Is Fed mentally strong enough, AT THIS MOMENT, to win over Baghdatis OR Nalbandian?
- Thread starter Ripper
- Start date
Indiantwist
Semi-Pro
Right at this very moment NO. But for tommorow's match..Yes
West Coast Ace
G.O.A.T.
One match at a time - he has to get by Krazy Kiefer first. Who knows what Krazy will do? Then he can focus on his finals' opponent.
I don't know about mentally, but here's an interesting comment/theory on the BBC Have your Say board,
There are 2 factors that explain Rogers poor performance in the last 2 matches.
1 - He is STILL injured but doesn't want anyone to know about it. Wilander on Eurosport was very close to say it but it looks like they are bound to keeping the secret as long as possible. The commentators are only allowed to critisize his footwork. no comment on his strap or ligaments.
2 - the second factor is very much linked to the 1st one. The slow courts. That makes him work twice as hard as players are capable of retrieving his forehand with not to much problems. Those courts are extremely slow and we can even see many smashes coming back which we would not see in any other surface even the FO. I am not saying it is slower that the French but simply because the grip on the hard court is much better than on clay, it is easy to bring the ball back.
There are 2 factors that explain Rogers poor performance in the last 2 matches.
1 - He is STILL injured but doesn't want anyone to know about it. Wilander on Eurosport was very close to say it but it looks like they are bound to keeping the secret as long as possible. The commentators are only allowed to critisize his footwork. no comment on his strap or ligaments.
2 - the second factor is very much linked to the 1st one. The slow courts. That makes him work twice as hard as players are capable of retrieving his forehand with not to much problems. Those courts are extremely slow and we can even see many smashes coming back which we would not see in any other surface even the FO. I am not saying it is slower that the French but simply because the grip on the hard court is much better than on clay, it is easy to bring the ball back.
Federer is human. Just like the rest of us he has good days and bad days. I just hope that he will have a good day on Fri and Sun 
So I don't think it is about being mentally strong. I think it is that he is just not hitting the ball as cleanly as he usually does lately. Another bad day at the office I would say.
So I don't think it is about being mentally strong. I think it is that he is just not hitting the ball as cleanly as he usually does lately. Another bad day at the office I would say.
@wright
Hall of Fame
If you remember, at the US Open he lost a set to Kiefer and then another to Hewitt. He wasn't hitting the ball as cleanly as usual then either. He did what it took to win. The true mark of a champion is winning these tough matches, saving 6 set points if you have to against a tough pusher. His game always seems to come back when it needs to, a la the Haas match. I think he'll roll over a tired Kiefer next match. NK has played a lot of tennis, and I'm not sure he's equipped to take on Fed. OTOH, Nalbandian and Baghdatis are set to have a very tough SF match. I expect it to go at the very least 4 tough sets. If he gets to the final, he's got a great shot at winning like he usually does. He knows exactly what he has to do against Nalbandian, and I think the surface suits Fed's game better than Nalbo.
West Coast Ace
G.O.A.T.
I'm not buying the 'still injured' stuff - the one backhand he tracked down and nailed down the line against Mirnyi could not have been done if he were hobbled at all. His movement up and back and side to side has been fine. The rash of UEs against Haas had nothing to do with movement either. As 8PAQ said he's human - he'll have bad patches like everyone else. And so far he's had the mettle to recover from them and still prevail.
Marius_Hancu
Talk Tennis Guru
both mentally and physically:
we don't know. that's why we have matches.
we don't know. that's why we have matches.
