2019 WTF RR: (3.) Swiss Maestro vs. (5.) Thieminator

[BeatlesFan]

You had to be dellusional to vote "Federer in 2".

What exactly is "dellusional?" No such word in any English dictionary I'm afraid.

 

[Djokovic_is_the_best#1]

Bad performance by fed! However, it’s difficu,t for him to maintain a high consistency in every game now. Still credit to Thiem, great win for the Austrian!

 

[guitarra]

Well, I'm really happy for Dominic. His chances to go out of this group look very good now. Was a great match by him especially on this surface which is not his natural environment. Looks like the work with Massu is paying more and more dividend.

On the other hand it's sad to see Fed lose even to my favourite player but hopefully he can bounce back in his next two matches.

 

[Sport]

Since this is your wish and not a prediction, you can go with Thiem in 2.

It's called Karma. Indeed Thiem won in 2, and you thought that was only a "wish" rather than a prediction haha. Next time don't be so cocky underrating Thiem and saying things like "he only wins against Federer because he is lucky". Yeah, 3 victories in a row "luck". If there is a pattern, there is no luck.

 

[Mainad]

Kudos to Massu for helping to transform Thiem's game and make him into an all court player instead of just the clay specialist he was last year.

 

[I Am Finnish]

Tim defeated Fedr on all surfaces

 

[mental midget]

federer should spend the off-season hitting every rally ball as hard as possible. if he's not going to get any faster he can at least bring back more of that across the body finish nuclear forehand and just go for broke more often.

 

[Djokovic2011]

Lol, I just remembered that John Bercow was in the crowd supporting Federer. Definitely makes Dominic's win all the sweeter.

 

[weakera]

Lol even the self proclaimed realistic Federer fan(s) were predicting an easy straight set maestro victory. A lot of delusion on this forum indeed.

 

[ChrisRF]

True that he has been more inconsistent this year than in 2015, but since Paris Bercy he plays again at a very high level. The loss of number 1 to Nadal must have stinged him a lot and I see a Djokovic who is extremely pumped up to regain the number 1 spot...
I would be very surprised to see Djokovic lose to Federer, especially given the poor level of play displayed by Federer today.

Sure, Federer has to play much better than today. If not he deserves not reaching the SF anyway, I have to admit this as a fan.

 

[CYGS]

I can see the salt mine coming.

 

[mightyrick]

federer should spend the off-season hitting every rally ball as hard as possible. if he's not going to get any faster he can at least bring back more of that across the body finish nuclear forehand and just go for broke more often.

Good advice. 100%. If you can't get ahead buying time with your feet, you generally have to resort to getting ahead by taking time away from your opponent.

Federer made HUGE gains by injecting pace into his backhand some years back. I agree he needs to start pummeling the forehand.

However I think he's probably already at the end of the road. Far too late and far too old to make a two to three year adjustment.

 

[SaintPetros]

never stood a chance after Nole took his soul...maybe he can go to the same psychic Nole sees to try to get it back

 

[Krish872007]

Lol, I just remembered that John Bercow was in the crowd supporting Federer. Definitely makes Dominic's win all the sweeter.

Can't stand that guy (Bercow that is - really like both Fred and Thiemeles obviously)

 

[SaintPetros]

No it is fast, and Fed likes slower courts now... well, depending on if he wins or loses. If he loses then he plays better on slow now, if he wins, then I will say he likes fast courts...

A slow courter who was dominated by a dirtballer! PRAY he runs into Nadal who will eat his soul at his favorite venue!! AGAIN!!! ROFLMAO!!!

 

[fundrazer]

Wake up. There is no such thing as "matchup issue" on any sport, stop with the excuses. It's like saying that the world chess champion defeats his opponents because they have a "mathcup issue" with him, rather than simply because he is better than all of his opponents. In tennis, no single ATG has a losing H2H against a non-ATG if they have played more than 10 matches.

Thiem is better on clay and hard courts than 2019 Federer. You can blame age, but not any "matchup issue". In 2019, Federer has only been clearly better than Thiem outside grass. The reason why Thiem dominates Federer 3-0 in 2019 is simple: Thiem in 2019 is a better tennis player than Federer outside grass.

Explain the Safin vs Santoro matchup for us then.

 

[NoleFam]

Explain the Safin vs Santoro matchup for us then.

Santoro was 4-3 against Muster, 3-4 against Sampras, 3-3 against Agassi, 4-1 against Bruguera, 2-3 against Hewitt, 3-1 against Moya, 2-2 against Chang, 2-2 against Nalbandian and 5-4 against Ljubicic. They didn't call him the magician for nothing. Lol.

 

[ollinger]

Nope. Fed in 2. Maybe a tiebreaker

Fed in 3!

Fed in 2

Fed in 3

GOAT in 3

Why 3??
Why not 2?

Fed in two tight sets or 3

Fed should win in straights

Federer 6-1 6-2

our panel of experts will take your questions now

 

[TearTheRoofOff]

God you hindsight warriors are annoying.

 

[NoleFam]

our panel of experts will take your questions now

 

[beast of mallorca]

nice avatar btw

let @tennis_pro be! he needs time to recover from his true love's loss!

The True love of @tennis_pro is Nadal

She can't stop thinking about him. It's an unrequited, that made her so spiteful and bitter

 

[Sephiroth]

Lol even the self proclaimed realistic Federer fan(s) were predicting an easy straight set maestro victory. A lot of delusion on this forum indeed.

That's what happens when they **** on Nadal's opponents then it comes back to bite them in the ass by the very same opponents lmao

3rd L in a row for Federer by Thiem. Get in my son.

 

[ollinger]

hindsight warriors

hindsight warrior!!! I authored two of the most legendary predictions ever seen on this board, a thread titled "Kerber Ready to Win a Slam" on 1/7/16, before the start of the AO where she won her first slam, and "I Like Kerber Again" 8/20/16 before the start of the USO where she won again. Kneel before Zod!!!!!!!

 

[mike danny]

That's what happens when they **** on Nadal's opponents then it comes back to bite them in the ass by the very same opponents lmao

3rd L in a row for Federer by Thiem. Get in my son.

Funny, I recall Nadal fans sh*tting on Fed's opponents even when Nadal was losing to them many times.

 

[tennis_pro]

I like how @tennis_pro, a huge Federer fan, spammed the entire Berrettini match thread but doesn’t show up for a Fed match lawl.

hey I was out on a date, couldn't even follow the score

nice avatar btw
let @tennis_pro be! he needs time to recover from his true love's loss!

don't care that much, maybe he'll have more motivation against djokovic

The True love of @tennis_pro is Nadal

She can't stop thinking about him. It's an unrequited, that made her so spiteful and bitter

she?

 

[Djokovic2011]

Can't stand that guy (Bercow that is - really like both Fred and Thiemeles obviously)

Don't even get me started Krish.

 

[Standaa]

hey I was out on a date, couldn't even follow the score

nice, how did it go? did you take her/him out to a swimming pool?

 

[tennis_pro]

nice, how did it go? did you take her/him out to a swimming pool?

pretty depressing, matteo wasnt in the mood

 

[Zardoz7/12]

It was a close match, Thiem was rock solid when it mattered. I just don't get this "Fed is done" stuff, the very fact he's 3rd in the World shows you he isn't "done".

 

[zvelf]

Djokovic is beatable in the whole year apart from Australian Open. Federer will have his chances, although Djokovic is a slight favourite.

You know Federer lost to Djokovic in their last 5 matches and hasn't beaten Djokovic since 2015, right? And going back to 2015, Federer is 3-9 against Nole. Federer definitely has a shot at winning, but Djokovic is more than a slight favorite.

 

[Ray Mercer]

Federer just coughed up too many of those short soft balls on the backhand when he tried to half volley from the baseline. His backhand is just unreliable and looks nothing like it did in 2017.

 

[yokied]

@Meles - you still alive man? I've seen ppl die from less excitement than you must've had watching this go down.

Thiem played solid but Fed played a s**t match. Feet looked sluggish on a lot of balls. When Fed started talking in the media about the court being favourable before he'd even played a match, my bulls**tometer went off. He's not hitting them well and his team sent him out there to try to intimidate the field.

So Timmy, this is all well and good to beat the old fraud and damage the Nolan... But like I said after IW: whachya gonna do, whachya gonna do when the Nadal comes for you? It all means nothing if you can't put down the rusty peak injured married retired and withdrawn golden bull.

 

[merwy]

God you hindsight warriors are annoying.

They just looove rubbing it in. This is what they live for.

 

[Deleted member 762343]

our panel of experts will take your questions now

Doesn’t have the guts to make a prediction, waits for the match to finish then makes fun of people who happened to be wrong. Genius.

I’ve been right plenty of times but I don’t feel the need to brag about it when it happens. And you are here bragging about the fact you didn’t take any risk.

 

[EllieK]

Let’s congratulate
@EllieK
@beast of mallorca
@Nadal_King
With on point prediction.

And I'm a Federer fan. Had to be honest though.

 

[Cupcake]

I hadnt seen this thread. I didn't know what time the match was on today. But I happened upon it on ESPN3 (US) and enjoyed watching it. Not the greatest match of the season, but worth watching. Good level of play, especially by Thiem.

So..., is it too late for me to predict who will win, and in how many sets?

 

[Nadal_King]

This could be a huge result for year end no 1 at stake as well since it's going to be tough to see both djokovic and federer to reach semis so rafa just needs to playing well and ensure he reaches semi and he may have a great shot of winning the year end no 1 title.

 

[Mike Sams]

Strange poll. I honestly thought Thiem was the favourite considering he'd beaten Federer 4 out of the past 5 meetings including on hards and grass. Now he's won 5 of the last 6 meetings against the old man.

 

[Mike Sams]

This could be a huge result for year end no 1 at stake as well since it's going to be tough to see both djokovic and federer to reach semis so rafa just needs to playing well and ensure he reaches semi and he may have a great shot of winning the year end no 1 title.

Nadal seems unsure if his abdominal tear will heal well enough to handle the young guys on his side.

 

[Nadal_King]

Just saw highlights and thiem really impressed me and he can challenge djokovic tomorrow if he can strike the ball the way he did against Federer especially of his backhand.

 

[Nostradamus]

is this the end ? is this all over ? Will rogrer retire next year ?

 

[Deleted member 763691]

Federer and Thiem are both played well enough to beat Djokovic
Folks are praising Thiem big time, yet they are ignoring the fact that it wasn't far from being a straight sets Federer victory....

 

[Deleted member 763691]

Just saw highlights and thiem really impressed me and he can challenge djokovic tomorrow if he can strike the ball the way he did against Federer especially of his backhand.

Thiem can also hang in the long rallies and not make too many errors, so won't even need to attack as much

 

[beard]

is this the end ? is this all over ? Will rogrer retire next year ?

Nostradamus, you are the one to answer the questions about future, not asking questions

 

[Mainad]

Federer and Thiem are both played well enough to beat Djokovic
Folks are praising Thiem big time, yet they are ignoring the fact that it wasn't far from being a straight sets Federer victory....

So near.......yet so far!

 

[Tennisbg]

The True love of @tennis_pro is Nadal

She can't stop thinking about him. It's an unrequited, that made her so spiteful and bitter

It's a she? Well, that makes sense, considering all of the hate spilling over here.

 

[acintya]

Thiem played really good and those kick serves ....
your man Fed is old now. please no excuses anymore. he didnt play his best but also not the worst.

 

[Boom-Boom]

Santoro was 4-3 against Muster, 3-4 against Sampras, 3-3 against Agassi, 4-1 against Bruguera, 2-3 against Hewitt, 3-1 against Moya, 2-2 against Chang, 2-2 against Nalbandian and 5-4 against Ljubicic. They didn't call him the magician for nothing. Lol.

amazing when you think of it

 

[mike danny]

Well, hopefully Fed will have a last hurrah next year just to compensate for this year.

But he will need a very weak draw to win a major.

 

[Meles]

@Meles - you still alive man? I've seen ppl die from less excitement than you must've had watching this go down.

Thiem played solid but Fed played a s**t match. Feet looked sluggish on a lot of balls. When Fed started talking in the media about the court being favourable before he'd even played a match, my bulls**tometer went off. He's not hitting them well and his team sent him out there to try to intimidate the field.

So Timmy, this is all well and good to beat the old fraud and damage the Nolan... But like I said after IW: whachya gonna do, whachya gonna do when the Nadal comes for you? It all means nothing if you can't put down the rusty peak injured married retired and withdrawn golden bull.

it's time to face facts that Thiem is just a bad matchup for Fedly; The tales that would be told if prime Thiem hit the great vacuum.

Tthose burgers must be great brain food because Thiem is smarterer now.The one area of statistical decline for theme in 2019 was his first return, with Vampiro having Tim play well back on first return. They corrected that spectacularly for this match, I've never seen Thiem play up so much in general and he was steadily up on first return. Tim moved up to dark horse status at world tour finals.

Fed look fine in this match but Tim just took his time away with the aggressive court positioning. Tim gold mode was activated late in both sets just like the good ole days in 2016 before the mental baggage formed.