Signs say - J. Johansson will beat Federer in Wimbledon semifinals!

[Bart]

Do you remember Australian Open - that was Marat's birthday, when he beat Federer in semifinals. Next, Roland Garros - Nadal beats Federer in semifinals, and this is winner's birthday again! Imagine, what will happen in Wimbledon semifinals, July 1st? It is safe to say, that Roger will lose to somebody, whos anniversary is celebrated. And it is... yes, Joachim Johansson, was born in 01/07/1982!

The same was listed in the post below - but it's funny anyway

 

[TwistServe]

Do you remember Australian Open - that was Marat's birthday, when he beat Federer in semifinals. Next, Roland Garros - Nadal beats Federer in semifinals, and this is winner's birthday again! Imagine, what will happen in Wimbledon semifinals, July 1st? It is safe to say, that Roger will lose to somebody, whos anniversary is celebrated. And it is... yes, Joachim Johansson, was born in 01/07/1982! Place your bets

Is that janurary 7th or july 1st?...

 

[rhubarb]

It's the 1st of July.

 

[zorg]

It is almost IMPOSSIBLE for Federer to lose to Johanson in the semis. First off, the draw will probiblly not allow it. Second of all, I think Federer is a lot better on grass. Third of all, what are the chances of that happening 3 times in a row?

 

[newracketagain??]

its fate

hahahah

 

[Rickson]

Biting my thread? Federer has been known to be generous on his opponents' birthdays, but I seriously doubt he'll be playing anyone on his birthday at Wimbledon.

 

[DashaandSafin]

What? Do you think Johansson does not even have a chance? Have you watched the AO against Agassi? If Jochim hits like that again...its plain scary. I wouldnt even play him for the fear of getting hit and put in a coma.

 

[Jonnyf]

what about Roddick he hits the ball even harder

 

[Bart]

WTF guys! OK, Johansson is helpless on clay, but he is a top man on grass. One of the favourites, no doubt.

 

[zorroman]

Johansson is in with a chance if he plays at his peak, and Roger does not perform at his best.

 

[federerhoogenbandfan]

I dont know if Johansson will be the one to do it, but I fully expect Roger to fall in the Wimbledon semis. Winning a Grand Slam semi seems to be beyond Roger these days.

 

[TwistServe]

I dont know if Johansson will be the one to do it, but I fully expect Roger to fall in the Wimbledon semis. Winning a Grand Slam semi seems to be beyond Roger these days.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
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HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I Agree

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

 

[bustigal]

Playing on grass is more than one big serve as Fed had beaten Roddick like a drum in Wimby in the last few years. Johansson has no game beside that one big serve. He served 50+ aces (maybe a record) in the 2005 Australian Open against Agassi and still lost. That just shows you. Let's see whether he can make it to the semi 1st.

 

[DashaandSafin]

Yes only one big serve? You have no clue what you are talking about. Obviously you ddi not watch his match against Agassi in this years AO. I wont even explain it to you go watch the match then come back and say Jochim is only one big serve.

 

[Chadwixx]

jochim is 17-12 this year, fed is 46-3. u guys need to use ur heads more.

 

[Boy Wonder]

jochim is 17-12 this year, fed is 46-3. u guys need to use ur heads more.

No one has played on grass yet this season. Pim Pim's game is taylor made for grass. A player that does well one part of the season will not always do well the next. The record does not matter, IMO.

 

[Feña14]

He served 50+ aces (maybe a record) in the 2005 Australian Open against Agassi and still lost. That just shows you. Let's see whether he can make it to the semi 1st.

Joachim was injured in that match and was coming of the back of a 13-11 win in the 5th over Lopez in the Australian heat.

He was exhausted and was just hitting bombs and his movement was pretty poor (I think it was the hamstring).

Yet he still took Agassi to 4 competetive sets! If he can get some momentum he is going to be in contention come the second week.

 

[bustigal]

D...Safin
Check the AO match result before you speak. Jh'son's 50+ aces still couldn't beat Agassi,and it's not even a 5-setter. How can someone served 50+ aces and still lost in 4 sets? What happen to the rest of his game? The score and the result speak for themselves, pal.

If he couldn't get pass Agassi, how can he pass Fed, who was and has been playing at a higher level than Agassi in the last couple of years?

 

[DashaandSafin]

Well first off the AO surface is nothing compared to grass. It is far slower like in Miami...which is why Nadal did so well on both surfaces. Anyway Jochim's surface is grass. Most of the shots he hit would not come back on grass i dont care if its federer.

 

[Chadwixx]

Playing on grass is more than one big serve as Fed had beaten Roddick like a drum in Wimby in the last few years. Johansson has no game beside that one big serve. He served 50+ aces (maybe a record) in the 2005 Australian Open against Agassi and still lost. That just shows you. Let's see whether he can make it to the semi 1st.

for a guy with the best return of serve agassi sure does get aced alot. i wish there was a way to look at career times aced, id wager agassi is near the top.

 

[devila]

The best returner, Agassi, still barely won a match against a mental midget like Roddick.

Federer needed a rain delay at Wimbledon.
Other times, he enjoyed playing an injured, unfit, poorly coached, emotionally deficient
opponent. Sound familiar?

 

[fastdunn]

Playing on grass is more than one big serve as Fed had beaten Roddick like a drum in Wimby in the last few years. Johansson has no game beside that one big serve. He served 50+ aces (maybe a record) in the 2005 Australian Open against Agassi and still lost. That just shows you. Let's see whether he can make it to the semi 1st.

Actually, Roddick had chances to beat Federer last year.
He was over-powering Fed 1st 2 sets and then couple of rain delays
and unfortunate line calls brought him to set score 1-2. And he gave up
on the last set.

Mat Wilander mentioned Johansson can do everything well
and can beat any one when he is on. He further mentioned the problem
is there's about 30% chance of him bringing up his A game....

Johansson, Gasquet and Ancic are the dangerous floaters
on Wimbledon for Federer.

 

[Jack the Hack]

Well first off the AO surface is nothing compared to grass. It is far slower like in Miami...which is why Nadal did so well on both surfaces. Anyway Jochim's surface is grass. Most of the shots he hit would not come back on grass i dont care if its federer.

Dasha,

If grass is Joachim Johansson's surface, why does he only have a 7-5 lifetime record on it?

Joachim has an enormous serve, but there is much more to the game than that. In my opinion, he has deficiencies in this backhand, volley, and return of serve that will keep him from seriously contending. How was Agassi able to beat him at the Australian, despite all the aces? It was because Johansson could not return well enough to consistantly break Agassi. He was fortunate to keep holding serve, but he lost in the tie-breakers.

If you look at this run to the 4th round at Wimbledon last year, the highest ranked player he faced was Mardy Fish (who has a very similar game)... and he lost to Florian Mayer in 4 sets!

I do think that he has improved, as evident by his two tournament wins this year and semifinal showing at the US Open. But he is also dealing with an elbow injury that kept him out of the French.

I think he is a dangerous player, but do not consider him a serious contender this year.

Mat Wilander mentioned Johansson can do everything well and can beat any one when he is on. He further mentioned the problem
is there's about 30% chance of him bringing up his A game...

fastdunn,

I have a lot of respect for Wilander's opinion as he was one of the best strategic thinkers in the history of the game, and one of my favorites of all time. Where did you hear that comment?

(In Jon Wertheim's recent SI column, he mentioned that Wilander was a great color commentator during the French, but did not say what channel he was working for. I sure wish ESPN would snag him...)

 

[alienhamster]

Jack, you've had some really good posts lately, and you kinda beat me to the punch in this thread re: Johansson.

I think people are overstating his potential on grass at this point. I mean, yeah, big servers (particularly those who can hit the flat bombs and slices) will be most rewarded on grass. But you also need to be a good returner, and you've got to use slices/chips smartly. I haven't seen any evidence that Johansson can do this well on grass. Federer and Roddick have really good grass-type games in terms of their flat and slice shots. (But I agree with you that Roddick's returns could be better, as well as--duh--his volleys.) And Hewitt is an amazing returner of lower bounce, quick pace shots, so he gets away with not having a big serve. It's between these guys, really.

Johansson could shock someone big in an earlier round, but I just don't see him making it all the way.

 

[devila]

The top 10 players can beat Johansson easily when they end the partying and train seriously. After 2004, people started touting Joachim as a top 5 player. Ridiculous.

 

[ATXtennisaddict]

LOL funny point about birthdays.

 

[Jack the Hack]

Jack, you've had some really good posts lately, and you kinda beat me to the punch in this thread re: Johansson.

Thanks for the compliment alienhamster!

I usually try to put a little thought into my writing and provide posts with some substance. Given that, if you see more than 3 posts in a day or several that are 100+ words long from me, you know it's a slow day at work!!!

 

[Exile]

what about Roddick he hits the ball even harder

JJ pwned roddick at USO last year.

JJ is even faster now

Roddick has no chance in hell, especially since he can't hit a decent 2hbh to save his life.

 

[Exile]

He was over-powering Fed 1st 2 sets and then couple of rain delays
and unfortunate line calls brought him to set score 1-2. And he gave up
on the last set.

Roddick didn't give up, don't blame his loss on that.

He even started hitting the ball harder on the return in the final sets to try to startle federer, only to net each one.

 

[activentures]

THis message board is degenerating badly.

ps. Re: Wimby, Tim has it in the bag

 

[wjwalsh]

(In Jon Wertheim's recent SI column, he mentioned that Wilander was a great color commentator during the French, but did not say what channel he was working for. I sure wish ESPN would snag him...)

He was commentating for British Eurosport quite a lot at the French-very insightful and fascinating comments even if he did talk through quite a few points. As for Johannsons Wimbledon chances I'd say they are Nil. Been in poor form not just on clay and the injury wont help him. Not a fan of his game at all to be honest-very ugly and shows me the bad side of tennis.

 

[bustigal]

Here is one for you:

Johansson lost to Philipp Kohlschreiber 6:7 and 1:6 on GRASS today. Who is Kohlschreiber, by the way?

This is exactly what mean. Johansson needs to win this kind of game consistantly for a year or two before we should mention him in the same breath of Fed.

 

[Grimjack]

The days when a big serve automatically equalled Wimbledon success died out in the 90's. It's a baseliner's/allcourter's surface now. JJ might have had Goran-ish success if he had played there 20 years ago. Now, he's meat for the beast.

And far too much is made of his big ace #'s versus Agassi. Agassi is probably the best OFFENSIVE serve returner in history -- meaning he takes chances. He gets burned, but he burns back more than his fair share, too. Federer, on the other hand, is one of the best DEFENSIVE returners in history. He seems to put almost everything back in play. For JJ, against Federer, that'll pretty much destroy his whole game plan.

There are guys out there with enough all-court talent to give Fed trouble on the green stuff, but I don't see JJ as one of them, unless he plays the match of his life.

 

[pianeon]

for a guy with the best return of serve agassi sure does get aced alot. i wish there was a way to look at career times aced, id wager agassi is near the top.

He probably is at the top, but it's not because of his return of serve. It's because he's been playing for about 100 years.

 

[davey25]

Federer really should win Wimbledon if he plays close to his potential. Look at the others:

Roddick-their match last year could have gone either way, but Andy is not near as confident as last year and I would be surprised if he could play at the same level. On the other hand every match I have seen Roger play at the big W has been at a different level than that match, with the exceptions of his 2003 1st round vs Koubek, and 2004 quarter vs Schalken. So Roger should be much better, and Roddick not as strong, if they played again this year.

Hewitt-He challenged Roger in their matches until the U.S open, since then it has been all Roger.

Safin-Doubt he will do much more than show up and make a token appareance.

Nadal-Lets put it this way, if Nadal even gets to 5-5 in any set on grass, you will be able to tell he has really gotten in Roger's head to the point it is badly stifling his own play.

Gasquet-Dont know much about him on grass, doubt he would be the threat to the big ones as he is on clay yet though.

Johannson-weak backhand, weak mobility, some very good weapons, too glaring of holes, it would be up to Roger to mess it up.

Ancic-more complete than Johannson IMO, but mediocre mobility as well, sometimes shaky second serve and forehand. Not grand slam potential calibre yet, and has not improved since last years Wimbledon where he was at his peak IMO.

Agassi-could do well, beating Roger on grass, at this point? Dont think so.

Lets put it this way, if Roger does not win Wimbledon, the odds are high he really managed to f%&k it up somehow. The crazy part is I honestly expect him to find some way to do exactly that, to give it away and lose in the semis at a grand slam again somehow. I dont know how he will do it, since this should be the biggest lock of all his slams this year, but he will.

 

[DashaandSafin]

*sigh* dont you guys get it by now? Jochim is a player that can beat any other player on grass or extremly hard courts on any given day. Sure he lost to Kolschriber(oh yea btw he made it quite far into the AO this year) but im guessing his game was way way off. Anyone who watched Jochim vs Roddick last year and Jochim vs Agassi this year knows what im talking about. When he is on he is just plain scary. When he is cold...im guessing that he just sucks.

 

[bustigal]

D.. Safin:
You missed the gist of the discussion. When you try to predict something going to happen like the heading of this thread, you better have some facts to support the odd and be responsible for it. Would you bet your house money on JJ beating Fed in the semi? I think not. Here is his chance at the tiny Gerry Weber Open, and he already flopped out in the 1st round, let alone Wimby. He does not enough game consistantly to favor your prediction.

 

[The tennis guy]

*sigh* dont you guys get it by now? Jochim is a player that can beat any other player on grass or extremly hard courts on any given day. Sure he lost to Kolschriber(oh yea btw he made it quite far into the AO this year) but im guessing his game was way way off. Anyone who watched Jochim vs Roddick last year and Jochim vs Agassi this year knows what im talking about. When he is on he is just plain scary. When he is cold...im guessing that he just sucks.

The were big servers who won W, however there were never anyone who was slow to win W. JJ doesn't move well enough to win on grass. The comparision to Goran Ivanesevic ends with the serve. Goran moved extremely well, JJ doesn't. He can move better on hard court because the footing is firm; on grass you have to be light on your feet.

 

[DashaandSafin]

Bust
What i am saying is that Jochim at least has a fair shot. He has a better shot at Federer than lets say Nadal does. I would still bet for Federer to win 9 out of 10 times but that one time that Jochim is on...i think he will win. If it came down to betting, i would pick Federer, obviously.

 

[The tennis guy]

Bust
What i am saying is that Jochim at least has a fair shot. He has a better shot at Federer than lets say Nadal does. I would still bet for Federer to win 9 out of 10 times but that one time that Jochim is on...i think he will win. If it came down to betting, i would pick Federer, obviously.

1 out of 10 shot is not a fair shot.

 

[DashaandSafin]

Its better than the 100-1 shot that all other players have.

 

[AJK1]

There's nothing more stupid and embarrassing than so-called experts on here making firm predictions, and then when that player loses badly, they try to justify it with more baloney. Get a life!

 

[davey25]

An "on" Johansson was not good enough to beat Agassi in the Australian Open, despite a record ace total. He did beat Roddick at the U.S open, but the match could have gone either way, and Roddick could easily have won the 5th set, he had far more chances to win it with break points and such than Thomas. I dont think he is certain to beat the top players even when he is on, let alone Federer on grass. Federer on grass, unless it is a grand slam semi or final where he will probably fold, is much harder to beat right now than Agassi on a hard court.

 

[DashaandSafin]

Whatever AJK1. In response to your ignore Twistserve's posts i rather ignore yours...troll.

 

[Dedans Penthouse]

"Jag ar en stor drulle maktig serv och en oberacknelig forehand.

DET FINNS INGEN MOJLIGHET ATT JAG KUNDE VINNA ROGER FEDERER!!"

Translated: "I am a big klutz with a powerful serve and an erratic forehand.

THERE IS NO POSSIBILITY THAT I WILL BEAT ROGER FEDERER!!"

Well, there you heard it: straight from the horse's mouth.

 

[@wright]

haha, good one!

 

[AJK1]

Don't sulk Dashaandsafin! When someone proves you wrong, it doesn't mean they are a troll? Or is that all you've got to answer with?

 

[activentures]

Translated: "I am a big klutz with a powerful serve and an erratic forehand.

THERE IS NO POSSIBILITY THAT I WILL BEAT ROGER FEDERER!!"

Well, there you heard it: straight from the horse's mouth.

At least he has a powerful serve, I was under the impression horses couldn't play any kind of tennis stroke, due to a lack of opposing digits!!

 

[peter]

You got the wrong Johannson, Thomas is a far more consistent player

Yep. I actually think Thomas has a pretty good chance of meeting Federer in the final (which Federer will win - unfortunately for Thomas

 

[federerhoogenbandfan]

Thomas lost to Roddick in Wimbledon 2001, when Roddick was a bit of a rookie. Even if he beat Nalbandian, to beat Roddick 4 years after losing to a much greener Roddick would be a momentual task indeed. Granted I did see that 2001 3rd round, and when Thomas was cutting out his unforced errors, he usualy outplayed Roddick, I think he gave that particular match up due to nerves, since he came in after some good warm up events and seemed to have a great draw to the semis.