Federer vs. Hewitt - 2002 Paris Masters QF

BreakPoint

BreakPoint

Bionic Poster
Tennis Channel just showed this "Classic Match" yesterday. From watching this match, I never would have thought Federer would ever amount to anything, much less ever be considered a G.O.A.T. He was so bad that I almost turned it off because it just wasn't very entertaining and far from being a "classic" by any stretch of the imgaination. I've seen better tennis from local 4.5 players. Federer made more unforced errors in that single 2 set match than he now makes in entire tournaments! If I had seen that match when it happened back in 2002, I wouldn't have thought Federer was good enough to even play at the Challenger level. Yeah, he sucked big time. He couldn't even keep 4 balls in play without hitting one into the bottom of the net or 5 feet long. The best word to describe his tennis is - pathetic.

He would also change the color of his shirt every few games, something he never does now.

It's amazing how he eventually turned his game around and got his act together. :)
 
Haven't seen the match at all, but didn't he used to be a lot less conservative? As in going for the flashy shots and stuff.
 
joeri888 said:
No, I didn't. But I don't think any 4.5 player or even challenger level would take 8 games. Was Hewitt that lousy as well?
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All I have to say is to watch the match. Then you will understand.

You would think that Federer has a twin brother that never learned how to play tennis.
 
BreakPoint said:
If you don't care then why did you bother to open the thread and then to actually read it and then, believe it or not, to actually post in the thread, not once, but twice??? :roll:
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Because with 20,000 plus posts. Its always a good laugh to see what you are going on about next...

Sorry, but its more about entertainment than information when it comes to you mate....
 
ta11geese3 said:
Haven't seen the match at all, but didn't he used to be a lot less conservative? As in going for the flashy shots and stuff.
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He was just incredibly inconsistent as compared to the player he is today. Believe it or not, Hewitt also overpowered him from the baseline.
 
BP, did Federer play Hewitt again later that year at the Masters Cup? Not sure if it was the same year, but this latter match they played was a lot closer if I remember correctly (though Hewitt still won). 2002 was also the year that Roger went out in the first round of FO and Wimby right? Thanks!
 
breakpoint, it's a good thread actually, these lamos who say don't care
are probably jealous they didn't see it:twisted:

In a bizarre way....I've actually seen more of unconfident and mentally suspect fed 2001 - jul 03 than I have of TMF post jul03.

Federer back then did not have enuff patience during points and often had many options to choose during points which led to confusion...and...errors

Fed learned what to go for and when..largely by experience and experience
of failure...

The reason this thread matters is because of the huge UE count.

How?

When opponents win through an opponents large UE count...it makes
you wonder what would happen if they had good day and UE are down.

When hewitt played the latter player....he started to be "shown up".
A good example is his loss to el anayouni at AO 03.

hewitt's game was limted in that way...winning thru oppo UE's
I wonder if NADALwonTHEmostSLAMS is listening????????
 
roundiesee said:
BP, did Federer play Hewitt again later that year at the Masters Cup? Not sure if it was the same year, but this latter match they played was a lot closer if I remember correctly (though Hewitt still won). 2002 was also the year that Roger went out in the first round of FO and Wimby right? Thanks!
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Yes, all true. Federer lost to Hewitt again at the 2002 Masters Cup in Shanghai in the semis in 3 sets.

He also lost in the first rounds of both Wimbledon and the French, both in straight sets. In fact, believe it or not, he lost to Hicham Arazi 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 in the 1st round of the French.
 
Sometimes players go for non-percentage winners too much.

i always thought safin was from the Going for it Too Much school.

Patience is a key for some of these shotmakers...agassi good example.

agassi had some real shockers early in his career too.
 
Sorry BP, you were correct; Federer lost 1st round to Horna in 2003. I didn't know the great Federer went out in the first round of the FO twice!
 
It is kind of funny when you think this is the time period Cenc keeps insisting Federer was in his prime already, LOL!
 
BreakPoint said:
Tennis Channel just showed this "Classic Match" yesterday. From watching this match, I never would have thought Federer would ever amount to anything, much less ever be considered a G.O.A.T. He was so bad that I almost turned it off because it just wasn't very entertaining and far from being a "classic" by any stretch of the imgaination. I've seen better tennis from local 4.5 players. Federer made more unforced errors in that single 2 set match than he now makes in entire tournaments! If I had seen that match when it happened back in 2002, I wouldn't have thought Federer was good enough to even play at the Challenger level. Yeah, he sucked big time. He couldn't even keep 4 balls in play without hitting one into the bottom of the net or 5 feet long. The best word to describe his tennis is - pathetic.

He would also change the color of his shirt every few games, something he never does now.

It's amazing how he eventually turned his game around and got his act together. :)
Click to expand...

so your judging his level of play from one match in which he lost in 3 close set's, hmm okay.
 
thalivest said:
It is kind of funny when you think this is the time period Cenc keeps insisting Federer was in his prime already, LOL!
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not his prime but he could play well even at that time
imo its funny when most of u fanboys claim that sampras' prime was 2001 and agassis prime 2003-2005
 
Cenc said:
not his prime but he could play well even at that time
imo its funny when most of u fanboys claim that sampras' prime was 2001 and agassis prime 2003-2005
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Haha you are so clueless as usual it is amazing. You think I am a Federer fanboy. Would a Federer fanboy start threads like this:

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=225497

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=218359

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=190474

Federer is one of the my least favorite players, and only someone living under a rock who has been on this forum anytime wouldnt have realized this by now. The fact is anyone with half a brain knows Federer was nowhere near his prime in years like 2000, 2001, 2002, regardless whether they like Federer or not. Federer from 2000-2002 was even further from his own best tennis then Agassi from 2003-2005 or Sampras in 2001 were from theirs.
 
Last edited:
BreakPoint said:
Tennis Channel just showed this "Classic Match" yesterday. From watching this match, I never would have thought Federer would ever amount to anything, much less ever be considered a G.O.A.T. He was so bad that I almost turned it off because it just wasn't very entertaining and far from being a "classic" by any stretch of the imgaination. I've seen better tennis from local 4.5 players. Federer made more unforced errors in that single 2 set match than he now makes in entire tournaments! If I had seen that match when it happened back in 2002, I wouldn't have thought Federer was good enough to even play at the Challenger level. Yeah, he sucked big time. He couldn't even keep 4 balls in play without hitting one into the bottom of the net or 5 feet long. The best word to describe his tennis is - pathetic.

He would also change the color of his shirt every few games, something he never does now.

It's amazing how he eventually turned his game around and got his act together. :)
Click to expand...
Never mind that. He looked funny wearing short shorts lol.
 
BreakPoint said:
All I have to say is to watch the match. Then you will understand.

You would think that Federer has a twin brother that never learned how to play tennis.
Click to expand...

I saw it and I can see why somebody would slam you if you write statements like these. C'mon, never learned? He was just in a different stage of his career. If I remember correctly, he won 4 games off each set hence your last statement is an overreaction, overly dramatic.
 
obsessedtennisfandisorder said:
Sometimes players go for non-percentage winners too much.

i always thought safin was from the Going for it Too Much school.

Patience is a key for some of these shotmakers...agassi good example.

agassi had some real shockers early in his career too.
Click to expand...
The thing is, in this match, Federer was not "going for non-percentage winners too much". He just couldn't even keep the ball in the court in a routine rally. It was a truly pitiful performance from Federer. I wonder where he ranks this match on his list of the worst matches he has ever played.
 
BreakPoint said:
The thing is, in this match, Federer was not "going for non-percentage winners too much". He just couldn't even keep the ball in the court in a routine rally. It was a truly pitiful performance from Federer. I wonder where he ranks this match on his list of the worst matches he has ever played.
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Not anywhere near as close as the FO 2008. Or the time where he lost to Volandri at Rome. LOL.
 
NamRanger said:
Not anywhere near as close as the FO 2008. Or the time where he lost to Volandri at Rome. LOL.
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I didn't see the match against Volandri in Rome, but I would say this match against Hewitt was far worse than his loss to Nadal it the 2008 French. In the Nadal match, Nadal just outplayed Federer and was too good. In the Hewitt match, Hewitt played a mediocre match and Federer just beat himself and self-destructed. From watching that match, you would never utter the words "Federer" and "champion" in the same sentence.
 
Ocean Drive said:
so your judging his level of play from one match in which he lost in 3 close set's, hmm okay.
Click to expand...
I guess you didn't see the match either. It was only 2 sets and it wasn't even close. Not nearly as close as the score would indicate. All Hewitt needed to do was hit the ball to Federer and Federer would completely blow the next shot. If you wanted to show someone what an "unforced error" is, show them this match.
 
rommil said:
I saw it and I can see why somebody would slam you if you write statements like these. C'mon, never learned? He was just in a different stage of his career. If I remember correctly, he won 4 games off each set hence your last statement is an overreaction, overly dramatic.
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He was VERY, VERY lucky to even win those games. It was mostly his serve that bailed him out. And also because Hewitt was also playing very poorly.
 
joeri888 said:
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=190474

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=190474

Youre not embarrassed to have opened this thread?:confused:
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Not in the least. Had it not been for Djokovic's recent slump Federer would only be ending the year #3. Also the way he was playing early this year, which was completely horrendously, and Ferrer and Davydenko kept playing well at the same time, he probably would be relegated to battling for #3 with them. Fortunately for Roger he has found some semblance of form, although not really his best again yet but alot closer, and with Djokovic going into a bigtime slump he is now battling for the year end #2 with him. Still it was clear even then this was Nadal's year to be year end #1 and Roger didnt have a hope of that this particular year. Next year could be different of course, probably a much closer battle with Federer, Nadal, and maybe Murray, with Djokovic likely dropping to #4.
 
thalivest said:
Haha you are so clueless as usual it is amazing. You think I am a Federer fanboy. Would a Federer fanboy start threads like this:

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=225497

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=218359

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=190474

Federer is one of the my least favorite players, and only someone living under a rock who has been on this forum anytime wouldnt have realized this by now. The fact is anyone with half a brain knows Federer was nowhere near his prime in years like 2000, 2001, 2002, regardless whether they like Federer or not. Federer from 2000-2002 was even further from his own best tennis then Agassi from 2003-2005 or Sampras in 2001 were from theirs.
Click to expand...

No, but maybe a complete tool would.
 
BreakPoint said:
No guess. I know.

Or else you'd know which game in the 2nd set Hewitt broke Federer, how it happened, and what happened in the following game.
Click to expand...

Is it really that important?

Dude, I can't even remember the score from the 2008 US Open final, let alone an old match..

Sheesh, how many posts you up to now?
 
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