Roger's heart was not in it

[sbengte]

LMAO. If he's trying so hard to duck Rafa, why has he beaten him 3 times this year?

And why was he killing himself at the lowest point of his career and with an ailing back to meet Rafa all through 2013 ? When he was absolutely guaranteed to lose against any half decent player ?

Think of the close matches he played and won at Indian wells, WTF etc in 2013 knowing Nadal awaits in the next round.

 

[sbengte]

I do find this tactical version of Roger to be fascinating. He's literally only going to face Rafa when he feels he can beat him. So no more Clay beatdowns. No more facing Rafa when his form is shaky, even if it's on a hardcourt. He'll lowkey tank a match, rather than let Rafa regain ground in the H2H.

There's yer GOAT fellas.

And it took him what 12-13 years to see and learn this strategy from the Nadal . This Fedr is quite dense and slow.

 

[Deleted member 754093]

That's not what he said though.

"Of course it is a pity, but, you know, Juan Martin deserves it more. I feel I have no place in the semis and he will have a better chance to beat Rafa, to be honest.

"The way I played or playing right now, it's not good enough in my opinion to win this tournament. It's better I'm out and somebody else gets a chance to do better than me."

"Good thing is that I need a rest. I have a rest now, so that's good. That's actually the thing when I walked off the court, I was, like, Finally, I can rest," Federer continued. "Because I'm tired. I put a lot into it. I was not sure I could play, to be honest, so I'm happy I get a rest now."

It looks like we're millions of miles off in our interpretations together

 

[marc45]

the way he sprinted to his chair after blowing that 3rd set tiebreak I half expected him to keep going through the tunnel into the locker room and out the stadium

but give him credit, fourth set was still right there for him until he hit the most insane volley I've ever seen him hit...not to mention that earlier overhead

 

[dh003i]

Most of the posts in this thread are /FAIL. Federer tried his best to beat Delpo but wasn't beating him last night given the form he's had at the USO and the way he was playing.

Total disrespect to Delpo, as if Federer could have just decided, "Oh, I'm going to beat him" and that's it.

It never was quite like that even closer to his prime and certainly isn't at 36.

 

[ChaelAZ]

Yeah. Fed's wins against Rafa this year were legit, but I don't think anyone can seriously claim Fed now has Rafa's number this year when he's going to these lengths to avoid Rafa whenever he feels Rafa may have the advantadge (skipping the entire Clay season, and not exactly going all out to win his US Open quarter-final). It's deliberate avoidance to not suffer any more damage in the H2H, which Fed knows is a big blow against his GOAT candidacy.

Like I said, if Fed is in even half decent shape, he'll show up at the WTF, where he knows his game is much more suited to than Nadal's. Nadal could win his first WTF this year if Fed doesn't turn up (and Fed probably doesn't want that either. It gives Nadal the most complete list of titles for their era).

Agree. Fed just had it in his head if he wasn't 100% he wasn't going to want to face Nadal and go out that way. Especially after Nadal looked i excellent form earlier that day. Better to give that one away to DelPo, preserve the H2H, rest up and look to the next series of tournaments to find opportunties to get points towards #1, or just look to winning WTF.

 

[clayqueen]

But that's what you're implying, correct? If not, where do you come up with theory that "his heart wasn't in it." That implies that someone has given up and accepted defeat

He didn't give up until the match was over. He continued to l fight hard and tried to find ways to win

He said he knew throughout the tournament that he was not good enough to win it. He already admitted that he avoided the clay season because Rafa was playing too good.

 

[Deleted member 754093]

He said he knew throughout the tournament that he was not good enough to win it. He already admitted that he avoided the clay season because Rafa was playing too good.

Source for that statement? I can see him rationalizing his decision to skip the clay season with Rafa's form after the fact, but he decided to skip it long before Rafa went into beast mode.

It's probably something like "I skipped it for many reasons, but I'm glad I did after watching Rafa play. No one was stopping him."

Not "I was scared of playing him and decided to run and hide to preserve my H2H advantage this year."

 

[Glimmerman]

The excuses from Federer are very embarrassing. He knew the USO was a chance to end GOAT debate. Everyone wanted his showdown with Nadal on a neutral court.

He bottled it. I love Del Potro and as a Nadal fan it's always a no lose match up as clearly Del potro Deserves another few majors. But Del potro didn't play as well as he did against Thiem in last three sets. Federer had loads of chances and simply got tight.

As he has done many times in his career last decade.

 

[Glimmerman]

He said he knew throughout the tournament that he was not good enough to win it. He already admitted that he avoided the clay season because Rafa was playing too good.

Goes to show his three wins over Nadal did nothing to get the chip off his shoulder about Nadal.

Actually I think Nadal taking him to 5 sets on a lightening fast AO court despite being spent after a days less rest got in Federers head for a best of 5 set contest.best of 3 Federer I'm sure fancies it with Nadal. Best of 5 I'm not sure.

Similar to AO 2012 v Djokovic where despite losing Rafa seemed to affect Djokovic mentally. That's the issue with nadal. Beating him over 5 sets is so painful even if guys do it they don't fancy another war.

Del potro is one guy who is mentally tough enough to hang with Nadal .

 

[mike danny]

Yeah. Fed's wins against Rafa this year were legit, but I don't think anyone can seriously claim Fed now has Rafa's number this year when he's going to these lengths to avoid Rafa whenever he feels Rafa may have the advantadge (skipping the entire Clay season, and not exactly going all out to win his US Open quarter-final). It's deliberate avoidance to not suffer any more damage in the H2H, which Fed knows is a big blow against his GOAT candidacy.

Like I said, if Fed is in even half decent shape, he'll show up at the WTF, where he knows his game is much more suited to than Nadal's. Nadal could win his first WTF this year if Fed doesn't turn up (and Fed probably doesn't want that either. It gives Nadal the most complete list of titles for their era).

You mean like Rafa ducked Federer many times when he wasn't in form, like second half of 2009, 2014 and 2015 just for some examples? Especially 2015.

Roger in his worst form in 2013 played Rafa 4 times, while in 2015 Rafa played Roger just once.

Don't ever talk about Roger dodging Rafa as it is clearly the opposite.

 

[Nostradamus]

In his PM presser, Roger was asked: "Is it more frustrating because you were thinking about the SF....". He immediately interrupted the journalist saying "I wasn't, you were) right at the beginning of the interview. Roger also said he felt he had no place in the SF and Delpo would have a better chance to beat Rafa than him because of the way he has been playing in this tournament , he is not good enough to win it.

Roger's PM presser
http://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/in...017-09-06_roger_federer_interview.html?chip=1

I think Roger was afraid of playing RAFA. he knew he wasn't playing his best tennis right now and he knew if he faced RAFA with 80 % of his capacity, then he might get blown out..

 

[clayqueen]

the way he sprinted to his chair after blowing that 3rd set tiebreak I half expected him to keep going through the tunnel into the locker room and out the stadium

Yes, I couldn't understand that. He was almost pleased to have lost the 3rd set. He knew he couldn't win the match then give Rafa a WO because that would have gone down like a lead balloon, even though he did that at the O2 against Djokovic.

 

[clayqueen]

I said on another thread, jokingly, that Fed had tanked. But after listening to his PM interview, it's clear that he is relieved to have lost and has felt throughout the tournament that he couldn't beat Rafa.

 

[Nadalgaenger]

In his PM presser, Roger was asked: "Is it more frustrating because you were thinking about the SF....". He immediately interrupted the journalist saying "I wasn't, you were) right at the beginning of the interview. Roger also said he felt he had no place in the SF and Delpo would have a better chance to beat Rafa than him because of the way he has been playing in this tournament , he is not good enough to win it.

Roger's PM presser
http://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/in...017-09-06_roger_federer_interview.html?chip=1

Basically, Fed said all of the stuff that I and several other wiser Fed fans have been saying all week here on the forum and that others ridiculed us for saying.

Fed knows that he wasn't fit enough to win this tournament. It's only due to a cakewalk draw that he was able to even make the QF. Even Youzhny might have beaten him had Youzhny not been hurt as well!

Lesson to be taken from all of this: AVOID WARM UP TOURNAMENTS And even Masters 1000 tournaments unless you are perfectly healthy.

We all knew that Fed's body was a timebomb waiting to go off and now it has. Hopefully he can be wise enough to rest until the AO 2018. Let Dimitrov play for him in the Laver Cup!

 

[Deleted member 754093]

Yes, I couldn't understand that. He was almost pleased to have lost the 3rd set. He knew he couldn't win the match then give Rafa a WO because that would have gone down like a lead balloon, even though he did that at the O2 against Djokovic.

Almost pleased to have lost the third set, after coming back from a break down and holding 4 set points?? Yeah, he really wanted to duck out of that one.

If he wins that set, he's heavily favored to win the match. What are you smoking?

 

[chjtennis]

In his PM presser, Roger was asked: "Is it more frustrating because you were thinking about the SF....". He immediately interrupted the journalist saying "I wasn't, you were) right at the beginning of the interview. Roger also said he felt he had no place in the SF and Delpo would have a better chance to beat Rafa than him because of the way he has been playing in this tournament , he is not good enough to win it.

Roger's PM presser
http://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/in...017-09-06_roger_federer_interview.html?chip=1

A typical case of words being taken out of context. See the interview for yourself.

Everything Federer was saying was from hindsight. He said he wasn't thinking about the SF to stress he wasn't looking past Delpo match, ie., he was only concentrating on the match in hand. He also said it was better for Delpo to advance from a retrospective view, not that he didn't want to be in SF and play Rafa. He said it hurts to lose but was just graciously conceding the better man on the day won. That was all. Just watch the video and everything will be clear. Otherwise, you have a massive comprehension problem.

 

[Federev]

It's such a bummer to see guys on this forum go after these ATGs. Rafa and Roger are amazing athletes and are actually friends who respect each other. Why do some of their fans have to get into all this ridiculous / ludicrous / childish intense stuff. I think Roger's the GOAT, but Rafa is absolutely amazing and worthy of great respect. I'm fine with guys who think the other way around.

I imagine both Fed and Rafa would not think much of a lot of stuff on this thread. Might even be embarrassed by it.

(p.s. ... just to speak to this thread: I think Roger's comments were refreshingly honest and and typically insightful. Loved that he said some of his stuff "sucked". We can't read anything more into it than that. ...And in keeping w the spirit of my point above: I thought Rafa's comments earlier on "boyfriend" were hilarious.)

 

[Jon Snow]

Fred ducked Rafa, simple as, just like the countless times Fred has ducked Rafa at the USO.

 

[peakin11mugs]

He has to rest for weeks before facing Rafa.

I agree. Nadal has reached four semis in slams in a year once. That's not a typo. He really has done it only once. He has missed a slam in 8 seasons but is always first for clay. Clearly his strategic tanks have worked well to get him 15 slams and I would suggest more players tank like this more often.

 

[peakin11mugs]

Fred ducked Rafa, simple as, just like the countless times Fred has ducked Rafa at the USO.

I agree. Nadal has reached four semis in slams in a year once. That's not a typo. He really has done it only once. He has missed a slam in 8 seasons but is always first for clay. Clearly his strategic tanks have worked well to get him 15 slams and I would suggest more players tank like this more often.

 

[fedtennisphan]

Ha! Ha! Rafa fans are attacking Federer because he beat Nadal this year and extended the GS record and wanted revenge on Federer.

 

[EdSWright]

It gets creepier every day on here.

 

[SamBruin7]

I think he wasn't 100% physically. At the Montreal Open he was cruising and looking unbeatable until the final against Zverev. He hurt his back and hasn't healed completely since then. The first match back at the US Open against Tiafoe he looked shakey and also the matches up to Del Potro. I'm actually glad he lost because I don't want to see an injured player winning and then retiring or playing like crap the next match. I'd rather see two great players going at it when they're at their best.

 

[Jackuar]

I understand it like, "My back is not good enough to hold on for further. Even if I win today its gonna let me down tomorrow. That doesn't mean I'm tanking it out today, I give my best knowing I'll lose anyway" -- and that boldened part, will sub-consciously keep the brain of any player in the doubt-filled-zone and limit giving out his best indirectly even if his heart wants it.

 

[rografnovand]

Seemed Fed was low key happy that DelPo ended his suffering

 

[Polvorin]

Because he was on surfaces that favored him

Which surface are you speaking of? The high bouncing conditions at Indian Wells or the painfully slow Miami courts that Fed didn't even bother playing on for many years?

 

[fednad]

Do I need a Membership Card to start a thread about Federer?

Maybe little common sense .....

 

[clayqueen]

Maybe little common sense .....

Fedfan criteria for common sense

1. Worship at Federer's altar.
2. Always post comments that flatter Fed or his fans, whose lives now morph into their idol's achievements so they'll take it as a personal slight on them.
3. Never defend Nadal against their vile, offensive comments.

 

[Tennis_Hands]

Here a picture of one particular poaster in this thread:

 

[fedtennisphan]

Fedfan criteria for common sense

1. Worship at Federer's altar.
2. Always post comments that flatter Fed or his fans, whose lives now morph into their idol's achievements so they'll take it as a personal slight on them.
3. Never defend Nadal against their vile, offensive comments.

Now change the name from Federer to Nadal.

 

[Tennis_Hands]

Now change the name from Federer to Nadal.

Ouch!

The truth is that all the fanboys / fangirls go by the same principles, no matter who they "support".

 

[clayqueen]

Now change the name from Federer to Nadal.

Try and be a little bit more original instead of mirroring someone who is supposed to have no common sense.

 

[Tennis_Hands]

Try and be a little bit more original instead of mirroring someone who is supposed to have no common sense.

You just go by your own experience.

You don't need common sense to write the post in question.

Plenty of posts to prove the lack of common sense and trolling prowess.

 

[fednad]

Fedfan criteria for common sense

1. Worship at Federer's altar.
2. Always post comments that flatter Fed or his fans, whose lives now morph into their idol's achievements so they'll take it as a personal slight on them.
3. Never defend Nadal against their vile, offensive comments.

NadsyBoy's fans criteria for common sense:
1. Gotta post even when common sense requires avoiding a reply !
2. Repeat 1 in loop

 

[Sentinel]

I don't understand these Nadal fans that makes threads about Federer....what's your purpose ?

I am told Nadal fans like to fabricate stories about Federer. And imagine what he thinks. At least that is what my friend @octobrina10 keeps reminding me

 

[anhtuanngo]

I am told Nadal fans like to fabricate stories about Federer. And imagine what he thinks. At least that is what my friend @octobrina10 keeps reminding me

True, I guess to make them feel better.

 

[KINGROGER]

Fred ducked Rafa, simple as, just like the countless times Fred has ducked Rafa at the USO.

Just like Rafa in 04,05,06,07,08,09 and 15 so 7 times. Fed ducked Rafa 4 times to date.

 

[Daniel Johnson]

Nothing in the entire press conference suggested his heart wasn't in it. More like he simply didn't have the self belief because of the way he had been feeling/playing.

Precisely

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[Deleted member 77403]

Roger's heart was not in it....

Sounds like a bad romance novel.

 

[DRII]

roger was still fighting back until the last point. his heart was in it, mind/body and delpo had other plans. but he did mention that while this loss hurts, or looks bad atm, when walking off court one of the first things that he thought was i can rest now. i'm sure people will misconstrue that to believe he didn't care but i'm sure he did.

 

[tennis_pro]

Federer's losses in 2017 have been so rare that every single one needs a weekly analysis.

He had back issues in Canada, took care of it to be healthy for the US Open, didn't train properly, barely beat Tiafoe/Youzhny in the first 2 rounds and lost to a first good player in Del Potro. Find another subject to discuss. Like Nadal's US Open draw.

 

[octobrina10]

I am told Nadal fans like to fabricate stories about Federer. And imagine what he thinks. At least that is what my friend @octobrina10 keeps reminding me

I have posted facts about your beloved Fed.

 

[clayqueen]

Federer's losses in 2017 have been so rare that every single one needs a weekly analysis.

He had back issues in Canada, took care of it to be healthy for the US Open, didn't train properly, barely beat Tiafoe/Youzhny in the first 2 rounds and lost to a first good player in Del Potro. Find another subject to discuss. Like Nadal's US Open draw.

So Federer's injuries are relevant to his losses but Nadal's aren't. You couldn't make it up. Are Fedfans for real, or have they been replaced by robots?

 

[killerboi2]

So Federer's injuries are relevant to his losses but Nadal's aren't. You couldn't make it up. Are Fedfans for real, or have they been replaced by robots?

Fed can't use injury as an excuse when he's playing against a guy so crocked that he can't even hit a proper backhand.

 

[tennis_pro]

So Federer's injuries are relevant to his losses but Nadal's aren't. You couldn't make it up. Are Fedfans for real, or have they been replaced by robots?

Nadal has always blamed his losses on injuries, it's nothing new. He once claimed he had a broken foot during a Slam and still reached the final. I'm sorry but Nadal isn't the most reliable source regarding injuries. His claimed injuries very rarely affect his game. I remember back in the day when he was taking MTO's in several matches and still ran like a rabbit afterwards.

 

[clayqueen]

I remember back in the day when he was taking MTO's in several matches and still ran like a rabbit afterwards.

It's amazing how an injured bull can keep fighting. Never underestimate the bull.

 

[tennis_pro]

It's amazing how an injured bull can keep fighting. Never underestimate the bull.

I have a different definition for that.

I call it BS.

 

[Deleted member 77403]

It's amazing how an injured bull can keep fighting. Never underestimate the bull.

True. The Bull is strong.

 

[Cup8489]

It's amazing how an injured bull can keep fighting. Never underestimate the bull.

But an uninjured bull can bow out of the tournament he wants most before the quarters. Amazing indeed.


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