 3, 2008

While watching the open this past week, both Jim Courier and Mary Carillo have acknowledged the adverse effects of Feds mono on his performance and preparation. Courier stated that Fed would never use his mono as an excuse,but he is clearly still affected by his mono and it has definitely hurt his performance. Carillo said that Feds mono totally threw off Feds normal workout schedule of taking extended time off to train in December, February, and July. She when on to say that the mono in Dec/2007 prevented him from training that month and in February, and the Olympics prevented him from training in July.

There is nothing wrong with Feds game once he gets over the mono and can train like he normally did. What is amazing is even with his mono and altered training schedule he has performed so well in majors considering the circumstances!

vtmike · Sep 3, 2008

Japanese Maple said:
While watching the open this past week, both Jim Courier and Mary Carillo have acknowledged the adverse effects of Feds mono on his performance and preparation. Courier stated that Fed would never use his mono as an excuse,but he is clearly still affected by his mono and it has definitely hurt his performance. Carillo said that Feds mono totally threw off Feds normal workout schedule of taking extended time off to train in December, February, and July. She when on to say that the mono in Dec/2007 prevented him from training that month and in February, and the Olympics prevented him from training in July.

There is nothing wrong with Feds game once he gets over the mono and can train like he normally did. What is amazing is even with his mono and altered training schedule he has performed so well in majors considering the circumstances!

Yeah I agree with them.........and Fed does not say that out loud because then people like the nadal fanboys here will start saying he is making excuses!

veran · Sep 3, 2008

Can a guy with mono can play full steam for 5 sets and barely break a sweat? What kind of mono is that? Superman mono?

zagor · Sep 3, 2008

Okay,a friednly warning from me.You just invited hords of Nadal fanboys in this thread who won't pass another opportunity to bash Fed,just so you know(I also expect both Courier and Carillo to be labeled as *******s).

On topic,of course mono had to somewhat affect Fed's performance and training schedule but on the other hand he's also 27(an age when most all-time greats start to decline)and most importantly Nadal has improved a lot this year so I don't want to take anything from him by discussing Fed's mono all the time,Nadal deserved the top spot completely this year,no ifs and buts about it as far as I'm concerned.

2009 should be a very interesting year,we'll see if Fed will be able to contend for the top spot again and win slams but in order to do that I think he will need to make some changes and improvements to his game.

McLovin · Sep 3, 2008

Since when is Mary Carillo a respected commentator?

VGP · Sep 3, 2008

I respect Mary Carillo. She works hard at merging what's going on within the lines and what's going on around the players.

Give her a break.

Ossric · Sep 3, 2008

McLovin said:
Since when is Mary Carillo a respected commentator?

I have to agree here. I can't stand listening to her.

Put Agassi and McEnroe in the box for every match IMO.

Mr Topspin · Sep 3, 2008

Japanese Maple said:
While watching the open this past week, both Jim Courier and Mary Carillo have acknowledged the adverse effects of Feds mono on his performance and preparation. Courier stated that Fed would never use his mono as an excuse,but he is clearly still affected by his mono and it has definitely hurt his performance. Carillo said that Feds mono totally threw off Feds normal workout schedule of taking extended time off to train in December, February, and July. She when on to say that the mono in Dec/2007 prevented him from training that month and in February, and the Olympics prevented him from training in July.

There is nothing wrong with Feds game once he gets over the mono and can train like he normally did. What is amazing is even with his mono and altered training schedule he has performed so well in majors considering the circumstances!

Here's the thing. How can Carillo and Courier presume to know what Fed can do or can't. Federer himself has been very guarded about his condition and yet yet these so called experts know intimate details about his training schedule. All they should say is that they don't know how much it has affected Roger as they are not sure unless they are both eperts on glandular fever. i know a few people who have suffered with Mono and they all have been ill for well over a year like Ancic. I am not saying that Federer is not affected but it has obvisously affected him in a far differebt way than most people.

McLovin · Sep 3, 2008

Japanese Maple said:
...and the Olympics prevented him from training in July.

Huh? What the hell do the Olympics have to do with anything? It was just another tournament. Did the French Open also cause Federer to lose Wimbledon because it impeded his training?

Get over it already...

Japanese Maple · Sep 3, 2008

You don't have to like Mary Carillo, I don't, but she definitely knows what is going on and I do respect her opinions. I feel during the past year commentators down played Feds mono because they were told to do so by the network executives so ratings wouldn't be adversely affected! As we come to the end of the year after Wimbledon(big advertising $) the truth is finally coming out! Jim Courier did not pull any punches in emphatically stating yesterday that Feds play still to this day is affected by his mono and he is not fully recovered-this is fact! Taking nothing away from Nadal but he is not dealing with a 100% healthy Roger Federer! Fed will not win the US Open because of playing on consecutive days during the semi's and final, and he will not be adequately recovered. 2009 should be a very interesting year and I think Fed will come back with a vengeance! I believe that tennis historians will look back at Rogers 2008 performance in Grand Slams in utter amazement and respect for what a truly remarkable accomplishment it was considering his mono. What other player could do what Roger has done in Grand Slams while coming down with mono-no one! To me this just shows how much heart and talent this guy really has-unbelievable effort!

jmverdugo · Sep 3, 2008

People should know when to move on ... Fed´s mono maybe was the cause of his declining but it certainly was not the cause of the raising of others.

David L · Sep 3, 2008

veran said:
Can a guy with mono can play full steam for 5 sets and barely break a sweat? What kind of mono is that? Superman mono?

Federer was sweating like a pig in Australia. The contrast between how he looked in his matches then and now is huge. Go get a video of the Djokovic match. He looks like he's about to faint. Even Djokovic acknowledged Federer looked much more chipper after they played in Monte Carlo this year.

Q. How did Roger look to you, facing him for the first time since Melbourne?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: He looks good. He was more aggressive than in Melbourne. I think he stepped up more. He was more patient. And I think I made some crucial mistakes in that first set. I had some chances on 3-All I think or 2-All, some breakpoints. Unfortunately in the end, physically I didn't hold on. You know, in them moments, when you just need to stay patient and just play another ball back, I wanted to finish up with the return. So resulted with a mistake.

http://www.asapsports.com/show_interview.php?id=49171

David L · Sep 3, 2008

Mr Topspin said:
Here's the thing. How can Carillo and Courier presume to know what Fed can do or can't. Federer himself has been very guarded about his condition and yet yet these so called experts know intimate details about his training schedule. All they should say is that they don't know how much it has affected Roger as they are not sure unless they are both eperts on glandular fever. i know a few people who have suffered with Mono and they all have been ill for well over a year like Ancic. I am not saying that Federer is not affected but it has obvisously affected him in a far differebt way than most people.

They know because the information is available. Also, how do you know how most people are affected by mono? Not everyone is bedridden when they get it. Ancic is just one example of many. What about Johnny Weir?

KB: Let's talk about your health. Sometimes this past year at competitions, you've appeared, frankly, tired. Is it just normal training-related fatigue or have there been other problems?

Johnny Weir: I allegedly had mononucleosis during the Torino Olympics and I say 'allegedly' because I didn't know about it until shortly after starting the Champions On Ice tour last Spring. Nobody could figure out what was wrong with me so they finally did a blood test and it clearly indicated that I was in the end stages of recovery from mono. I didn't even know (laughs), because while competing at the Olympics, of course I expected to be tired, but I didn't expect to be that tired. Training for the Games you get run down, and I was so busy over in Italy that it seemed logical.

When I came home and the exhaustion continued, and then I had the World championships, it was just too much. I had to deal with the media, cameras in my face, and the pressure of trying my first quad in competition (which I did), and then go straight to rehearsals and start the tour. There simply was no vacation or rest. No time to decompress and go to an island and pamper myself.

I have been working straight through since August of 2005 and can't stop because there are so many commitments to fulfill. At the same time, I'm happy to do it as I don't like to be idle or bored. Once I was on the tour last Spring, I started to get better, however I also started gaining weight from all the restaurant food, the room service, the going out every night to dinner and enjoying a few glasses of wine. In no time I put on fifteen pounds.

http://www.goldenskate.com/articles/2006/122406.shtml

David L · Sep 3, 2008

Mr Topspin said:
Here's the thing. How can Carillo and Courier presume to know what Fed can do or can't. Federer himself has been very guarded about his condition and yet yet these so called experts know intimate details about his training schedule. All they should say is that they don't know how much it has affected Roger as they are not sure unless they are both eperts on glandular fever. i know a few people who have suffered with Mono and they all have been ill for well over a year like Ancic. I am not saying that Federer is not affected but it has obvisously affected him in a far differebt way than most people.

Some of the available information about how mono has affected Federer's year. Translated from the original German.

"Roger needs time“

Fitness coach Pierre Paganini about Federer's season so far and consequences of mono

By Rene Stauffer

Mr. Paganini, as a long-term coach and consultant of Roger Federer: what's your opinion concerning his fitness before the US Open?

Regarding the athleticism, he´s at 99 or 100 % of his potential. Maybe he lacks a little bit stamina in some situations, e.g. when a rally takes too long, so that he misses some explosiveness. But a tennis player is like a puzzle. A lot of factors are involved, such as athleticism, the tennis itself and last but not least the self-confidence. His self-confidence isn't the same like it´s been in the previous years. That becomes evident when you look at his match statistics.

How does that affect his game?

It´s a mixture of hesitating – often just a hundred of a second – and a little less harmony in the movement. You play like you move, and you move and play like you feel. It´s a triangle-relation. If you lack only a half percent in athleticism, mentally, and in your game, it´s in the addition 1,5 %. And that´s the explanation for being a little uncertain sometimes. In former times roger fought to convert his tennis, now he fights to express it. That´s a different fight, that´s why it looks a little different.

Does that mean he doesn’t suffer from the glandular fever any more, which has often been speculated? He himself said that he misses about 20 days of training.

To answer that question I have to draw back somewhat. In 2007 we said: For the 2008 season we will do two important training blocks, the first in December 2007, the second one in February 08. We would have liked to do a third one in July, but that wasn’t possible because of the Olympic Games. The Main Block was the one in February. That one should have helped him to be in good shape till after the Olympics. At first everything went as planned: Roger was fit as ever, in every way his state of fitness was impressive. No doubt about that.

But then the problems began.

At first he had this stomach-virus in Australia, that made him sick for about 10, 11 days. He was 24 hours in hospital, had fever, took antibiotics, lost three Kilos of weight. If you are ill or injured, it takes three times as long to reach the status quo (of fitness). That means, the first fitness block from December was more or less worthless.

Despite this fact, he reached the Semis of the AO.

Right. And when we came back home, we discovered in February, that he suffered since December of glandular fever. From the medical point of view it was finished on 23rd of February – just one week before Dubai (where roger lost to Andy Murray). That means, we could'nt even start the second main block in February. So roger was out of form and had lost a lot of stamina. Therefore we had 2 possibilities: Taking a break for 3 month without playing any tournament and giving everything out of the hand without a fight, or to make new 3-day training blocks between the tournaments to regain at least a bit of the stamina.

You chose the 2nd possibility.

I´ve never seen roger so courageous like this year. He had to deal with a complete different rhythm of tournaments, hard work and recovery. He was tired when he wasn’t in the past, and you had to be careful not to train too much. It was really tough, and it impressed me a lot how he handled everything. In the past everyone said: Federer runs automatically, he always wins, he is a nice guy without a lot of internal power. But now you see what it takes to achieve things like he did. This year we saw the real roger, 2008 he was more the human than the machine. He had to deal with emotions, losses and disappointments.

The results remained below the expectations.

A lot of people are talking of a down – but i´d like to have such a down in my life! Of course he remained below the expectations and the standards that he set himself the last couple of years. But he still had great results. He was runner up in 2 GS finals and is nr. 3 in the champions race. Of course you can say I´m not objective because I work with him. But what I just told you are facts that no one can deny. Apart from that it´s not about defending roger. It´s about seeing the situation just like it is and how roger has experienced it.

Federer said it might have been a mistake to play Toronto and Cinncy before the Olympics. What´s your opinion on that?

Afterwards you always know more. That´s the exciting thing, that a player has to decide before the tournaments if he plays. But there where not enough reasons to withdraw. He won Halle and showed some super-tennis in Wimbledon. From the medical side everything was fine, what a blood-test proved after Wimby. If he had won the last 9:7 in the final, people would talk differently.

Do you think he can regain his old form that made him a 12-times GS-Champion?

I am convinced of that, for 100 %. You don’t lose your potential from one day to another. If someone is able to speak 7 languages and has a headache, he doesn't forget how to speak the languages. There were a lot of situations where he showed his enormous potential, even this year. He just couldn’t do it on a consistent basis like in the past years. And already some say: He´s done. That’s real madness and shows, how high he has set the standards. He cant fail without being buried.

In your opinion, how does he deal with the criticism nowadays? It seems like he tries not to make too much drama out of it.

You never know how it looks inside a person. It´s Roger's job to protect his inner feelings, because it´s private business. At the same time he is a Ambassador of Tennis and takes a lot of time for his duties. I think he´s one of the mentally strongest players on tour, otherwise he couldn’t have achieved these incredible results that he did.

Could the gold-medal from the Olympics help him to regain his old strength?

I don´t know. I just think Roger needs time. Maybe more time than you might think at the moment. Roger is a virtuoso, who is ready to fight. But he is no one who can win just with pure fight, without virtuosity. He has to feel comfortable out on the court again, then he can also fight unbelievably, like he has already proven several times in the past. He needs to work on basic things, in tennis as well as in stamina. And even more, he needs success experiences. Others need 2 wins, and they gain confidence. With roger its different. He´s used to win big tournaments and thus needs more success experiences.

There were speculations in Beijing, he could finish the season earlier then expected.

At the moment the focus is on the US Open. After this tournament we will discuss how we move on. For roger a new chapter begins. You have to define your philosophy new, what´s important for you and what you want to change. That will lead to nice discussions, that we will have with our team.

http://www.sonntagszeitung.ch/sport/artikel-detailseite/?newsid=38900

Japanese Maple · Sep 3, 2008

McLovin said:
Huh? What the hell do the Olympics have to do with anything? It was just another tournament. Did the French Open also cause Federer to lose Wimbledon because it impeded his training?

Get over it already...

Mclovin- you make no sense at all! Rather than going to the Olympics, Fed normally uses this time to accelerate his conditioning to get ready for the hard court season. Playing matches every other day is not the same as intense, on court and off court conditioning. Feds results in the past years clearly indicates that he knows what he is doing regarding his training regimen and how important it is for his outstanding results. Fed won't make excuses, but Courier and Carillo have regarding Feds mono and its affect on his training and conditioning.

gj011 · Sep 3, 2008

Carillo and Courier are not respected commentators.

Messarger · Sep 3, 2008

vtmike said:
Yeah I agree with them.........and Fed does not say that out loud because then people like the nadal fanboys here will start saying he is making excuses!

It goes both ways my friend. Nadal_freak & nadalwonwimbledonagain would say that mono is Federer's excuse, just like how Drakulie, nimman say fatigue is Nadal's excuse when he loses.

Messarger · Sep 3, 2008

Japanese Maple said:
You don't have to like Mary Carillo, I don't, but she definitely knows what is going on and I do respect her opinions. I feel during the past year commentators down played Feds mono because they were told to do so by the network executives so ratings wouldn't be adversely affected! As we come to the end of the year after Wimbledon(big advertising $) the truth is finally coming out! Jim Courier did not pull any punches in emphatically stating yesterday that Feds play still to this day is affected by his mono and he is not fully recovered-this is fact! Taking nothing away from Nadal but he is not dealing with a 100% healthy Roger Federer! Fed will not win the US Open because of playing on consecutive days during the semi's and final, and he will not be adequately recovered. 2009 should be a very interesting year and I think Fed will come back with a vengeance! I believe that tennis historians will look back at Rogers 2008 performance in Grand Slams in utter amazement and respect for what a truly remarkable accomplishment it was considering his mono. What other player could do what Roger has done in Grand Slams while coming down with mono-no one! To me this just shows how much heart and talent this guy really has-unbelievable effort!

He might not be dealing with a 100% Federer as you claim, but that does not excuse Federer for not giving his best at the French Open. He looked as if he couldnt be bothered with his body language and his surprise tactic of coming to the net at random times.

Federer might come back with a vengance, i hope he does as that means high quality tennis especially when he plays Nadal in Wimbledon. But what makes you think that Nadal will not want to prove that his Wimbledon victory was no fluke? Federer will not be the only hungry player next year as the young guns like Gulbis, Murray, and all will have something to prove, too.

Andres · Sep 3, 2008

If the mono was mild enough to let him PLAY the Australia Open, and losing 15 games in the first 2 matches, it cannot be an excuse

I could understand if he was in bed for 15 days and lost 20 pounds in the process, but the guy reached the freaking SF without breaking a sweat! Come on, it's been 7 months of an illness who wasn't that IMPORTANT to begin with.

Mono cannot be an excuse for his lousy results.

McLovin · Sep 3, 2008

Japanese Maple said:
Rather than going to the Olympics, Fed normally uses this time to accelerate his conditioning to get ready for the hard court season. Playing matches every other day is not the same as intense, on court and off court conditioning.

If he had won both Cincinnati and Montreal (or was it Toronto this year?), I could see you making a point that he played too much, as happened to Agassi back in '94. But he didn't. He lost in his first couple matches, giving him ample time to train.

Other players have stepped their games up. He is no longer invincible. It happens, get over it. Hopefully he will come out firing next year and force everyone to step their games up yet another notch, as it seems Nadal & Djokovic are forcing him to do now.

You people need to stop trying to make excuses for him. You're starting to sound like the Williams sisters...

ksbh · Sep 3, 2008

Awesome post! If not for it's length, it would be my signature now!

Andres Guazzelli said:
If the mono was mild enough to let him PLAY the Australia Open, and losing 15 games in the first 2 matches, it cannot be an excuse

I could understand if he was in bed for 15 days and lost 20 pounds in the process, but the guy reached the freaking SF without breaking a sweat! Come on, it's been 7 months of an illness who wasn't that IMPORTANT to begin with.

Mono cannot be an excuse for his lousy results.

fed_rulz · Sep 3, 2008

Andres Guazzelli said:
If the mono was mild enough to let him PLAY the Australia Open, and losing 15 games in the first 2 matches, it cannot be an excuse

I could understand if he was in bed for 15 days and lost 20 pounds in the process, but the guy reached the freaking SF without breaking a sweat! Come on, it's been 7 months of an illness who wasn't that IMPORTANT to begin with.

Mono cannot be an excuse for his lousy results.

Wow.. Without breaking a sweat?? then we must have watched different Aus open 2008 matches. Does the name Tipsarevic sound familiar?

McLovin said:
Other players have stepped their games up. He is no longer invincible. It happens, get over it. Hopefully he will come out firing next year and force everyone to step their games up yet another notch, as it seems Nadal & Djokovic are forcing him to do now.

You people need to stop trying to make excuses for him. You're starting to sound like the Williams sisters...

What other players? Fish, Roddick, Blake, Simon, Stepanek.. well yeah, these guys magically stepped up their game in a span of 6 months, while federer stagnated. Please..

Some Nadal/Djokovic fans do not acknowledge fed's mono because they perceive it as a knock on their respective hero's successes this year. I believe Nadal deservedly earned the #1 ranking and all successes this year (and so did djokovic) - but that in no way should mean that federer's losses should not be attributed to his illness. It is mere speculation at this point to suggest that the results would have been different if not for fed's mono. But it's high time that the doubters acknowledge that fed's level of play has gone down, and that too mainly because of his illness..

McLovin · Sep 3, 2008

ooops. misread your post. now thinking of a proper response...

McLovin · Sep 3, 2008

I won't argue that mono may have affected his performance at the beginning of the year. But that doesn't account for his loss at the French & Wimbledon. Hell, he didn't even lose a set until the finals at Wimbledon, something he didn't do in 2007.
He lost some confidence, people started believing they could beat him, and it snowballed from there. Again, I hope he can pick it up next year and force everyone else to raise their games.

Messarger · Sep 3, 2008

fed_rulz said:
Wow.. Without breaking a sweat?? then we must have watched different Aus open 2008 matches. Does the name Tipsarevic sound familiar?

What other players? Fish, Roddick, Blake, Simon, Stepanek.. well yeah, these guys magically stepped up their game in a span of 6 months, while federer stagnated. Please..

Some Nadal/Djokovic fans do not acknowledge fed's mono because they perceive it as a knock on their respective hero's successes this year. I believe Nadal deservedly earned the #1 ranking and all successes this year (and so did djokovic) - but that in no way should mean that federer's losses should not be attributed to his illness. It is mere speculation at this point to suggest that the results would have been different if not for fed's mono. But it's high time that the doubters acknowledge that fed's level of play has gone down, and that too mainly because of his illness..

Fish, Blake and the whole gang did not step up their game. All they need is to see Federer struggle against players he was suppose to win comfortably, suddenly he doesnt have that invincible aura around him.

An illness does not allow you to choose when to play at your best. Look at the French Open this year against Nadal, like i said earlier, he looked as if he couldnt be bothered and just wanted to get over with it. Fast forward to Wimbledon, where his pride is at stake, he's able to come up with that down the line backhand winner on Nadal's match point. He might still be at say 75%, but that is no excuse to pick the tournaments that you want to play well.

Thor · Sep 3, 2008

zagor said:
Okay,a friednly warning from me.You just invited hords of Nadal fanboys in this thread who won't pass another opportunity to bash Fed,just so you know(I also expect both Courier and Carillo to be labeled as *******s).

You have Zero credibility as a guy who only posts about "nadal fans" vs "fed fans", "Oh no - the ****s started it,but im an objective,respectful Fed fan" , "oh yes,you are one of the few Nadal who talk sense".

Just a few of your last posts:

zagor said:
Try to ignore Nadal fanboys,you'll find this forum more enjoyable,trust me.

zagor said:
Now you get it,all those pros are just biased Nadal haters trying to discredit Nadal's achievement.

Quote:
Originally Posted by NamRanger View Post
Nadal_Freak : "Venus William's is stupid and has no idea what she's talking about. Fans have more knowledge about pro tennis then pros do."

TheTruth : "The William's sisters should keep their mouth shut. Nadal is perfect."

Veroniquem : "Venus Williams is a Nadal hater."

AnnointedOne : Can't figure a quote out right now, I'll get around to it.

zagor said:
Got a really good laugh out of this one,you're about right.As for anointedone's quote I would say something like this:Fed is an overrated joke of a player who gets easy draws.

You are TTW's most obsessed fan wars poster

albino smurf · Sep 3, 2008

He might not be dealing with a 100% Federer as you claim, but that does not excuse Federer for not giving his best at the French Open.

Making it to the championship match doesn't count for anything?

Messarger · Sep 3, 2008

albino smurf said:
Making it to the championship match doesn't count for anything?

What's the use of playing your best until the championship match and then letting it all past you by giving a half arse performance? I'm sure Federer's goal was to win the whole thing, not just satisfied with reaching the finals.

Pete.Sampras. · Sep 3, 2008

Not again...

I have no idea why it's so interesting to discuss about this...

We'll see what happens next year. If Federer dominates the field again, maybe it really was the mono that affected him. But just maybe, we'll never know for sure.

But if he doesn't dominate the field again, then maybe it was something else, like "less confidence" or whatever.

However, we will probably never know if or how much the mono really affected Federer...

CGMemphis · Sep 3, 2008

Stinkdyr · Sep 3, 2008

What Fed needs

Maybe Fed can beg a few lessons from Nada on how to volley. And you gotsta luv that Querry found the key to upending Nada...hit deep to his backhand where he can't hurt you the way he will crush you with his forehand. Fed, were you watching?

McLovin · Sep 3, 2008

Pete.Sampras. said:
I have no idea why it's so interesting to discuss about this...

I'm bored @ work.

Morrissey · Sep 3, 2008

Thor said:
You have Zero credibility as a guy who only posts about "nadal fans" vs "fed fans", "Oh no - the ****s started it,but im an objective,respectful Fed fan" , "oh yes,you are one of the few Nadal who talk sense".

Just a few of your last posts:

Quote:
Originally Posted by NamRanger View Post
Nadal_Freak : "Venus William's is stupid and has no idea what she's talking about. Fans have more knowledge about pro tennis then pros do."

TheTruth : "The William's sisters should keep their mouth shut. Nadal is perfect."

Veroniquem : "Venus Williams is a Nadal hater."

AnnointedOne : Can't figure a quote out right now, I'll get around to it.

You are TTW's most obsessed fan wars poster

That's true. I have to agree here. Zagor has gotten obssessed with fans and calling them trolls all while he claims to not do such "trollish" things himself. "Oh you gotta be careful with these Nad ****s." Us Fedfans are great and not as bad as you guys. Puhleeze, if anything you guys are worse. Especially from 2004-2007 (I should know more than anybody in here the abuse from your crew, I signed up in 2004 and one of the few Nadal fans at the time). This year your bunch of hooligans aren't as bad because Fed hasn't won anything important this year and is getting beat down by rafa all the time. Of course you're not gonna talk, you have no reason to this year. But you're no angel either. So don't clean your hands by putting down Nadal fans because you're a high an almighty Fedfan.

caulcano · Sep 3, 2008

Guys & gals, we might get to know the 'real' story when/if Federer comes out with an autobiography in the future.

Nadal_Freak · Sep 3, 2008

Fed is getting old. Nothing to do with mono. Was there even mono? The weakest case I've ever heard of.

Well_Played · Sep 3, 2008

Japanese Maple said:
You don't have to like Mary Carillo, I don't, but she definitely knows what is going on and I do respect her opinions. I feel during the past year commentators down played Feds mono because they were told to do so by the network executives so ratings wouldn't be adversely affected! As we come to the end of the year after Wimbledon(big advertising $) the truth is finally coming out! Jim Courier did not pull any punches in emphatically stating yesterday that Feds play still to this day is affected by his mono and he is not fully recovered-this is fact! Taking nothing away from Nadal but he is not dealing with a 100% healthy Roger Federer! Fed will not win the US Open because of playing on consecutive days during the semi's and final, and he will not be adequately recovered. 2009 should be a very interesting year and I think Fed will come back with a vengeance! I believe that tennis historians will look back at Rogers 2008 performance in Grand Slams in utter amazement and respect for what a truly remarkable accomplishment it was considering his mono. What other player could do what Roger has done in Grand Slams while coming down with mono-no one! To me this just shows how much heart and talent this guy really has-unbelievable effort!

I think you're right, mono had a lot to do with Federer's performance this year. Even so, his year is much better than other great players of the past when they had a bad year.
But, if next year he doesn't win a Grand Slam (just one at least) I hope the Mono doesn't come back as an excuse.
Besides a lot of young good (great) players are coming, they showed us what they can do this year, if Federer doesn't come strong, next year could be even harder for him. But I agree with you, 2009 sure looks promising.

asafi2 · Sep 3, 2008

Andres Guazzelli said:
If the mono was mild enough to let him PLAY the Australia Open, and losing 15 games in the first 2 matches, it cannot be an excuse

I could understand if he was in bed for 15 days and lost 20 pounds in the process, but the guy reached the freaking SF without breaking a sweat! Come on, it's been 7 months of an illness who wasn't that IMPORTANT to begin with.

Mono cannot be an excuse for his lousy results.

If I'm not mistaken Roger lost only 6 games in the first 2 matches...

pmata814 · Sep 3, 2008

Mary Carillo, Jim Courier, Respected Commentators...Sorry, I can't help but laugh when I hear those pronounced in the same sentence.

Deleted member 21996 · Sep 3, 2008

so guys... is anything new around here? did i miss anything important or do we still have the ******* vs Raftard war going on?

any other subject around besides the usual :

fed needs a change of raquet
nadal has blisters and exaustion
Djoko's camp is misseducated
The new bandwagon is _____ (fill in at you r own will)
what is Muller's racquet?

or is life here still the old same same?

zagor · Sep 3, 2008

Morrissey said:
That's true. I have to agree here. Zagor has gotten obssessed with fans and calling them trolls all while he claims to not do such "trollish" things himself. "Oh you gotta be careful with these Nad ****s." Us Fedfans are great and not as bad as you guys. Puhleeze, if anything you guys are worse. Especially from 2004-2007 (I should know more than anybody in here the abuse from your crew, I signed up in 2004 and one of the few Nadal fans at the time). This year your bunch of hooligans aren't as bad because Fed hasn't won anything important this year and is getting beat down by rafa all the time. Of course you're not gonna talk, you have no reason to this year. But you're no angel either. So don't clean your hands by putting down Nadal fans because you're a high an almighty Fedfan.

Thor said:
You have Zero credibility as a guy who only posts about "nadal fans" vs "fed fans", "Oh no - the ****s started it,but im an objective,respectful Fed fan" , "oh yes,you are one of the few Nadal who talk sense".

I very rarely use terms trolls and ****s(I leave that to you guys),I mostly use term fanboys.However point taken,I'll stay clear out of fanboy wars as I'm getting a little tired of them lately,Nadal fans know my opinion about them anyway by now.I'm certainly no angel but neither are you two,far from it actually(nice touch there by calling Fed fans hooligans,I personally never considered myself to be a hooligan but whatever).As for Thor saying I have Zero credibility,oh please don't hurt my feelings,I value your "expert" and "knowledgable" opinion so much(not really).

Thor said:
the ****s started it,but im an objective,respectful Fed fan" , "oh yes,you are one of the few Nadal who talk sense".

Again fanboys is the term I use,not ****s and I never said I'm some objective unbiased poster(I never made that claim as I know I'm biased when it comes to Fed and couple of other players)however I do respect Nadal and his achievements(whether you two believe that or not I couldn't care less really)and I actually think he'll win USO this year(I voted for him in the USO thread).I also never discredit Nadal's achievements and victories.But whatever you say,I already stated my opinion on the topic so I'm done posting in this thread.

Don't worry,I'll try my best in the future to stay clear of you sensitive,objective,fair and knowledgable Nadal fans.

NamRanger · Sep 3, 2008

With how sensitive professional players are about little tiny things such as how water bottles are placed (Rafael Nadal) or if the paint job on their racquet is matte or shiny (Tommy Haas), I'm sure if you throw MONO into the beginning of the year (an Olympic year no less) would throw a little kink into things.

Many people think of Mono as no big deal as he's recovered. But it did completely throw off Federer's schedule no doubt (even if it wasn't mono, he had some sort of illness that did throw his schedule off). And to mess with something as big as a player's training schedule, yes it is going to make a huge impact on the player's performance.

Thor · Sep 3, 2008

NamRanger said:
With how sensitive professional players are about little tiny things such as how water bottles are placed (Rafael Nadal) or if the paint job on their racquet is matte or shiny (Tommy Haas), I'm sure if you throw MONO into the beginning of the year (an Olympic year no less) would throw a little kink into things.

Many people think of Mono as no big deal as he's recovered. But it did completely throw off Federer's schedule no doubt (even if it wasn't mono, he had some sort of illness that did throw his schedule off). And to mess with something as big as a player's training schedule, yes it is going to make a huge impact on the player's performance.

Players get ill,get injured - and recover.
Nadal skipped 2006 AO due to injury - he went on to win the FO and reach thee Wimbledon final.

Seriously,i do think something is up with Fed,just not mono.
My guess is we'll know what happened in a few months.
Hope he gets better though

NamRanger · Sep 3, 2008

Thor said:
Players get ill,get injured - and recover.
Nadal skipped 2006 AO due to injury - he went on to win the FO and reach thee Wimbledon final.

Seriously,i dont think something is up with Fed,just not mono.
My guess is we'll know what happened in a few months.
Hope he gets better though

Except in 2006 he performed poorly at Miami and Indian Wells. Also, he skipped 2 weeks to let his foot heal. Federer obviously was ill at the Australian Open and continued to play non-stop for months on end. He hasn't had more then maybe a week in between tournaments or so to rest (due to the Olympic year). From a medical stand point, when you exert yourself that much, and do not give yourself any rest, you really cannot recover. That's just simple logic. Federer isn't going to magically get over mono by PLAYING MORE.

Also, I have no idea how you can compare a minor foot injury to something so serious such as mononucleosis.

urban · Sep 3, 2008

But exactly that is the point. Why hasn't he skipped a single tournament, if really badly ill.

veran · Sep 3, 2008

When can we set an expiry date on the mono excuse? 2009? 2010? Forever? Will the mono always rear its head if Fed is struggling or *gasp* loses? We need to let it go.

NamRanger · Sep 3, 2008

urban said:
But exactly that is the point. Why hasn't he skipped a single tournament, if really badly ill.

Because he is forced to play by the ATP in every Masters Series Tournament. Also, after losing at the AO Semis, he was trying to maintain his #1 ranking. Unlike half the people here, Roger Federer actually has balls to go out and play with mono, and not blame it on mono. Rather then blame is losses on "exhaustion" and "overplay" or an "overly packed clay schedule", he just takes his losses as they are, even though more then likely he's been affected by his sickness (as acknowledged by Boris Becker, Jim Courier, Mary Carillo, and other commentators).

Thor · Sep 3, 2008

zagor said:
However point taken,I'll stay clear out of fanboy wars as I'm getting a little tired of them lately about them anyway by now

Its about time(about 2000 posts due).maybe now your opinions would actually be heard amongst those fanboy war rambling

zagor said:
I'm certainly no angel but neither are you two,far from it actually

If you put Morissey and myself in the same category you have obviously never read my posts.

zagor said:
As for Thor saying I have Zero credibility,oh please don't hurt my feelings,I value your "expert" and "knowledgable" opinion so much(not really).

Was that supposed to be a cheap shot?

zagor said:
however I do respect Nadal and his achievements(whether you two believe that or not I couldn't care less really)

I believe you,except that all of your ideas get lost among your "fanboy wars" posts - who started what,why and how.

zagor said:
I already stated my opinion on the topic so I'm done posting in this thread.

Good,next time someone would actually read beyond your first 2 lines which were lame and uncalled for,unless you want to be in the same category as Nadal_Freak and Deme08

zagor said:
Don't worry,I'll try my best in the future to stay clear of you sensitive,objective,fair and knowledgable Nadal fans.

Im a Tennis fan actually

Thor · Sep 3, 2008

NamRanger said:
Except in 2006 he performed poorly at Miami and Indian Wells. Also, he skipped 2 weeks to let his foot heal. Federer obviously was ill at the Australian Open and continued to play non-stop for months on end. He hasn't had more then maybe a week in between tournaments or so to rest (due to the Olympic year). From a medical stand point, when you exert yourself that much, and do not give yourself any rest, you really cannot recover. That's just simple logic. Federer isn't going to magically get over mono by PLAYING MORE.

Also, I have no idea how you can compare a minor foot injury to something so serious such as mononucleosis.

There was acxtually a typo - I DO believe something is up with him,just not mono.
I believe something is up with (perhaps) his personal life,i dont want to get into the mono thing since BP will come and hijack the thread.

NamRanger · Sep 3, 2008

Thor said:
There was acxtually a typo - I DO believe something is up with him,just not mono.
I believe something is up with (perhaps) his personal life,i dont want to get into the mono thing since BP will come and hijack the thread.

So you're saying medical doctors can't diagnose mononucleosis properly? I'm sure they knew if Federer had mono or not.

Thor · Sep 3, 2008

NamRanger said:
So you're saying medical doctors can't diagnose mononucleosis properly? I'm sure they knew if Federer had mono or not.

Let me put this in a way you can understand:

MY opinion is - mono is NOT the reason for the way Federer is playing,even if he did suffer and pulled a miraculous recovery-He did not drop a set in Halle and Wimbledon until the final and the all of a sudden mono kicked in again?

IMO there is something with his personal life,or something else(tired of being on top/mental fatigue)

Finally Respected Commentators acknowledge Feds mono!

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