Fed881981
Hall of Fame
I have been very happy with Fed's form this year. I didn't believe a year ago that he can perform this well and give me so many great moments. At times, and that happened a lot this year, he was a joy to watch. Whether it being health, Edberg, the new equipment or all, he produced some great tennis.
But, I believe that Fed choked too much this year. Granted, he can still end the year as #1 and has a shot at the DC for the first time in his illustrious career, but so far he could have done more... maybe a lot more.
Let's look at the following list of matches (in chronological order):
Brisbane: lost to Hewitt. With all due respect to the Aussie, that shouldn't have happened, not even in Australia.
Indian Wells: Djokovic's confidence was low after all the loses before IW, including of course at the AO. Fed had the lead in the match, but ended up losing. In a year like this, that match should have been his (with all due respect to Nole). 400 points could have, and in my humble opinion should have, been his. Instead, they went to Nole.
Miami: well, not Fed's best surface. Still, had the lead against Nishikori and still lost. Here you go another match that should have been his.
Monte Carlo: he finally had a real chance to win this tournament. Met Wawarinka, who did virtually nothing since the AO, in the final. He won the first set, but ended up losing badly in the third. Another opportunity wasted to win this title for the first time.
Rome: well, lost to Chardy of all people after winning the first set 6-1. Nothing should be added.
Roland Garros: Well, he had probably no chance to win it. But, still. He had a set and two set points to take a 2-0 sets lead against Gulbis. Ended up losing and wasting few possible ranking points. He should have never lost that match. Gulbis did nothing since that day.
Wimbledon: the best chance to win another slam. Had an easy SF against Raonic and looked great coming to this match. Again, won the first set on his best surface, but found himself facing a MP in the 4th set. That should have never happened on grass against any player, including Novak. He then had the first BP in the 5th, but ended up losing on his own serve.
Toronto: well, JWT was hot that week, but to lose in straight sets? Too much. Another chance for a title is wasted and few 100s more points are gone.
USO: Oh, I know. Cilic was playing "out of his mind" and Fed came after a battle against Monfils. Still, there was no justification to be down 0-2 against the showman from France and certainly no justification for losing in straight sets to Cilic (whom Fed owned until that afternoon). Nadal is not playing, Nole is out, Murray is out, Wawa is out and the stage is set for his # 18. Well, not really. He choked again... he lost in straight sets!!!
Bercy: a real chance to end the year as #1 and actually get something big from 2014. He is facing Raonic who, a week before, looked done in Basel. The same Raonic that Fed schooled multiple times before. Is Fed going to take this opportunity? Of course not. Raonic beat Fed and the real chance is basically gone.
I know that some of you will say "he has 4 kids", "Djoker played well", "Raonic played well" and all of that stuff, but Fed missed too many good chances to win titles and add ranking points. At this stage, he should have been at least the world #1. All he needed for that was winning few of the matches above (say, MC, Toronto and maybe 2 more non-finals). He missed all of them.
So, here we are with 3 things remaining: YE #1 (very difficult), WTF (possible, but difficult) and DC (possible, but difficult). Will Fed get at least one of these or will he miss more opportunities in a year in which he looked mostly good? I know that the DC depends also on Stan, but I at least would to see him doing his job.
But, I believe that Fed choked too much this year. Granted, he can still end the year as #1 and has a shot at the DC for the first time in his illustrious career, but so far he could have done more... maybe a lot more.
Let's look at the following list of matches (in chronological order):
Brisbane: lost to Hewitt. With all due respect to the Aussie, that shouldn't have happened, not even in Australia.
Indian Wells: Djokovic's confidence was low after all the loses before IW, including of course at the AO. Fed had the lead in the match, but ended up losing. In a year like this, that match should have been his (with all due respect to Nole). 400 points could have, and in my humble opinion should have, been his. Instead, they went to Nole.
Miami: well, not Fed's best surface. Still, had the lead against Nishikori and still lost. Here you go another match that should have been his.
Monte Carlo: he finally had a real chance to win this tournament. Met Wawarinka, who did virtually nothing since the AO, in the final. He won the first set, but ended up losing badly in the third. Another opportunity wasted to win this title for the first time.
Rome: well, lost to Chardy of all people after winning the first set 6-1. Nothing should be added.
Roland Garros: Well, he had probably no chance to win it. But, still. He had a set and two set points to take a 2-0 sets lead against Gulbis. Ended up losing and wasting few possible ranking points. He should have never lost that match. Gulbis did nothing since that day.
Wimbledon: the best chance to win another slam. Had an easy SF against Raonic and looked great coming to this match. Again, won the first set on his best surface, but found himself facing a MP in the 4th set. That should have never happened on grass against any player, including Novak. He then had the first BP in the 5th, but ended up losing on his own serve.
Toronto: well, JWT was hot that week, but to lose in straight sets? Too much. Another chance for a title is wasted and few 100s more points are gone.
USO: Oh, I know. Cilic was playing "out of his mind" and Fed came after a battle against Monfils. Still, there was no justification to be down 0-2 against the showman from France and certainly no justification for losing in straight sets to Cilic (whom Fed owned until that afternoon). Nadal is not playing, Nole is out, Murray is out, Wawa is out and the stage is set for his # 18. Well, not really. He choked again... he lost in straight sets!!!
Bercy: a real chance to end the year as #1 and actually get something big from 2014. He is facing Raonic who, a week before, looked done in Basel. The same Raonic that Fed schooled multiple times before. Is Fed going to take this opportunity? Of course not. Raonic beat Fed and the real chance is basically gone.
I know that some of you will say "he has 4 kids", "Djoker played well", "Raonic played well" and all of that stuff, but Fed missed too many good chances to win titles and add ranking points. At this stage, he should have been at least the world #1. All he needed for that was winning few of the matches above (say, MC, Toronto and maybe 2 more non-finals). He missed all of them.
So, here we are with 3 things remaining: YE #1 (very difficult), WTF (possible, but difficult) and DC (possible, but difficult). Will Fed get at least one of these or will he miss more opportunities in a year in which he looked mostly good? I know that the DC depends also on Stan, but I at least would to see him doing his job.