Rhino
Legend
It's the manor of his losses that is so frustrating. He blew a 5-2 lead in that tiebreak, coming back from 0-2 (with some pretty good tennis), and he then had two serves to close out the set. How the heck did he then lose that set?
Against Gulbis he did the seemingly impossible by recovering to 5-5 in the third set, suddenly he's back in the match and you think he's got it won, but then he completely forgets how to serve and losses the last two games pathetically.
Against Birdy and Baghy, final set tiebreaks, he had those match points. Those matches were on his racquet. That is just so annoying to watch, but somehow it feels almost inevitable these days. You no longer trust Federer to take a set until the last ball, and it's painful to watch. Even after he won that first set against Gulbis 6-2, I had the feeling he might lose the match.
I'm pretty surprised he saved that set point against Clement.
I remember when watching Federer was a joy. Now it's the odd great moment surrounded by all these balls that constantly go long or into the net. Where's the Federer that steps it up another level to close out matches or to get himself out of trouble? Montanes didn't look afraid of Federer at all and he hardly had to play that great to beat him.
Still, I've been a big fan of his tennis for many years and I will continue to watch his matches. I believe he will come back strong again.
Btw, I don't believe for a second that he is tanking matches.
Against Gulbis he did the seemingly impossible by recovering to 5-5 in the third set, suddenly he's back in the match and you think he's got it won, but then he completely forgets how to serve and losses the last two games pathetically.
Against Birdy and Baghy, final set tiebreaks, he had those match points. Those matches were on his racquet. That is just so annoying to watch, but somehow it feels almost inevitable these days. You no longer trust Federer to take a set until the last ball, and it's painful to watch. Even after he won that first set against Gulbis 6-2, I had the feeling he might lose the match.
I'm pretty surprised he saved that set point against Clement.
I remember when watching Federer was a joy. Now it's the odd great moment surrounded by all these balls that constantly go long or into the net. Where's the Federer that steps it up another level to close out matches or to get himself out of trouble? Montanes didn't look afraid of Federer at all and he hardly had to play that great to beat him.
Still, I've been a big fan of his tennis for many years and I will continue to watch his matches. I believe he will come back strong again.
Btw, I don't believe for a second that he is tanking matches.
![[d]ragon](/data/avatars/m/26/26312.jpg?1574364787){kind=avatar}
