After Thiem played 4 hard sets against Goffin the day before.Have you watched some of the Goffin vs Thiem match? That was tennis. Both players in top 8 in ATP race and their level's are surging (though Goffin not getting much further without a serve game. )
Who knows? I would have a tough time supporting someone who plays every week and never gets tired.
Thiem is a moving target. Just have to see how his grass game develops in the next week. Fed was healthy in this match, but clearly not yet in top form and playing around with his game. Thiem is extremely clutch. Very good chance they'll meet in Halle.
LOL. Yeah you right. He overplays a lot doesn't he.
But OTOH grass isn't so much physically demanding surface, so hoping for another good showing from the Austrian Prince in Halle also. 
Great analysis. Spot on as always Meles.Fed may never beat Thiem at the rate this is going. Thiem will be rapidly improving on grass. Fed should have won this in 2 from 0-5 down in the 2nd? Please.
Yep and rematch likely.Does anybody knows if Thiem is playing Halle also?!
Yep and rematch likely.
Best time for a guy like Thiem to meet Novak in a slam is 4th round/QF. By the SF, Novak's wide awake and Thiem won't get the chance.
Federer should retire thenI can't take you seriously. Please you're killing me with some of your comments.
If Thiem beats even a sick Federer on grass, Federer should retire immediately.
What "awful showing" was that?
It is great Thiem won today, hopefully he goes on to beat Djokovic in the future and prove he belongs.
The rest of the tour doesn't seem to do very well against Djokovic, certainly no better than Murray. If you think you can do better, there's no barrier except your own abilities stopping you from trying.
Was going to reply to his hyperbole but you said it all here, thanks.
I watched the third set only and to be fair to Roger, he couldn't do anything on the break points he had. If I recall, Thiem hit an ace or a service winner whenever he faced a break point.
Define "doing more" please.
Why do you expect more than that?
No. His second serve hold game, by the numbers, is not in Djokovic's class. That aspect of his game is his great weakness, and has always been. He's within the mean, not great, not bad. His ATP points, compared to Djokovic, is a clearer look at the size of the gap between their abilities.
As if Fedal and djokovic are on the same level today. You're living in the past man
Haha. Thiem will challenge all too soon. After seeing Thiem's block/bunt return do well enough with Fed on grass, I suspect it will be back in force for North American hard court season and leading the tour.
Thiem was horrible late last season, but he was bad on grass too. Thiem might be able to get the job done on fast hard courts where Djokovic is not supreme. Thought Thiem's season would be an anticlimatic after the clay season, but developments are pointing to greater heights. If Thiem gets his Acapulco serve going at end of a tournament look out
Put the Goffin FO match and that serve together and he can beat anyone.
Yeah. Fed won't make the final.
14/34 first serves and won 6 of those in 4th set of FO final Murray did. Beyond awful.
And really Fed can hold his head high, even US Open final. The opponent's clutch play was the factor. Djokovic has done it all too many times lately in some tough matches. Modus operandi for Thiem who did the same to Goffin at the French who was up 5-3 in the 2nd. Fed steam rolls and it got him to the match points today from down 5-0 in the 2nd.
Yep. The French final fiasco in the last three sets was Murray running out of mental/physical gas (plus Djokovic making a strong case for GOAT in those sets). He failed to manage the tournament well with the opening 5 set wins. Murray should get another shot at Wimbledon and hopefully he delivers some competition like he did in the first set of the French. Djokovic has never taken a set from Murray at Wimbledon.
Definitely a major weakness on clay for Murray (his only one these days.) On hard courts for many years Djokovic has had vastly superior stats. I would have said Murray has done very well with his opportunities, but then this last FO final makes me wonder what is the malady? Do you know what ails Murray and causes him to play like statistical garbage in some sets? Had a set at French where opponent won 88% of their 2nd serve points. That is just nuts given Murray's return and game on clay. The answer seems to be some kind of mental fatigue....?
One set in isolation is too small a sample size. Murray will, for instance, quit on sets if they're out of reach to conserve energy. This would not happen with a fast 4 format. Murray doesn't have a good enough serve game, given his size, strength, and obvious talent for ball striking. He's much bigger and stronger than Pete Sampras, and better off the ground, and yet Sampras had a much better hold game. I don't know why Murray's hold game doesn't work well enough, I only use the information provided by the statistics.
Murray does not have the first serve game and that has been holding him back for years (that was Sampras's bread and butter). Clayray corrected that these last two years on clay and its made a huge difference (up from 70% to 76% first serve points won.) That is my disgust with the 4th set serving; it was so unClayray. He was cleary not tanking, but could not serve to save his life. He should should have been 60% in play in that 4th set 20/34 first serves instead of 14/34. He should have won 15 of those points instead Murray won 6 plus lets say 3 on 2nd. That cost him 6 points on serve in the 4th set. The numbers vary a lot for any player from set to set, but Murray is far more erractic than anyone else. Nadal match in Monte Carlo comes to mind. 70% first serves in first set and then drops to 30% in the 2nd. I've seen him angry at his box when his fitness has failed in matches, so I suppose conserving energy may make sense and it probably revolves around that back of his. Back surgery is a desperate move and he's clearly not 100% all of the time post surgery.
An enormous difference in serve quality and a much more aggresive approach - first strike forehand winner or going in behind a monster serve - does wonders for your hold game.
And if you want to win major, that first serve is huge. Its what seperates Sampras from Federer. The secret to any player who wins a lot of points on first serve is what happens when they get hot on serve with a higher percentage in play than normal; its lights out for the rest of the draw. The big servers can have greater peak play. Murray now has this gear on clay with his solid ground game to finish off points on first serve better than most players. On hard courts it stops Murray from punching through. Djokovic is rewriting this a bit with his tremendous 2nd serving of late (particularly Wimbledon), but the big Sampras game is best for holding serve and being unbreakable when the serve is hot.This one is fairly obvious, though. Pete had essentially two first serves
