Question to Fed fans: Which is Roger's most heartbreaking loss?
- Thread starter FudgeControl
- Start date
cc0509
Talk Tennis Guru
The loss to Nadal at W 2008. That one has to sting Federer the most as it was at Federer's most cherished tournament and was one of Nadal's most impressive feats that he was able to fight so hard to be great on other surfaces throughout his career starting with clay and then moving on to master grass and hc.
Fedeonic
Hall of Fame
Apart from the matches from I don't want to remember (Wimbledon 2008 F, US Open 2011 SF and US Open 2015 F), I'm going to mention these matches never mentioned:
-US Open 2013 vs Robredo: Played like a mug that day, he was sweating like Nadal, choking left and right, at that moment, I've felt that it was the true end for Federer, more over than the Stakhovskiy match.
-Hamburg 2008 vs Nadal: How Federer was able to choke a 5-1 lead in the 1st is nothing short of a mystery, that was a match (like many others) that Federer shouldn't have lost to Nadal.
-Roland Garros 2010 vs Söderling: This match confirmed the decline of Federer, he was almost a sure thing in the semis as always, 12-0 in the H2H, everything was on Roger's favour, he was helpless that day and he didn't do anything to avoid it.
Bonus track: Montreal 2007 vs Djokovic: The way he choked the 1st set after serving 6-5 40-0 was pretty pathetic, to put it mildly. I guess karma exists because Djokovic suffered the same in the same set and at the same score in their US Open final meeting of that year made more easy to get through.
-US Open 2013 vs Robredo: Played like a mug that day, he was sweating like Nadal, choking left and right, at that moment, I've felt that it was the true end for Federer, more over than the Stakhovskiy match.
-Hamburg 2008 vs Nadal: How Federer was able to choke a 5-1 lead in the 1st is nothing short of a mystery, that was a match (like many others) that Federer shouldn't have lost to Nadal.
-Roland Garros 2010 vs Söderling: This match confirmed the decline of Federer, he was almost a sure thing in the semis as always, 12-0 in the H2H, everything was on Roger's favour, he was helpless that day and he didn't do anything to avoid it.
Bonus track: Montreal 2007 vs Djokovic: The way he choked the 1st set after serving 6-5 40-0 was pretty pathetic, to put it mildly. I guess karma exists because Djokovic suffered the same in the same set and at the same score in their US Open final meeting of that year made more easy to get through.
sportsfan1
Legend
I think both the USO 2011 SF loss after having won the first 2 sets, and the losses to Djokovic in the 2014/2015 Wimbledon finals on Fed's best surface have to be difficult.
duaneeo
G.O.A.T.
I'm glad Roger lost that match! He would have faced Nadal had he won, and we all know what would've been the result (and continuing reaction) of that match.
C
Cenarius
Guest
W 08 and W 14 hurt me the most.Outside of majors Rome 06 without a doubt.
Last edited by a moderator:
falstaff78
Hall of Fame
Great thread. Hard to believe Federer hasn't won a USO since 2008. That's a wrong that must surely be righted before he retires
chjtennis
G.O.A.T.
To me, it has to be Wimbledon 08. Federer was going through a massive confidence problem after mono infection throughout 08 and it really shortened his peak. If not for mono, I think his peak could've extended to 2010. Wimbledon has been really Federer's backyard in 21st C, and losing to Nadal when he was still young(although damaged by mono) at his backyard should be the worst thing of all. Had he beaten Nadal there, I don't think he would've been hurt emotionally as much even after his loss at AO 2009. Wimby 08 hurts me as well as a fan of Fed, because it hurt the pride of Fed's fans(because Federer was supposed to be the king of Wimbledon of his generation).
Loss to Delpo at USO 2009 was massively disappointing because I think Fed was in a good shape to win and then suddenly all those errors destroyed Fed. It was going to be his 6th consecutive, so another meaningful stat was stopped then. However, it didn't quite hurt as much as Wimby 08.
Loss to Djokovic at USO 2011 and 2010 were both massively disappointing, but after the loss to Delpo, I sensed increasing inconsistency in Fed's game and it was not as surprising. Loss to Djokovic at Wimbledon 2014 was disappointing because I thought it could be his last chance at any slam, but Djokovic was the man and Fed was clearly in decline so didn't hurt that much. Loss to Djokovic at Wimbledon 2015 hurt even less than 2014, because Djokovic was still at his peak and Federer declined further. Loss to Stakhovsky at Wimbledon 2013 has good excuse which is back injury, but it was still disappointing. Loss to Seppi at AO 2015 hurt, but by then, we, Fed fans, got used to Fed getting upset. I mean, he was already a grandpa of tennis so we were much less emotional about the loss, I guess. Loss to Nadal at Rome 2006 was also disappointing, but Nadal was the King of Clay, so there was nothing surprising there, but a little bit of disappointment.
Loss to Delpo at USO 2009 was massively disappointing because I think Fed was in a good shape to win and then suddenly all those errors destroyed Fed. It was going to be his 6th consecutive, so another meaningful stat was stopped then. However, it didn't quite hurt as much as Wimby 08.
Loss to Djokovic at USO 2011 and 2010 were both massively disappointing, but after the loss to Delpo, I sensed increasing inconsistency in Fed's game and it was not as surprising. Loss to Djokovic at Wimbledon 2014 was disappointing because I thought it could be his last chance at any slam, but Djokovic was the man and Fed was clearly in decline so didn't hurt that much. Loss to Djokovic at Wimbledon 2015 hurt even less than 2014, because Djokovic was still at his peak and Federer declined further. Loss to Stakhovsky at Wimbledon 2013 has good excuse which is back injury, but it was still disappointing. Loss to Seppi at AO 2015 hurt, but by then, we, Fed fans, got used to Fed getting upset. I mean, he was already a grandpa of tennis so we were much less emotional about the loss, I guess. Loss to Nadal at Rome 2006 was also disappointing, but Nadal was the King of Clay, so there was nothing surprising there, but a little bit of disappointment.
SinjinCooper
Hall of Fame
All of those are medium-slow at fastest. There hasn't been a medium-speed slam since USO 2002, though with the live balls, this year's AO played close to medium speed.
Federer has never won a fast court slam. Only Agassi won a true slow court slam (French) and a true fast court slam (Wimbledon pre-full-rye) in the graphite era.
Don't panic. Nobody's saying Andre's better than Rog. But it's a feather in Andre's cap that Federer doesn't get to share. I'm quite confident Federer would have done very well on fast slam surfaces, he just didn't get to play on any after homogenization took effect.
icedevil0289
G.O.A.T.
yeah a lot of people assume AO 2009, because of the tears, and no doubt that was a painful loss but I think wimbledon 2008 definitely got to fed because that was his baby for the longest time, he just suffered a brutal loss to nadal on clay and then lost after managing to come back from two sets down. tbh, the picture of him holding the runner up plate looking kind of pitiful in the dark got to me more than him crying but then again i was more wtf did i just watch after AO 2009 more than being sad.
beast of mallorca
G.O.A.T.
Obviously the 2009 AO Finals
F
Fedfan34
Guest
Did Roger weep like a schoolboy at the French Open finals of 2006 or 2007? No? Then FACTUALLY that was an outlier and he got unusually emotional. Which is fine. That was when I first started to feel connected to him."Up untill the clay court season" that makes factually and logically little sense.
Clay is where he was most likely to lose to his biggest rival, so if the story about him getting all heart-broken after the AO loss has affected him in the way you describe, he should have grown more concerned and badly playing.
Also, in the two biggest tournaments before the clay season he posted two SF results, losing respectively to Djokovic and Murray as opposed to his lesser results on clay up untill Madrid.
Federer gets all emotional when he plays for the biggest trophies, no matter win or lose.
That is another myth (that he got especially emotional at AO 2009).
But remembering that loss...God it's killing me.
Thing is he played awfully in ao final 2009 his backhand was woeful. Wimbledon 2008 he played well and it was a great match.
None of those are medium-slow and some were medium at least and medium fast. USO was definitely still quite fast first few years Fed won it.
Plenty of players have won on both fast and slow. Fed's game (huge serve, good net game, huge FH, great BH on quick surfaces) would've been perfect for fast courts too. We've seen how good he is on them at the masters cup. Particularly 03-07 and 05 on carpet.
icedevil0289
G.O.A.T.
ehh i actually felt AO 2009 was much closer in some ways(iirc fed actually won more points) and overall a better match, minus that last set, than wimbledon 2008. fed was always kind of playing catch up there.
FudgeControl
Banned
Back to back losses in the final of the same Slam or any tournament is no fun :/
At this point, as long as Nole wins Cincinnati, I'll be on cloud nine. The "only slam titles count" bandwagon can take a hike once Novak wins there. Ideally, he should win that title at least twice.
Anyway, I would rate either Wimbledon 2014 or 2015 as his saddest losses.
Mazz Retic
Hall of Fame
The Aus Open 2009 for sure however that is partially made up for by the 2017 win. The reason is that loss was clearly a mental defeat and, while he certainly recovered to win the next two slams, it left a lasting impression each time he went into battle against Nadal particularly at the slams. That is also why 2017 is somewhat redemptive.
AnOctorokForDinner
Talk Tennis Guru
Who the hell uses a tennis player name as a nickname?
Especially the name of a great player. Kinda inappropriate, don't you think?
Maybe it's the Rocket himself.
Mazz Retic
Hall of Fame
Tell me why it is inappropriate and I will delete. Who am I offending or disrespecting? If I was posting lewd or offensive material I would understand your case but I do not intend to do so. Hence, please, tell me your argument and if it is fair and reasonable you will no longer see this name.
Tennis_Hands
Banned
AnOctorokForDinner
Talk Tennis Guru
Nicknames are supposed to be something to address people by, are they not? Calling you "Rod Laver" definitely feels wrong - that's his name, not yours. I mean, it's great if you're truly a connoisseur of tennis and give old legends their due respect, but associating with their names is still kinda inappropriate, I think. It's like snatching someone else's name. Even if you were called, say, "Laver is the GOAT", it would be perhaps a bit childish, but not make me uncomfortable calling you that, but using the actual name is weird.
tennisaddict
Bionic Poster
Novak is the third best player of his time . Nobody can take that away from him even if he does not win Cincinnati
Noelan
Legend
If you can you would have taken all of his titles from him(why he had to be born and play tennis
) ,but the true is the only thing that you can is to try to heal your wounds at tennis forum 
Novak is 2 slams less,but more weeks at No1,YE at No1 ,5 WTFs,more master titles) ...
-NN-
G.O.A.T.
I know him personally though and his name is also Rod Laver.
Gary Duane
Talk Tennis Guru
I'd vote for any of the RGs or the USO that denied him either CYGS or a non-CYGS. He was denied four times the one thing that Novak clearly has over him...
AnOctorokForDinner
Talk Tennis Guru
What an *unbelievable coincidence*. Indeed, it's too improbable to believe.
mike danny
Bionic Poster
Ehh, Fed actually played very well in that AO 2009. His ground game was top notch. Is what was keeping him in the match.
The serve was awful, not the BH in that final.
My recollection was he had anout 25 break points and nadal just stuck the ball on backhand and he dribbled it into the net.
Any stats for that match?
I think the players look at more than slams and of cohrse nadal has loads of masters 1000s as does djokovic which must in locker room add tontheor legacy more than in the medias eyes which is very pro federer
5 close sets though at wimbledon and 9-7 in the fifth whereas in australia federer folded in the 5th. Plus wimbledon just has that added gravitas. The best matches of all time are all remeembered there rightly or wrongly
FudgeControl
Banned
First best player of his time. But to each their own.
tennisaddict
Bionic Poster
One must be a dimwit to hail Novak as better than Fedal, unless your universe is comprised of just Serbia
Similar threads
- Poll
- Poll
