Federer's worst performance ever?

[Standaa]

I was wondering what was the worst tennis performance Roger has shown in a match where he was completely injury-free. So of course, I'm curious what you think. Only matches from after 2003 count. Was it against Robredo in USO 2013?

Remember, it should be about the performance, not the score or the opponent, so I'd hesitate to answer something like RG 08 Final, the score looks bad, but Nadal played like a god, so every performance fades next to it.

 

[BeatlesFan]

Was it against Robredo in USO 2013?

He was injured against Robredo with a bad back.

A terrible match when healthy was the 2009 Miami encounter with Djoker, where both played horribly, but Roger smashed his racket and couldn't even get the ball in the court much of the time.

For me, his worst matches have been mental breakdowns which prevented him from playing his normal game. His worst match ever was the 2009 AO final against Nadal (many will disagree). He came in with great form and was playing against a "tired" opponent, but choked on a massive level. I would follow this up with the 2014 Wimbledon final and 2015 USO Open final. Both were matches where he was coming into the final as the favorite and in superlative form, but simply mentally froze. Going 2/23 and 4/24 on BP's in some of these matches is sinful.

 

[JoelSandwich]

Pick basically any match from 2013 outside of the AO

 

[buscemi]

Maybe against Volandri in Rome in 2007 when he lost 6-2, 6-4. 44% first serve percentage and 37% of second serve points won.

 

[tennisaddict]

FO 2008.

Fed tanked

 

[Surion]

2013 against Brands.

 

[ForumMember]

2008 FO final. That was embarrassing.

 

[User123]

RG 2012 semifinal against Djokovic in my opinion. Lost the first set from a break up. Lost the second set after leading with 3 breaks (double break, then another one), somehow even without a tie break. He was just an unforced errors machine. Nothing even close to the game he showed in the 2011 semifinal.

 

[Gary Duane]

He was injured against Robredo with a bad back.

A terrible match when healthy was the 2009 Miami encounter with Djoker, where both played horribly, but Roger smashed his racket and couldn't even get the ball in the court much of the time.

For me, his worst matches have been mental breakdowns which prevented him from playing his normal game. His worst match ever was the 2009 AO final against Nadal (many will disagree). He came in with great form and was playing against a "tired" opponent, but choked on a massive level. I would follow this up with the 2014 Wimbledon final and 2015 USO Open final. Both were matches where he was coming into the final as the favorite and in superlative form, but simply mentally froze. Going 2/23 and 4/24 on BP's in some of these matches is sinful.

Patches of being utterly unable to convert BPs I think is more due to bad luck than playing level. I notice that when playing puzzle games when the next possible moves are dictated by random, some nights it feels like some secret enemy is deliberately giving me nothing but impossible choices, and that can flip the other way, but it's all chance.

The same thing happens in cards, when you get a run of horrible hands that God Almight couldn't win with.

I can't remember the exact match, but not too long ago Nadal went through a set where he lost something like 23 or 13 BPs in a row when trying to break. Watching that I was thinking that only Nadal, and Borg long ago, could get through a match like that without breaking a racket or cursing.

I don't think no BP conversions is a much as sign of bad play as just a run of luck, just like a day when a player only gets a few BPs but converts all of them. I think that happened in 2015 at Cincy, where Fed only had a very few BPs against Novak but converted all of them, and Novak couldn't buy one to save his life.

(I don't have the kind of recall other people have about matches, so I may have the wrong match.)

Really bad days happen, and when they happen against great players, they usually mean a bad loss.

 

[Jaitock1991]

RG 2013 against Tsonga is one of the most disappointing performances I've seen from him, as was his 1st round match vs Falla at Wimbledon 2010 even though he won.

 

[deBroglie]

Maybe against Volandri in Rome in 2007 when he lost 6-2, 6-4. 44% first serve percentage and 37% of second serve points won.

I've seen a replay of that match and it seemed like Volandri was playing very well.

 

[ultradr]

2006 Dubai final against Nadal. 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 Nadal.

It show cases Federer's weakness.
His issues with Nadal, bad volleying under pressure(panicky net game) , and issues in clutch performances.
Somewhat similar to US open loss this year to Delpo.

 

[chut]

Stepanek in Rome 2008?
Yet another opportunity to win Rome that he missed (Nadal had already lost), this time in a strange match, he was incredibly bad against a not so terrible opponent.

 

[ChaelAZ]

Mirka will never tell.

 

[Deleted member 512391]

2011 SF Miami against Nadal was horrible as well and should be on the list.

 

[duaneeo]

Federer won four total games in the 2008 RG final. How can there be any other answer?

 

[User123]

Federer won four total games in the 2008 RG final. How can there be any other answer?

You would maybe have a point here if he had played Stepanek. But he played against a player who destroyed everyone in that tournament.

 

[TheAssassin]

2009 Miami semifinal was some really bad stuff from both players.

 

[vanioMan]

2011 SF Miami against Nadal was horrible as well and should be on the list.

I remember being so hyped up about this match. It turned out to be a real disappointment after the first 2 games.

 

[Mainad]

Can't think of any worse beatdown than at the 2008 RG final. Just 4 games won and it remains the only losing final he ever played where he got bagelled!

 

[Nadalgaenger]

FO 2008.

Fed tanked

That stands out for me as well.

He looked completely helpless. I think most challengers would have given Nadal more fight that day.

 

[ChrisRF]

I've seen a replay of that match and it seemed like Volandri was playing very well.

Where did you find it? I would like to see it again. I'm a collector of Federer matches, but have never seen it anywhere on the internet.

On topic:
Federer vs Brands in Gstaad 2013.

After losing to Stakhovsky at Wimbledon he decided to play two unusual clay tournaments at Hamburg and Gstaad.

He had a bad back and already played horrible at Hamburg, but seemingly didn’t want to disappoint his home fans by skipping Gstaad. He also made his first tries with the bigger racket at those 2 tournaments.

All that resulted in this charade of a performance:

 

[metsman]

04 Olympics vs Berdych, 08 IW semi, 03 Rome final, 03 RG 1R are all on the short list.

 

[AnOctorokForDinner]

A match after 2003 where Federer was fully fit (at worst, just rusty), yet stunk up the court badly? A rarity, but it did happen. Rome 07 is clearly the worst, considering both the score and the opposition; Olympics 04, RG 08, Estoril 10, Miami 11 and some others make good company.

 

[AnOctorokForDinner]

2006 Dubai final against Nadal. 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 Nadal.

It show cases Federer's weakness.
His issues with Nadal, bad volleying under pressure(panicky net game) , and issues in clutch performances.
Somewhat similar to US open loss this year to Delpo.

Still better than Nadal's critical failure against GGL in Bangkok 2010.

 

[BeatlesFan]

Federer won four total games in the 2008 RG final. How can there be any other answer?

He was outplayed by the clay GOAT, really no shame there. Nobody except Soderling beat peak Rafa on clay. What about the matches he should have won based on surface and skill? Those are the ones that hurt. How could he ever lose to Novak on grass!? We expect everyone to lose to Rafa at RG.

 

[duaneeo]

He was outplayed by the clay GOAT, really no shame there.

Regardless of Nadal being the clay GOAT, no way should Roger ever just win 4 games in three sets against him. That is HUGE shame.

 

[Stefan Dimov]

Vs Montañés, Estoril 2010... It was a real horror. Federer was an out of shape top 300 or at least you'd think so if you hadn't watched him. What's even worse is that he was trying.

 

[cc0509]

Regardless of Nadal being the clay GOAT, no way should Roger ever just win 4 games in three sets against him. That is HUGE shame.

Players have off days. Maybe he was experiencing off-court personal distractions? Federer was never going to beat Nadal at the FO, so who cares. It's the losses to Nadal at the AO and Wimbledon that are more annoying and more important IMO.

 

[ChaelAZ]

Mirka will never tell.

 

[Atletifan]

He was injured against Robredo with a bad back.

A terrible match when healthy was the 2009 Miami encounter with Djoker, where both played horribly, but Roger smashed his racket and couldn't even get the ball in the court much of the time.

For me, his worst matches have been mental breakdowns which prevented him from playing his normal game. His worst match ever was the 2009 AO final against Nadal (many will disagree). He came in with great form and was playing against a "tired" opponent, but choked on a massive level. I would follow this up with the 2014 Wimbledon final and 2015 USO Open final. Both were matches where he was coming into the final as the favorite and in superlative form, but simply mentally froze. Going 2/23 and 4/24 on BP's in some of these matches is sinful.

He was in great form in AO 2009, US open 2015 and 2014 wimbldeon , his form dropping in final may be due to quality of opponent who make life harder for him ?

 

[abmk]

RG 08 the first choice obviously.

No mention of Olympics 2012 final ? tired after the delpo marathon semi (went -ve in W/UE on frickin' grass !)

 

[Atletifan]

RG 08 the first choice obviously.

No mention of Olympics 2012 final ? tired after the delpo marathon semi (went -ve in W/UE on frickin' grass !)

I wonder why Fed's form take a huge dip as soon as he find Nadal on other side of net? RG 2008, Wimb 2008, Australian open 2014, 2009 etc .

 

[abmk]

Going by year :

2003 : RG 1st round loss vs Horna, Rome final loss vs Mantilla

2004 : Oly loss to Berdych

2007 : Rome loss to Volandri

2008 : IW loss to Fish, RG loss to Nadal, Oly loss to Blake

2009 : The Miami horrorfest from fedovic

2010 : estoril loss to Montanes , (near loss to Falla)

2011 : Miami SF loss to Nadal

2012 : RG SF loss to Djoko, Oly final loss to Murray

2013 : USO loss to Robredo, 2 losses to 100+ ranked players after Wimbledon (new racquet change)

 

[Devin]

I wonder why Fed's form take a huge dip as soon as he find Nadal on other side of net? RG 2008, Wimb 2008, Australian open 2014, 2009 etc .

 

[abmk]

I wonder why Fed's form take a huge dip as soon as he find Nadal on other side of net? RG 2008, Wimb 2008, Australian open 2014, 2009 etc .

I wonder why Federer raised his level from the semi vs wawrinka to the final vs nadal in AO 17.

I wonder why he played his best match at Hamburg in 2007 in the final vs Nadal.

I wonder why he only thrashed Nadal at the Year ending championships in 2011 (he went 3 sets vs every one else there)

I wonder why he played his best match at Rome in 2006 in the final vs Nadal.

I wonder why he bagelled Nadal in wimbledon 2006 final and won easily in the 4th set.


I wonder why he played his best match at Indian Wells in 2012 vs Nadal



Is that enough to shut you up, troll or are you begging for more ?

 

[Atletifan]

I wonder why Federer raised his level from the semi vs wawrinka to the final vs nadal in AO 17.

I wonder why he played his best match at Hamburg in 2007 in the final vs Nadal.

I wonder why he only thrashed Nadal at the Year ending championships in 2011 (he went 3 sets vs every one else there)

I wonder why he played his best match at Rome in 2006 in the final vs Nadal.

I wonder why he bagelled Nadal in wimbledon 2006 final and won easily in the 4th set.


I wonder why he played his best match at Indian Wells in 2012 vs Nadal



Is that enough to shut you up, troll or are you begging for more ?

Lmao , it's not me but Fedworshippers who bring up dip in form. Btw , Nadal was tired in 2017 Australian open and had 1 day less rest otherwise we knew the result. Lightening doesn't strike twice , may be once a decade , bro

 

[abmk]

Lmao , it's not me but Fedworshippers who bring up dip in form. Btw , Nadal was tired in 2017 Australian open and had 1 day less rest otherwise we knew the result. Lightening doesn't strike twice , may be once a decade , bro

yes, we know the result, since Nadal was perfectly fine in the final ; Federer had come through a tougher draw, was 5 years older and had some niggling groin problems. Federer beat him in 5 sets.

federer also straight-setted your boy in Indian Wells and Miami shortly thereafter.

or was the trauma too much for you to bear and you forgot , huh ?

Oh and btw was the lesson enough or do you need more ?

 

[Atletifan]

yes, we know the result, since Nadal was perfectly fine in the final ; Federer had come through a tougher draw, was 5 years older and had some niggling groin problems. Federer beat him in 5 sets.

federer also straight-setted your boy in Indian Wells and Miami shortly thereafter.

or was the trauma too much for you to bear and you forgot , huh ?

Oh and btw was the lesson enough or do you need more ?

Lol fine with one day less rest and a longer match. Don't worry this defeat is nothing compared to Trauma Fedfans had to experience for 10 years. Trauma was so much that You guys were spitting Venom against Nadal on Online forum. I had to go to That Ruan dude forum, he would go in meltdown after every Federee defeat and accuse Nadal of whatever he could from boring game to god knows what. Btw , Don't be hopeful lightening doesn't strike twice , hopefully it's 2018 when both meet again , but your excuse will be Fed was too old , grandpa, broken back etc etc lol.

 

[abmk]

Lol fine with one day less rest and a longer match. Don't worry this defeat is nothing compared to Trauma Fedfans had to experience for 10 years. Trauma was so much that You guys were spitting Venom against Nadal on Online forum. I had to go to That Ruan dude forum, he would go in meltdown after every Federee defeat and accuse Nadal of whatever he could from boring game to god knows what. Btw , Don't be hopeful lightening doesn't strike twice , hopefully it's 2018 when both meet again , but your excuse will be Fed was too old , grandpa, broken back etc etc lol.

lol, dude, I don't care about some crazy federer fanatic.

Stop diverting.

I am addressing you here directly. How about you address your own problems ?

Like I said, Nadal was perfectly fine in the AO 17 final ; Federer had come through a tougher draw, was 5 years older and had some niggling groin problems. Federer beat him in 5 sets.

Deal with it !

Oh and really funny how Nadal went through an easy draw to the Miami final, Federer comes in with 2 tough 3-set matches vs berdych and kyrgios and then schools Rafa in the final in straight sets. LOL

 

[Bukmeikara]

The only time he received baggel in this century

 

[duaneeo]

It's the losses to Nadal at the AO and Wimbledon that are more annoying and more important IMO.

The OP's question is what is Federer's worst performance...not which loss is more annoying.

 

[cc0509]

The OP's question is what is Federer's worst performance...not which loss is more annoying.

I know that and I agree that his worst performance was the FO 2008 match vs Nadal but you said that there was no way Federer should have won a total of four games and my reply to you was that perhaps he was distracted by something personally. I remember reading at the time a post from a sports journalist (not on this forum) and he said the word back then from some of his tennis journalist buddies was that Federer was experiencing some issues with Mirka around the time he played that FO match vs Nadal. Who knows if it's true but it would certainly help explain the four games. He's human.

 

[Atletifan]

lol, dude, I don't care about some crazy federer fanatic.

Stop diverting.

I am addressing you here directly. How about you address your own problems ?

Like I said, Nadal was perfectly fine in the AO 17 final ; Federer had come through a tougher draw, was 5 years older and had some niggling groin problems. Federer beat him in 5 sets.

Deal with it !

Oh and really funny how Nadal went through an easy draw to the Miami final, Federer comes in with 2 tough 3-set matches vs berdych and kyrgios and then schools Rafa in the final in straight sets. LOL

No he was tired in 5th set and was feeding short ball , his groundstrokes had no speed. Fred was lucky to get one day extra rest , btw can't wait them to meet in AO. I'd like to see how Fred do with one day less rest and Nadal with one day more rest. Fred lucked it big time.

 

[Rafa the King]

I wonder why Federer raised his level from the semi vs wawrinka to the final vs nadal in AO 17.

I wonder why he played his best match at Hamburg in 2007 in the final vs Nadal.

I wonder why he only thrashed Nadal at the Year ending championships in 2011 (he went 3 sets vs every one else there)

I wonder why he played his best match at Rome in 2006 in the final vs Nadal.

I wonder why he bagelled Nadal in wimbledon 2006 final and won easily in the 4th set.


I wonder why he played his best match at Indian Wells in 2012 vs Nadal



Is that enough to shut you up, troll or are you begging for more ?

Yes, the guy is BS. Fed stepped up and sometimes big time in WIM matches. 06 Rafa played some incredible tennis in sets 2 and 3 after he got going at the end of set 1. Fed remained clutch to win one of those 2 otherwise his chances would have taken a big dip. WIM in 07 he was ****ing clutch, one can't often say in tennis that the better player lost but the sets Rafa lost were 50/50 while he was better in the sets he won, 5th set he kept his momentum going, Fed remained clutch and Rafa failed to keep his very high level up and had a slight dip and that was that. 08 he starts meh, shows some brilliance but not consisently. Recivers brilliantly to clutch the next two sets with some really great play and pushed Rafa to the max in one of the best grass-court matches he (Rafa) ever played.

09 AO his level was jaw-dropping for 4 sets, served not so well but as good as he ever has played against rafa from the baseline.

Fed often came to play in big matches against Rafa, that he wasn't clutch in most of the ones he lost is a given, but most of the times his level was there

 

[abmk]

No he was tired in 5th set and was feeding short ball , his groundstrokes had no speed. Fred was lucky to get one day extra rest , btw can't wait them to meet in AO. I'd like to see how Fred do with one day less rest and Nadal with one day more rest. Fred lucked it big time.

he was doing fine in the 5th set. he saved 9/11 BPs with clutch play. broke first in the set as well.

federer totally outplayed him. ..

you are just a sore bullsh*tter who can't accept Nadal was outplayed.

oh and regarding the rest part :

" really funny how Nadal went through an easy draw to the Miami final, Federer comes in with 2 tough 3-set matches vs berdych and kyrgios and then schools Rafa in the final in straight sets. LOL "

too bitter pill to swallow ?

 

[KINGROGER]

08 RG where he tanked.

Otherwise, 07 RG final, 15 Wimbledon and USO finals.

 

[MatsPhilander]

Assuming he wasn't injured Wimbledon 2010 quarter against Berdych, or on the opening day of that tournament when he had to come back from 2 sets down to beat Falla.

 

[Deleted member 512391]

Where did you find it? I would like to see it again. I'm a collector of Federer matches, but have never seen it anywhere on the internet.

On topic:
Federer vs Brands in Gstaad 2013.

After losing to Stakhovsky at Wimbledon he decided to play two unusual clay tournaments at Hamburg and Gstaad.

He had a bad back and already played horrible at Hamburg, but seemingly didn’t want to disappoint his home fans by skipping Gstaad. He also made his first tries with the bigger racket at those 2 tournaments.

All that resulted in this charade of a performance:
t

Yeah, that was probably the lowest period of his career after he hit his prime. Losing to Stakhovsky was shocking and was followed by two horrible losses to Brands and Delbonis, where he looked completely lost. It was a very tough period for him for sure.

 

[merwy]

Wimb 2015 Final was so disappointing. His level went down 5 notches compared to his SF against Murray. That was the worst performance relative to the form that he was in during that tournament.