Federer20042006
Banned
Federer's performance at the 2006 Australian Open is extremely underrated, because a lot of idiots think that Federer losing some sets (*gasp*) to players who weren't Top 10 means he was "playing like garbage."
What is never mentioned is that Federer won 10 of his 21 winning sets by a score of 6-2 or better, including dishing out 4 bagels.
No slam produced more "Federer Fun House" caliber shots. He showed everything in his arsenal at one time or another during that tournament, and when he was on, he was untouchable.
So why the lost sets, and to the players he lost them to? It was largely a perfect storm.
After cruising through the first 3 matches, he was steamrolling Haas, up 2 sets to 0, and then, to some, he took his foot off the gas and got lackadaisical. But the reality is, Haas simply plays Federer better than most and believes more than most. He doesn't roll over when he plays Federer, which was demonstrating when he accused Patrick McEnroe of having his "tongue up Federer's ***" before the match, and saying people should hold off on calling Federer the GOAT. Combine this with the fact that the AO on rebound ace was Haas's best slam, and he was able to hang in there and push it to 5. Then Federer's backhand caught fire in the 5th and he finished the job.
Next up was Davydenko, who is simply a nightmare on HC when on. Quite frankly, Davydenko should have probably won the match, but he choked. A tight match with the cleanest ball striker on tour (well, I guess Agassi was still technically around then) on rebound ace isn't really to be all that unexpected.
I don't care about the 2nd set, Federer absolutely demolished Kiefer. 3 4ths of the sets they played were Federer in full flight, head and shoulders above Kiefer. The 2nd set was Kiefer doing his usual scrappy pest routine. This was nothing new in their matchup - Kiefer eked out a set against Federer at both Wimbledon and the US Open the year before. He did the same to Nadal at the 2009 US Open after getting bageled in the 1st.
The match that looks the worst to revisionist historians now is going down a set and a break to Baghdatis in the final. You have to actually see this match to understand why, though. Baghdatis didn't come out playing like a nervous rookie slam finalist; he came out with adrenaline. He was bombing 130+ MPH serves down the T. He somehow managed to carry the momentum from his dream run into the final for 2 sets. All anyone could do in that situation was try to probe their way into the match, which is what Federer did in the 2nd. Once he turned that around, reality sank in for Baghdatis and he ran out of gas, and Federer steamrolled once again.
Now, I certainly wouldn't say the 2006 AO was Federer's best winning GS performance overall, but during the period where he was playing well that tournament, it was the best GS tennis he's ever played. He wasn't just beating people, he was destroying them...with all shots in peak form.
What is never mentioned is that Federer won 10 of his 21 winning sets by a score of 6-2 or better, including dishing out 4 bagels.
No slam produced more "Federer Fun House" caliber shots. He showed everything in his arsenal at one time or another during that tournament, and when he was on, he was untouchable.
So why the lost sets, and to the players he lost them to? It was largely a perfect storm.
After cruising through the first 3 matches, he was steamrolling Haas, up 2 sets to 0, and then, to some, he took his foot off the gas and got lackadaisical. But the reality is, Haas simply plays Federer better than most and believes more than most. He doesn't roll over when he plays Federer, which was demonstrating when he accused Patrick McEnroe of having his "tongue up Federer's ***" before the match, and saying people should hold off on calling Federer the GOAT. Combine this with the fact that the AO on rebound ace was Haas's best slam, and he was able to hang in there and push it to 5. Then Federer's backhand caught fire in the 5th and he finished the job.
Next up was Davydenko, who is simply a nightmare on HC when on. Quite frankly, Davydenko should have probably won the match, but he choked. A tight match with the cleanest ball striker on tour (well, I guess Agassi was still technically around then) on rebound ace isn't really to be all that unexpected.
I don't care about the 2nd set, Federer absolutely demolished Kiefer. 3 4ths of the sets they played were Federer in full flight, head and shoulders above Kiefer. The 2nd set was Kiefer doing his usual scrappy pest routine. This was nothing new in their matchup - Kiefer eked out a set against Federer at both Wimbledon and the US Open the year before. He did the same to Nadal at the 2009 US Open after getting bageled in the 1st.
The match that looks the worst to revisionist historians now is going down a set and a break to Baghdatis in the final. You have to actually see this match to understand why, though. Baghdatis didn't come out playing like a nervous rookie slam finalist; he came out with adrenaline. He was bombing 130+ MPH serves down the T. He somehow managed to carry the momentum from his dream run into the final for 2 sets. All anyone could do in that situation was try to probe their way into the match, which is what Federer did in the 2nd. Once he turned that around, reality sank in for Baghdatis and he ran out of gas, and Federer steamrolled once again.
Now, I certainly wouldn't say the 2006 AO was Federer's best winning GS performance overall, but during the period where he was playing well that tournament, it was the best GS tennis he's ever played. He wasn't just beating people, he was destroying them...with all shots in peak form.
