How Federer made the 2017 cake taste so good

[Deleted member 77403]

I have seen a few interesting comments made about Federer over recent years here, and it is quite interesting to see how so many things have changed just by this insane 2017 season.

Federer cannot be consider GOAT when he can't even figure out and beat his biggest rival - Federer beats Nadal four straight times in the season without a single loss. Five straight wins and counting...

Federer will never beat Nadal in a grand slam match, let alone a grand slam final - Federer not only beats Nadal in a slam final, but does it by essentially out Nadaling Nadal, coming back in the fifth set and winning five straight games in a row.

Federer is a weak era champion - Federer wins the AO with one the toughest draws ever, beating four top ten players along the way.

Federer has only beaten Nadal in a grass slam - Federer now has a win in a HC major

Federer isn't the GOAT of any slam, he only shares the record with Sampras at W, and Sampras and Connors at USO - Federer wins a record breaking 8th Wimbledon title to become the tournament's greatest champion, and stand alone at the top.

Federer may not be the HC GOAT, Djokovic is only one slam behind, and could overtake him by the end of the season - Federer increases the gap to two and becomes the first player to win 10 slams on any surface.

Federer should have retired after his dismissal 2013, only Sampras went out on top by winning USO at 31, Federer blew it by continuing to play - Federer wins two slams at the age of 35 to make his final farewell end on a much higher note.

Federer will never have the longevity that Sampras had, Sampras won his first and last slam 12 years apart - Federer wins Wimbledon 2003 and Wimbledon 2017 increasing the gap to 14 years between first and last

Nadal the clay GOAT has won RG several times without dropping a set - Federer as the HC and Grass GOAT has now won slams on both surfaces without dropping a set.


Funny how things can change.

 

[BeatlesFan]

Great post, Hitman. It's really great that you, as a Novak fan, stuck around here all these months when Earth's Mightiest Warrior has been sidelined. And you refrain from negative comments about either Nadal or Fed. If only all fan bases could be this magnanimous and mature. Very few can do it!

 

[Deleted member 77403]

Great post, Hitman. It's really great that you, as a Novak fan, stuck around here all these months when Earth's Mightiest Warrior has been sidelined. And you refrain from negative comments about either Nadal or Fed. If only all fan bases could be this magnanimous and mature. Very few can do it!

Thanks. I am going to be doing one for Nadal also.

 

[Smasher08]

The players that Fed beat for slams and titles were MUGS, proof of which is his inability to beat Nadal -- then Fed takes four straight matches against Nads, dominantly winning 9 of 11 sets.

 

[Sentinel]

Two great threads. Kudos.

 

[Gary Duane]

I have seen a few interesting comments made about Federer over recent years here, and it is quite interesting to see how so many things have changed just by this insane 2017 season.

Federer cannot be consider GOAT when he can't even figure out and beat his biggest rival - Federer beats Nadal four straight times in the season without a single loss. Five straight wins and counting...

Federer will never beat Nadal in a grand slam match, let alone a grand slam final - Federer not only beats Nadal in a slam final, but does it by essentially out Nadaling Nadal, coming back in the fifth set and winning five straight games in a row.

Federer is a weak era champion - Federer wins the AO with one the toughest draws ever, beating four top ten players along the way.

Federer has only beaten Nadal in a grass slam - Federer now has a win in a HC major

Federer isn't the GOAT of any slam, he only shares the record with Sampras at W, and Sampras and Connors at USO - Federer wins a record breaking 8th Wimbledon title to become the tournament's greatest champion, and stand alone at the top.

Federer may not be the HC GOAT, Djokovic is only one slam behind, and could overtake him by the end of the season - Federer increases the gap to two and becomes the first player to win 10 slams on any surface.

Federer should have retired after his dismissal 2013, only Sampras went out on top by winning USO at 31, Federer blew it by continuing to play - Federer wins two slams at the age of 35 to make his final farewell end on a much higher note.

Federer will never have the longevity that Sampras had, Sampras won his first and last slam 12 years apart - Federer wins Wimbledon 2003 and Wimbledon 2017 increasing the gap to 14 years between first and last

Nadal the clay GOAT has won RG several times without dropping a set - Federer as the HC and Grass GOAT has now won slams on both surfaces without dropping a set.


Funny how things can change.

You know, if most anyone else wrote all of the above I'd just put it down to Fed worship, but you have never been like that. So I take this seriously.

Mostly to me it shows how utterly wrong everyone is about predicting the future. Some people get lucky one time and brag about it forever, but it's just luck. No one gets it right time after time.

Word to the wise: as much as things have changed for Fed, they can for other players too. So stay tuned!!!

 

[Gary Duane]

Thanks. I am going to be doing one for Nadal also.

Can't wait!

By the way, let's not forget the predictions for Novak before 2011, then the hype, then the disappointment from 2012-2014, then bam, GS. Then more hype, then the end of 2016 and the big drop.

In a weird way I keep hoping Novak will make a huge return just to shut some people up!!!

 

[Gary Duane]

Great post, Hitman. It's really great that you, as a Novak fan, stuck around here all these months when Earth's Mightiest Warrior has been sidelined. And you refrain from negative comments about either Nadal or Fed. If only all fan bases could be this magnanimous and mature. Very few can do it!

Ah, I didn't even know @Hitman was a big Djokovic fan.

You wouldn't know it by his open-minded posts and fairness. Kudos to him for that!

 

[peakin11mugs]

The players that Fed beat for slams and titles were MUGS, proof of which is his inability to beat Nadal -- then Fed takes four straight matches against Nads, dominantly winning 9 of 11 sets.

Lol yeah. I don’t believe in weak era crap about fed but let’s say there was one. You still need to actually win everything. Nadals inability to get to four slam finals this year (and never in career) against this field where the only competition is literally a 36 year old father of four shows even if he had 10 straight years of mugs to play he would lose many matches, slam count wouldn’t go up much and would never get CYGS and let’s not forget he has won slams against Anderson, ferrer, peurta, soderling, berdych too)

 

[Deleted member 77403]

Ah, I didn't even know @Hitman was a big Djokovic fan.

You wouldn't know it by his open-minded posts and fairness. Kudos to him for that!

If you were to watch a Djokovic match with me live, you would have no doubt about how big of a Djokovic fan I am, compared to other players.

What you see from here comes from the fact that I have competed for a significant amount of my own adult life, so maybe I just see things differently, because I have stood on the other side of the fence.

 

[Hitman's Gurl]

The cake is so good!

More????

 

[Poisoned Slice]

 

[The_18th_Slam]

I wish the Federer had gotten the YE#1, too. Not that I care too much about that record, but that'd have shut down Sampras fans once and for all. And while I agree that Sampras has been about as gracious as you can expect him to be, given the circumstances, he has occasionally been bitter about Federer surpassing him and attempted to shift the goalposts. Federer getting that YE#1 record would do him in too.

 

[Deleted member 77403]

The cake is so good!

More????

Well there a few more potential things that can happen this year if he keeps winning, so I might revise this after the season ends. The Nadal one also.

 

[Deleted member 77403]

Nadal is John Cena

 

[Poisoned Slice]

Nadal is John Cena

Even better then.

 

[Deleted member 77403]

I wish the Federer had gotten the YE#1, too. Not that I care too much about that record, but that'd have shut down Sampras fans once and for all. And while I agree that Sampras has been about as gracious as you can expect him to be, given the circumstances, he has occasionally been bitter about Federer surpassing him and attempted to shift the goalposts. Federer getting that YE#1 record would do him in too.

Would it really shut them down? You would still have some that say Sampras did six years straight, Federer could only manage four straight. There will always be something. If you look at all the things that I listed, there really isn't anything left for him to attacked. Heck in 2014 he even won the Davis Cup.

 

[The_18th_Slam]

Would it really shut them down? You would still have some that say Sampras did six years straight, Federer could only manage four straight

Those kinds of arguments can always be easily countered. For instance, you can counter by asking if Federer > Sampras at the US Open because he won 5 straight. Objectively, the YE#1 record is the only thing Sampras has over Federer now.

 

[Deleted member 77403]

Those kinds of arguments can always be easily countered. For instance, you can counter by asking if Federer > Sampras at the US Open because he won 5 straight. Objectively, the YE#1 record is the only thing Sampras has over Federer now.

The argument is still present though, and it still gets used. You can counter it, but you cannot effectively prevent people from bringing it up. I am Sampras fan, I prefer him over Federer, just personal preference, and I already feel that Federer does not need that year ending number one. For me, the moment Federer win Wimbledon 2012, equaling Sampras there in titles, but having more finals, and breaking the most weeks at number one, there was no argument left.

You need to be aware in 1995, Agassi handed Sampras the number one ranking on a platter after losing the USO final, when his coach at the time told him that he just needed to play a couple of matches and there was no way Sampras would catch him, Andre refused to. He said Pete won the USO, and in his eyes should end number one. Had Agassi played a little more than he did, he did not even need to win any further titles, he had it locked...but gave it away.

 

[The_18th_Slam]

The argument is still present though, and it still gets used. You can counter it, but you cannot effectively prevent people from bringing it up.

Of course. You can never prevent people from making stupid arguments. I just wanted Federer to cover me against the marginally intelligent ones

I am Sampras fan, I prefer him over Federer, just personal preference, and I already feel that Federer does not need that year ending number one. For me, the moment Federer win Wimbledon 2012, equaling Sampras there in titles, but having more finals, and breaking the most weeks at number one, there was no argument left.

For me, Federer surpassed Sampras in 2009. 2012 ended any logical debate. The 6th YE#1, for me, is more about Federer well and truly eclipsing Sampras in the record books.

You need to be aware in 1995, Agassi handed Sampras the number one ranking on a platter after losing the USO final, when his coach at the time told him that he just needed to play a couple of matches and there was no way Sampras would catch him, Andre refused to. He said Pete won the USO, and in his eyes should end number one. Had Agassi played a little more than he did, he did not even need to win any further titles, he had it locked...but gave it away.

Perhaps so, but I would still give Sampras the full credit for being YE#1 in 1995.

 

[Deleted member 77403]

Of course. You can never prevent people from making stupid arguments. I just wanted Federer to cover me against the marginally intelligent ones

For me, Federer surpassed Sampras in 2009. 2012 ended any logical debate. The 6th YE#1, for me, is more about Federer well and truly eclipsing Sampras in the record books.

Perhaps so, but I would still give Sampras the full credit for being YE#1 in 1995.

Well now you are just being a little too greedy. Remember too much icing on an already sweet cake leads to type 2 diabetes.

And no one is taking credit away from Pete's six straight year ending number ones, I certainly ain't. But in more cases than none, its more than meets the eye.

 

[The_18th_Slam]

Well now you are just being a little too greedy. Remember too much icing on an already sweet cake leads to type 2 diabetes.

And no one is taking credit away from Pete's six straight year ending number ones, I certainly ain't. But in more cases than none, its more than meets the eye.

Well, I was happy with 17 Slams, TBH. The 18th was really special, and the 19th at Wimbledon was great to shut up the likes of 90's Clay. Now that Nadal is on the prowl again, I think I'd like Federer to win a 20th Slam, but it's all good. Federer has done better than I'd ever expected him to.

 

[Deleted member 77403]

Well, I was happy with 17 Slams, TBH. The 18th was really special, and the 19th at Wimbledon was great to shut up the likes of 90's Clay. Now that Nadal is on the prowl again, I think I'd like Federer to win a 20th Slam, but it's all good. Federer has done better than I'd ever expected him to.

I think Federer actually has multiple slams left in him. He has the potential to catch Graf, and I am quite serious about it.

 

[Silence]

Great post, Hitman. It's really great that you, as a Novak fan, stuck around here all these months when Earth's Mightiest Warrior has been sidelined. And you refrain from negative comments about either Nadal or Fed. If only all fan bases could be this magnanimous and mature. Very few can do it!

Word! Thanks for both posts @Hitman (Fedal)!

 

[The_18th_Slam]

I think Federer actually has multiple slams left in him. He has the potential to catch Graf, and I am quite serious about it.

A lot of factors. Can he have another (relatively) healthy year in 2018? What kind of a comeback will Djokovic make? Will Federer even put in the hard yards this off season after the kind of year he's just had? For all we know, Federer may well have won his last Masters+ level title.

I do think he's probably got at least another Slam win in him, but I just try to never lose sight of the fact that he's 36 years old. After all, he did go over 4 years without winning a Slam from 2013-2016, and he doesn't have 4 more years left on the tour past the age of 36.

 

[Deleted member 77403]

A lot of factors. Can he have another (relatively) healthy year in 2018? What kind of a comeback will Djokovic make? Will Federer even put in the hard yards this off season after the kind of year he's just had? For all we know, Federer may well have won his last Masters+ level title.

I do think he's probably got at least another Slam win in him, but I just try to never lose sight of the fact that he's 36 years old. After all, he did go over 4 years without winning a Slam from 2013-2016, and he doesn't have 4 more years left on the tour past the age of 36.

I think the ceiling has gotten higher myself. I do feel he has at least two more slams in him. He is playing the right amount of tennis, he is still leagues ahead of the rest atm, I don't see it closing so quickly. We don't know the state of Djokovic just yet, he is probably the only who can turn all this on its head, but if he does, you can bet he will also be stopping Nadal from winning slams too. On grass, Federer will be hard to stop still. The new racket has given him so much easy power, and his mind is at peace, he doesn't have the urgency in him to win another slam, the way he did for nearly five years. I do now stand by him getting two more and ending on 21 slams, and I personally don't see anyone surpassing that, if he indeed does. Nadal needs him to stop winning as of right now, for all the great things Nadal has done, he is still three slams behind. If Nadal is in slam winning form...so is Federer.