Mirnyi can beat Federer?

[kt26]

Tough draw for Fedex (if there is such a thing for him...)

Mirnyi next who can cause him trouble - preview here:
http://www.tennisinsight.com/matchid79334.htm

then maybe Haas who has a good record against him (esp. in Aus)

then maybe Hrbaty - who has also beaten him...

what am i saying...these guys will be a cake-walk for the FedEx!!

 

[Ljubicic for number1]

Max looked very good against him at Kooyong. Its not a easy game for fed.

 

[Shabazza]

they know each other very well and are good friends on and off court, I saw a picture off Roger holding Max baby - I think Fed knows how to handle him, though

 

[spam]

Forget it ,none of those guys have a chance in hell when Rog's playing for keeps,especially in a Slam-maybe Nalbandian or Ljubicic can stretch him to 4 sets ,then again.......

 

[Marius_Hancu]

he can from time to time, thus Fed better beware ... same with Haas ...

 

[West Coast Ace]

Max has the proverbial "puncher's chance." Haas has a lot more game. Whether it shows up with him if they meet and whether Haas could keep it together in a 3 out of 5, remains to be seen.

 

[tom-selleck]

i'd say max chances are slim and none... wonder what the odds are on the match... i'll check

 

[oscar_2424]

he wont beat Federer, but he can push him a little

 

[@wright]

Hrbaty has little chance against Fed even if he has beaten him before. Haas has the best chance out of the three, but I'd say the chances of Haas winning would be slim. Haas hasn't been back in form for long enough to be match tough in Grand slam tournies. He might get a set off Fed, but Haas hasn't had any tough matches yet. Gasquet played horribly against him and practically handed him the match. Also, Fed will be looking to get revenge for Kooyong.

 

[8PAQ]

I think we can compare this to 2005 USO. So match with Mirnyi will be a tough 3 setter with some tie breaks, like Fed vs Santoro.
Match with Haas will be a 4 setter, like Fed vs Kifer. Of course I just mean the scores not the actual game, since Santoro and Mirnyi play quite differently. So Fed will have to work hard for it, but will move on without loosing more than 1 set.

 

[babbette]

We never know everyone was predicting a win for roger in shangai!!

 

[@wright]

Well in Shanghai, he hadn't played for six weeks or even practiced! He was on crutches right before the tournament started. Now he is fit again and has some matches under his belt.

 

[tom-selleck]

$33 to win $1 on federer winning

$1 to win $12 on mirnyi.

boy, the juice really effects the payouts when the odds are this skewed.

 

[Indiantwist]

Federer openly said he is scared to play the Beast of Belarus (max Mirnyi).
..yea right... thats was on last year APril 1.

The way he is playing, No one has a chance to beat him. Even Nalbandian/Haas. They are playing subpar tennis (compared to their own standards).

There are a few guys i know how can beat him. Unfortunately they are all sitting here ..posting into TT .

 

[joe sch]

Tough draw for Fed ?
Your kidding right ?
How can that be said when the #2 & #3 seeds drop out of tourney (Nadal & Safin) ?
Another guy who can atleast make Roger work for a victory, Andre Agassi, also dropped out.
I dont think Federer has a tough draw for the start of 2006 and the chance to pickup another slam. Same old story, just beat the current crop of baseline blasters ...
Your sorta correct in that we need to hope that a player like Mirnyi can zone for 4 or 5 sets and beat a Federer who chokes a few key points like AO and Masters 2005.

 

[@wright]

I agree, Joe, I think he would be much more worried about Roddick's draw. He has many more dangerous floaters.

 

[ACE of Hearts]

Fed tends to take it easy he cant do it against Max Mirnyi, simple as that!

 

[@wright]

People think Mirnyi is intimidating and tough, but it's simply not true. He has a nice serve and good volleys, but he can't keep it together well enough for big matches. I watched Kenneth Carlsen pick him apart in straights last year at the Memphis final, and Kenneth is 30+ years old! You don't think the top player in the world can do the same over a 5 setter!?

 

[VictorS.]

Mirnyi has a chance I think (maybe not a great one). The fact that he's a serve and volleyer I think bodes well. In many of Federer's losses last year, his rhythm was really not there. That's one thing Mirnyi will give him trouble with. However, if Federer somehow lost.....i'd still be really shocked.

Now the possible Haas match I think is more interesting. Simply because the two have a history here at this tournament. In addition, Haas seems to be re-capturing his form. This is by no means a cake-walk of a draw for Federer. The problem is: he'll probably make it look like one.

 

[VictorS.]

Mirnyi has a chance I think (maybe not a great one). The fact that he's a serve and volleyer I think bodes well. In many of Federer's losses last year, his rhythm was really not there. That's one thing Mirnyi will give him trouble with. However, if Federer somehow lost.....i'd still be really shocked.

Now the possible Haas match I think is more interesting. Simply because the two have a history here at this tournament. In addition, Haas seems to be re-capturing his form. This is by no means a cake-walk of a draw for Federer. The problem is: he'll probably make it look like one.

 

[hoosierbr]

For some reason I've had a feeling since the Aussie Open started that Federer would be shocked early. When the draw came out I thought that whomever won the first round match between Gasquet and Haas would play spoiler.

Fed will get a break w/today's match because it will be the second on Rod Laver in the night session. The heavy and muggy conditions, roof closed or not, will take some sting off of Mirnyi's serve.

I expect it to be a close match, three tight sets. Perhaps four if "The Beast" plays at his best. But the difference in movement willl be the key and Federer will prevail.

Should Haas win I'm sticking to my original pick of an upset.

 

[Aykhan Mammadov]

I think Mirniy has no chances against Fed. The score probably will be 6:3, 6:2, 6:3 or something close.

 

[Max G.]

Yeah, I don't think Mirnyi can really give Federer too much trouble.

They've played plenty of times - Fed is I think 7-2 against Mirnyi. Yeah, Fed won't get any rhythm, but they've played enough times that he won't be surprised by Mirnyi's game.

If he plays badly, he might lose - Mirnyi could probably exploit a bad day more easily than some other players. But really, it's all in Federer's hands - if Fed has an "average" day, then he'll win, he doesn't need to raise his game to any extra level.

 

[fastdunn]

Probably not Mirnyi but Mirnyi type of big serve-and-volleyers
like Krajicek or Becker would have pretty good chance to beat
Federer. If Federer was playing in 90's, he could have not
done this well, IMHO.

Mirnyi did beat Federer 2 times... out of 9 times
they played. Federer's defence game is very dilligent
but not as enforcing as Agassi of 90's whose return
game was tailor-made to beat S&Vers, IMHO.

 

[West Coast Ace]

Probably not Mirnyi but Mirnyi type of big serve-and-volleyers
like Krajicek or Becker would have pretty good chance to beat
Federer. If Federer was playing in 90's, he could have not
done this well, IMHO.

Did you just call into a sports radio station in Los Angeles? As I was driving home some guy was disputing the one on air guy's assertion that Fed is the GOAT - and the caller used the same logic - Sampras had to play S&V players. Weird coincidence?

IMHO that logic doesn't work: a) Fed has no control over style of play of his opponents; b) with his return game I think he'd have a lot of S&V players staying back by the 2nd set.

 

[Moose Malloy]

What radio station in LA talks about tennis?

 

[Aykhan Mammadov]

Probably not Mirnyi but Mirnyi type of big serve-and-volleyers
like Krajicek or Becker would have pretty good chance to beat
Federer. If Federer was playing in 90's, he could have not
done this well, IMHO.

Mirnyi did beat Federer 2 times... out of 9 times
they played. Federer's defence game is very dilligent
but not as enforcing as Agassi of 90's whose return
game was tailor-made to beat S&Vers, IMHO.

Fastdunn, I can't agree with u. Defence doesn't consist of serve return only. Then Fed's return of serve is very great ( Roddick is example). Agassi conversely wasn't so much succesfull against pure S&V Sampras in 90-s. And u'd not forget that Fed is more universal than Agassi, Fed can be considered whomever u want, at times he becomes S&V himself.

 

[Matt H.]

Let's not forget Fed's ankle. Playing against Miryni is gonna take a toll on his ankles due to reacting to Miryni's volleys. He might not be as fast as normal.

 

[Max G.]

Did you just call into a sports radio station in Los Angeles? As I was driving home some guy was disputing the one on air guy's assertion that Fed is the GOAT - and the caller used the same logic - Sampras had to play S&V players. Weird coincidence?

Not a surprising coincidence - I've heard that line of reasoning before, it's not too uncommon.

IMHO that logic doesn't work: a) Fed has no control over style of play of his opponents;

Yep. But just because he has no control over it, doesn't mean it's not true, does it?

b) with his return game I think he'd have a lot of S&V players staying back by the 2nd set.

Maybe, maybe not. We'll never know, since there isn't any S&Ver around that is anywhere near as good as the S&Vers of the 90s, Sampras/Rafter/Becker/etc. ;-)

 

[yo_3133]

he definitely...............CAN'T

 

[Chopin]

I don't think any of the serve and volley players of the 90s, save Sampras, would have given Federer any more trouble than the current breed of players. Federer seems to have no trouble with the “big serve-and-volleyers” (whatever that means). Federer's ability to play almost any style of tennis--let's not forget he is capable of playing brilliant serve and volley tennis in addition to his regular all court game--along with his technical proficiency and exquisite variety surpasses any player that I’ve ever seen play. I think we’re witnessing a player without equal. Federer is becoming in tennis what Jordan is to basketball. I truly believe he'd dominate any era of tennis.

 

[hoosierbr]

I would like to have seen Federer and Sampras play again. In fact, it would have been great if they'd played at the 2002 US Open where Pete made his final run.

As for taking on the serve-and-volleyers of the last generation I would have loved to see Federer square off with Stefan Edberg.

Though he had a 2-0 record against Richard Krajicek it would have been great to see them play at Wimbledon.

 

[federerforever]

I think that Federer will loose only two sets in winning the 2006 Australian Open. One to Haas and one to Roddick in the final.