BeatlesFan
Bionic Poster
No compressor shirt, which he always wears when there's even a hint of back issues.
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No compressor shirt, which he always wears when there's even a hint of back issues.
D
Deleted member 763024
Guest
So much for the clay season helping Roger 
The only good I can see is he's not afraid to take a swing on the BH side. The FH, as if to compensate, is AWOL
The only good I can see is he's not afraid to take a swing on the BH side. The FH, as if to compensate, is AWOL
AceSalvo
Legend
So much for the clay season helping Roger
It did for his ground game. Although he played one match too much for my liking because of which he didn’t get enough time practice on grass. So far he has transitioned just ok. I hope couple of more matches in Halle and the week after that will help his cause at Wimb.
NBP
Hall of Fame
Every year it seems I'm here explaining why Federer always ... ALWAYS plays worse in Halle than he does at Wimbledon. Let me go again.
2014 -
Scratchy start vs. Sousa, horrible final against Falla needing two tiebreaks. I know he's caused Fed troubles before (2010), but still. Now look at Wimbledon. Plays a great first week, Muller a banana skin, Robredo revenge from 9 months prior, a solid Wawrinka bashing the ball well and servebot Raonic all contained with relative ease, only losing serve ONCE until the second set of the final. Also taking Djokovic five sets with zero ground game.
2015 -
I mean, just look at it. He could and most definately should have gone home in the FIRST ROUND. Extremely lucky. Then plays very average tennis for a lot of the time against Gulbis and Mayer, Karlovic we'll look past because of the servebotting, Seppi wasn't a convincing masterclass that seems to be the only acceptance here. Nice title but far from his best. Wimbledon? Loses serve, again, ONCE going into the final. Plays one of the matches of his career against Murray. Stunk up the place in the final but the tournament as a whole was much better than Halle.
2018 -
I have to talk 2018. A point against Anderson and he breaks his set streak from 2005-06, is into the SF without sweat and facing Isner. Basically a point from equalling his 14-15 result at least. Now look back at Halle. The worst tournament Fed has played that he reached the final in years. Paire? The less said the better. Grass court giants Ebden and Kudla? 7-6 7-5 both times. Embarrasing. Yet he still played much better at Wimbledon.
I'd even mention parts of 2017 when his Halle matches were a bit scratchy until the final. Even go back and look at the threads of the SF against Khachanov, everyone complaining with him going tiebreaks with him and Micha Zverev.
No matter what happens this week, I will say again, it means NOTHING toward his Wimbledon chances excpect his seed.
2014 -
Scratchy start vs. Sousa, horrible final against Falla needing two tiebreaks. I know he's caused Fed troubles before (2010), but still. Now look at Wimbledon. Plays a great first week, Muller a banana skin, Robredo revenge from 9 months prior, a solid Wawrinka bashing the ball well and servebot Raonic all contained with relative ease, only losing serve ONCE until the second set of the final. Also taking Djokovic five sets with zero ground game.
2015 -
I mean, just look at it. He could and most definately should have gone home in the FIRST ROUND. Extremely lucky. Then plays very average tennis for a lot of the time against Gulbis and Mayer, Karlovic we'll look past because of the servebotting, Seppi wasn't a convincing masterclass that seems to be the only acceptance here. Nice title but far from his best. Wimbledon? Loses serve, again, ONCE going into the final. Plays one of the matches of his career against Murray. Stunk up the place in the final but the tournament as a whole was much better than Halle.
2018 -
I have to talk 2018. A point against Anderson and he breaks his set streak from 2005-06, is into the SF without sweat and facing Isner. Basically a point from equalling his 14-15 result at least. Now look back at Halle. The worst tournament Fed has played that he reached the final in years. Paire? The less said the better. Grass court giants Ebden and Kudla? 7-6 7-5 both times. Embarrasing. Yet he still played much better at Wimbledon.
I'd even mention parts of 2017 when his Halle matches were a bit scratchy until the final. Even go back and look at the threads of the SF against Khachanov, everyone complaining with him going tiebreaks with him and Micha Zverev.
No matter what happens this week, I will say again, it means NOTHING toward his Wimbledon chances excpect his seed.
BeatlesFan
Bionic Poster
Lleytonstation
Talk Tennis Guru
If he plays anything like today, someone else will beat him before he sees any SF.
Im(moral) Winner
G.O.A.T.
He can face RAFA in the SF either as the #2 or #3 seed
BeatlesFan
Bionic Poster
Yes I know... but he has a 50% not to as 2nd seed, as you well know. With a third seed, he potentially faces them both.
ForehandRF
Legend
So much for the clay season helping Roger
The only good I can see is he's not afraid to take a swing on the BH side. The FH, as if to compensate, is AWOL
You are a little too pessimistic here.Roger might tune up his game going forward, he only played 2 matches on grass
ForehandRF
Legend
Yeah but maybe Roger's serve should click and there should be no problems from that point of view.Serve looks to be his most consistent weapon overall these days and we all know that's critical at WB
ForehandRF
Legend
That ain't gonna happen, says the optimistic part of me.Fed is a different man at WB and I have no doubt that he learned from past mistakes, more so after last year's match vs Anderson
ARaj
Rookie
I'm a bit torn as I got day 1 CC tickets in the ballot. We know Novak will play on day 1 as defending champion....I want Fed to be in the other half for his chances but in Novak's half for me to see him live again!
To be honest, may be better to play Novak in a semi rather than final, especially if Nadal gets knocked out before the final
oldmanfan
Legend
oldmanfan
Legend
D
Deleted member 763024
Guest
You are a little too pessimistic here.Roger might tune up his game going forward, he only played 2 matches on grass
Grass 'season' doesn't give too many opportunities. 2 matches you say.. if he'd lost to Tsonga, there'd nothing else until first round of Wimbledon.
The whole point of playing clay was that he wouldn't be rusty going into Halle. But compared to simply practicing on grass it's still undecided if the bet was worth making in the first place. (Assuming success at Wimbledon is the goal)
oldmanfan
Legend
Fedr is in the semis of Halle19. If he is to win it, his remaining 3 competitors have less combined-grass-wins than 2/3 of his 'Halle wins' alone. Fedr is entering prime no doubt!
Oh, and Fedr's summary of his match against RBA.
Oh, and Fedr's summary of his match against RBA.
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oldmanfan
Legend
GRASS: ...the most upset prone surface on tour.
FEDR: ...
FEDR: ...
oldmanfan
Legend
Lleytonstation
Talk Tennis Guru
Not great, but RBA was looking good until he threw it in the end. Fed still has a chance to do what he came here to do: Find his form and confidence and grab the #2 seed.
He will need to be better though as Halle has not been great other than simply finding a way to win, which is always useful.
oldmanfan
Legend
Not great, but RBA was looking good until he threw it in the end. Fed still has a chance to do what he came here to do: Find his form and confidence and grab the #2 seed.
He will need to be better though as Halle has not been great other than simply finding a way to win, which is always useful.
Maybe you saw it differently than Fedr? Bc he thought he played pretty well against Tsonga and even better against RBA today. They just played well themselves, which didn't allow for straight forward wins. Check out his thoughts:
Nostradamus
Bionic Poster
Really ?? How does this shirt help with back issues exactly ?? do you know ?No compressor shirt, which he always wears when there's even a hint of back issues.
Lleytonstation
Talk Tennis Guru
Maybe, but he made too many UE in the 2nd an 3rd set. He also really struggled with his second serve. But I will admit RBA played well, however, not every player is simply going to hand you a break to close out the match.
Like I said, it is a positive for me, a win is a win.
Otacon
Hall of Fame
More important is to get match play on grass. This is what Fed said yesterday.
oldmanfan
Legend
A loss today vs. a win on Sunday is 7-days vs. 9-days of rest. Not much difference between those, vs. if it were 1-day vs. 3-days of rest. Match-play and match-wins will always be preferred by me as long as he has rest in-between tourneys.
Lleytonstation
Talk Tennis Guru
Been Watching Fed since 05, and Watching this Halle tournament does give you an idea though that he is clearly not better than he was in the mid to late 00's (even though some people want to believe that). Eh @oldmanfan ?
Otacon
Hall of Fame
Fed is better technically and tactically today. The main difference and it's a big one is movement.
Lleytonstation
Talk Tennis Guru
I can agree with that, but the movement effects everything.
Otacon
Hall of Fame
Yes it does. The problem with prime Fed is that he was so incredibly good that he became lazy and stubborn later on. He wanted to beat his Big 3 opponents at their own game (from the baseline basically) and waited until the last stage of his career to make the necessary adjustments.
BeatlesFan
Bionic Poster
That's almost a bittersweet fantasy and one's prone to think, "oh, what might have been!" But I've wondered about your exact scenario many times over the years.
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oldmanfan
Legend
That's just recency bias from tennis 'fans' who want to pump up Nadalovic's competition. The same competition that Fedr also owns since Nadalovic both fully entered prime until now. And Fedr is weeks from turning 38, yet is clearly the 3rd best player in the world behind Nadalovic, and he almost made it to #2 had Nadl lost their RG SF match. What a strong set of competition the last decade was, LOL! 2003-2007 Fedr would smoke the current field so bad, everyone who isn't a Fedfan would hate him. Heck, I might even get bored from it. I mean, the 2003-7 Fedr dude at one stretch went 24-0 against the top10. Not against scrubs, but top10 for OVER a full year. Something Nadalovic couldn't come close to achieving. 2003-07 Fedr may 'allow' a win or two from 2014-19 Nadalovic from time to time just to keep things 'fun'.
Edhead-Fedhead
Hall of Fame
I was just watching the video of 1999 Babyface Fed vs Evil Kafelnikov and now that thread has disappeared... WTH? I didn't get to read the rest.... Must have been juicy!
True Fanerer
G.O.A.T.
There's no sense in questioning it. Federer has said for as long as I can remember that clay is good preparation for him going into grass season. It's a known fact that this is what he believes to be true. He won Wimbledon 7 times doing it (excluding 2017). If he had lost early in Halle, he could've WC Eastbourne or Antalya if he wanted to. I'm sure they would've loved to have him. Let the man do what he has to do.
D
Deleted member 743561
Guest
Anyone have any insight on where Luthi's at with Federer's game?
What's he less-than-thrilled about?
Find him difficult to read sometimes, and he always comes across as fairly perturbed.
Understandably, I guess, but he's probably pleased as punch about some things.
What keeps him up at night?
What's he less-than-thrilled about?
Find him difficult to read sometimes, and he always comes across as fairly perturbed.
Understandably, I guess, but he's probably pleased as punch about some things.
What keeps him up at night?
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Lleytonstation
Talk Tennis Guru
Feds back.
D
Deleted member 743561
Guest
No doubt.
Father Time takes us all, though. The thought's probably crossed his mind that his boss could expire. Then what.
In seriousness, what part of his game do you suppose he wants to correct most?
Lleytonstation
Talk Tennis Guru
Don't see too many of his interviews, but his face is pretty stoic during the match so it is hard to tell. Then again, today I notice him make a couple faces and turn and say something to the guy next to him (can't remember who it was, I think there was just one or two guys in his box). Both times after Fed let RBA control the point after Fed hit some conservative shots.
So if I had to guess, I would say he would like Fed to be more aggressive earlier in points.
Lleytonstation
Talk Tennis Guru
Luthi and Fed are probably on the same page about everything going into a match. However, once on court, if Luthi wants Fed to be aggressive early (my guess is they both agree on this), it might bother Luthi when he sees his opponent take control of points before Fed.
But Fed might see it differently on the court then Luthi does from the stands. Luthi might see opportunities for Fed to be more aggressive, but Fed might be thinking his footwork was not right to do so, or he was trying to, or simply did not have the confidence.
Fed might think it wasn't the right play on court even though it was the gameplan. So Luthi goes to bed at night and thinks "I don't give a flip what you see, do what we discussed and play aggressive or you will lose points."
Or he just passes out as soon as he hits his pillow and counts to 20 and is out.
D
Deleted member 743561
Guest
It's so layered.Luthi and Fed are probably on the same page about everything going into a match. However, once on court, if Luthi wants Fed to be aggressive early (my guess is they both agree on this), it might bother Luthi when he sees his opponent take control of points before Fed.
But Fed might see it differently on the court then Luthi does from the stands. Luthi might see opportunities for Fed to be more aggressive, but Fed might be thinking his footwork was not right to do so, or he was trying to, or simply did not have the confidence.
Fed might think it wasn't the right play on court even though it was the gameplan. So Luthi goes to bed at night and thinks "I don't give a flip what you see, do what we discussed and play aggressive or you will lose points."
Or he just passes out as soon as he hits his pillow and counts to 20 and is out.
And here I was posing the question thinking about a particular stroke or shot, overlooking something like a tactical plan.
I often wonder about the role of a coach for such a player. And I know he went coach-less for a spell.
I understood the Ljubicic move; more of a (for my money) peer partnership, someone to keep him company on tour.
But anyway, Luthi goes pretty far back with him, and I suspect a lot of what he does now is trying to lower his own expectations.
Must be the trickiest of balances to manage the aging GOAT.
oldmanfan
Legend
Lleytonstation
Talk Tennis Guru
He's old, but still GOAT, show him grass, all will be fine.
Tennis_Hands
Banned
..
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