"There's something wrong with Roger Federer" --Article on his form

[BeatlesFan]

Roger Federer's truly awful form in the summer's biggest matches refuses to go away — and it helped Novak Djokovic make Masters history

Alan Dawson


There's something wrong with Roger Federer.

The 37-year-old was on top of the tennis world just eight months ago, when he broke down into tears while lifting the 2018 Australian Open trophy. He had won the first major of the new year, his 20th Grand Slam title in total, and there was reason to believe there could be more in store for the rest of the year.

But things quickly went awry. He skipped the entire clay court season, leaving Rafa Nadal openly wondering whether Federer was avoiding him. It may have been a bid to preserve career longevity, but things backfired massively when he was dumped out of the 2018 Wimbledon Championships earlier this summer.

More recently, Federer looked truly awful when he lost in straight sets (6-4, 6-4) to old rival Novak Djokovic in the 2018 Cincinnati Masters final on Sunday.

On paper, Federer should have triumphed. He had been serving well all week, and he had a good head-to-head record against Djokovic at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio — winning in Cincinnati finals on three previous occasions.

But Federer stumbled, Djokovic stamped a clear authority on the match, and his victory ensured he had won the one Masters title that had so far eluded him. Djokovic's win was one for the history books — he became the first tennis player to win all nine ATP Masters 1000 events since the series began in 1990.

It is far too early to write Federer off at the elite level, but the veteran will surely be massively disappointed with how things have played out this summer.

Prior to his meeting with Djokovic, Federer had held his serve for 46 consecutive games but Djokovic put an end to that run at the weekend when he broke Federer to lead 4-3 in the first set. Djokovic took the lead in the second set, again leading 4-3 after breaking Federer, who made an extraordinary 39 unforced errors.

It is not the first time Federer has performed poorly in the year's biggest matches, as he lost form midway through his Wimbledon quarterfinal against Kevin Anderson.

Federer coasted to a two-set lead over Anderson in July, but threw it all away and allowed Anderson back into the match, losing two sets to tie 2-2, before losing a gripping fifth set by an incredible 13-11 score.

There are few opportunities for Federer to end the season on a high note — but after taking so much time off to ensure he is as fit and as fresh as possible for the grass and hard-court season, he must be looking at the upcoming US Open as a last-chance saloon for success this year.

https://www.businessinsider.com/roger-federer-truly-awful-in-the-biggest-tennis-matches-2018-8

 

[weakera]

This is some of the worst insight I've ever seen and I read Rothenberg. It doesn't dissect Fedr form at all.

 

[True Fanerer]

 

[Mainad]

Totally agree with the article. I can't account for why Federer's form has slumped so badly since the start of the year. Given that he has reported no injuries I can only assume his age is finally starting to catch up with him. He can still dominate most of the tour but against the likes of Djokovic (who has recovered his best form since re-connecting with his old coach Vajda) he can no longer compete.

 

[Slightly D1]

People act like Fed is doing something wrong... he has to be doing everything perfectly to even be as competitive as he is at his age. Maybe he’s finally in sharp decline but it’s ridiculous to expect complete dominance or even flawless consistency. Losses happen and the only seriously harmful loss this year was ditching Nike.

 

[Deon Sanders]

But things quickly went awry. He skipped the entire clay court season

This hack must not be paying attention to the last few years of tennis at all

Also. He is ranked #2 in the world.

Jump off the nearest structure tall enough to inflict serious injury but not enough to die so you lay there for days until you are found and then wish you were not found, writer

 

[True Fanerer]

This hack must not be paying attention to the last few years of tennis at all

Also. He is ranked #2 in the world.

Jump off the nearest structure tall enough to inflict serious injury but not enough to die so you lay there for days until you are found and then wish you were not found, writer

Like Kermit did.

 

[Deon Sanders]

Like Kermit did.

Felt skin feels no pain

 

[MichaelNadal]

I feel like watching that lol

 

[EloQuent]

Is his level really below AO? Cilic took him to 5. Maybe he'd have beaten Cilic in 3 in Cincy.

In general, as compared to 2017 his form in 2018 mirrors 2008. A level lower, reaching finals but losing them.

 

[duaneeo]

People act like Fed is doing something wrong...

Losing to Kevin Anderson after winning the first two sets at any slam let alone Wimbledon is solid evidence. The additional circumstantial evidence (the losses to Del Potro, Coric, and Djokovic) says Federer is guilty of doing something wrong.

 

[Deleted member 742196]

Scratch that. Will put up a thread.

 

[zep]

This is some of the worst insight I've ever seen and I read Rothenberg. It doesn't dissect Fedr form at all.

Rothenberg is the biggest sh1t-stirrer troll in tennis, wouldn't be surprised if he had an account here or at MTF for that purpose lol. I loved it when Federer ***** slapped him at the post match press conference the other day.

 

[Sentinel]

And now Feddy says he needs some rest

 

[Krish0608]

Federer said it in the press conference. He felt like his legs were not moving. It's all in those legs. Once the movement is off, everything else just falls rapidly.

 

[MasturB]

Lol Beatlesfan.

When I said Fed looked injured in the Anderson match post slip you were one of those that said "there's been nothing in any news articles mentioning any injuries"

I still think there are lingering effects from that injury I believe he sustained in that match.

Because his footwork this week has been way bad. The symptoms he had in the Anderson match post slip are only slightly fixed.

Instead of watching returns he's barely getting rackets on them. And when he is getting rackets on them he isn't even doing anything with returns (as evidenced by one of his worst return performances ever this pas week).

He double faulted so much and made routine errors at the net which is what he was doing in the Anderson match post slip (and also what he was doing following the back injury after Montreal at the USO. so many key volleys dumped into the net amongst all his matches and a higher double fault rate than usual).

He had to servebot against Stan until Stan ran out of gas himself. He was servebotting against Goffin and was only starting to return better in the 2nd when goffin was pushing serves in due to shoulder injury.

He wasn't buggywhipping as many forehands as he was in sets 2.5-5 in the Wimby QF but he certainly was relying on servebotting again. Once rallies started getting past 2 shots it was likely unless he whipped some magic he would lose the rally. Djokovic worked the rallies like crazy because he saw the weakness early.

The extra serve and volleying he was doing was also a clear sign he wasn't comfortable off the baseline again and just trying to end points early.

The double faults are both from trying to go bigger on seconds to force unreturned serves, and just a lack of comfort on the kinetic chain altogether. You need the lower back and legs on a kick serve even more than you do a first serve. First serve you can arm it more which he was doing.


Before you non-sense fanatics come at me with the "Wimbledon was weeks ago! He should be rested" argument let's just remember this guy is 37. He isnt going to heal from an injury however minor or major as fast as he would at 27.

Following Montreal, I would easily argue his best form did not return until Shanghai. He played solid at Laver Cup, but he didnt return to his 2017 form everyone remembers until Shanghai. He barely survived Basel and then was gassed at WTF.

Wimbledon injury was a month ago. It's going to be more time before he recovers. I really doubt he'll be 100% for USO.

 

[Russeljones]

It is far too early to write Federer off at the elite level

Why?

 

[NEW_BORN]

When you reach a certain age, your agility level and reaction times start dropping at a exponential rate.
Coupled with the fact that he spends half the season lounging on a beach somewhere, sipping chocolate margarita, it's a deadly combination.

 

[r2473]

A 37 year old Federer in poor form is still better than everyone else in the world except Djokovic and maybe Nadal.

 

[Zardoz7/12]

Inconsistencies crop up more as one gets older in Sport, the fact he's number 2 and he's played 8 tournaments this season is incredible, yes the 4 other tournaments from last year (US Open, Shanghai, Basel, WTF's) are yet to be consolidated but still what he's doing on tour whilst playing a part time schedule is amazing.

 

[Im(moral) Winner]

 

[Red Rick]

Roger Federer, still not as painful to watch the guy who wrote this

 

[OhYes]

"Federer allowed Djokovic to win"

How rest of the tour is allowing Federer to keep his rank and how that situation shouldn't be discussed at all, is beyond me.

 

[Red Rick]

Seriously, Federer being top 10 at all at his age is outrageous.

We could look at the rankings after Rotterdam next year, but he's not crashing out of the top 10 by then. He'll drop his AO win points if he doesn't defend, but he'll be top 10 at 37.5 years old.

The only reason to judge him negatively, is if your expectations demands are off the charts insane

Spoiler

Says something about the quality of the article that I of all people am defending Federer

Spoiler

What is wrong with me

 

[icedevil0289]

what year are we in, jfc. this is probably just as much of a reflection of the field's inability to defeat top players while not in the best form than anything else. lets be real fed was patchy the entire tournament

 

[OhYes]

what year are we in, jfc. this is probably just as much of a reflection of the field's inability to defeat top players while not in the best form than anything else. lets be real fed was patchy the entire tournament

How you explain patchy play when a guy never drops his serve game ?

 

[icedevil0289]

How you explain patchy play when a guy never drops his serve game ?

lbr that serve was probably the only thing or one of the only things that was on point during most of the tournament and when everything else is meh at best, that serve is still good enough for most of the tour.

 

[junior74]

And now Feddy says he needs some rest

Presicely. And people here still think he is prime Federer...

Plays five matches after a six week break, and needs a vacation. He has broken the laws of nature, and we want more.

 

[Deleted member 716271]

Im not understanding this Fed being over panic. The guy is clearly at least the 3rd favorite for every tourney he enters outside of clay. That gives you a chance to win tournaments, slams etc.

 

[Terry Tibbs]

Federer was indeed woeful in that cincy final. That said, a scoreline of 4-6, 4-6 isn't exactly a trouncing and suggests that he only needed to be a bit better to make the match close.

 

[Sport]

Is his level really below AO? Cilic took him to 5. Maybe he'd have beaten Cilic in 3 in Cincy.

In general, as compared to 2017 his form in 2018 mirrors 2008. A level lower, reaching finals but losing them.

Horrible analogy. In 2008 he won the US Open and reached 3 Grand Slam finals on 3 different surfaces (hard, grass and clay). In 2018 he didn't play on clay, didn't reach the Wimbledon final and probably won't win the US Open (even though he can reach the final with a decent draw).

"As compared with 2017"? In 2017 he didn't play on clay, nor did he pass the quarterfinals of the US Open. In 2008 he won the US Open and reached 3 Grand Slams finals on 3 surfaces (hard, grass and clay).

 

[mike danny]

A 37 year old Federer in poor form is still better than everyone else in the world except Djokovic and maybe Nadal.

Except he isn't.

 

[mike danny]

Seriously, Federer being top 10 at all at his age is outrageous.

We could look at the rankings after Rotterdam next year, but he's not crashing out of the top 10 by then. He'll drop his AO win points if he doesn't defend, but he'll be top 10 at 37.5 years old.

The only reason to judge him negatively, is if your expectations demands are off the charts insane

Spoiler

Says something about the quality of the article that I of all people am defending Federer

Spoiler

What is wrong with me

You are a fair poster. Even if you don't like Fed, at least you admit it and don't try to bash him. Respect

 

[mike danny]

How you explain patchy play when a guy never drops his serve game ?

Fed is playing patchy when he only relies on his serve. You would know that if you followed him but why do I bother...

 

[AM75]

How many years after 2012 he couldn't win a GS title? Really, we even don't know where Djokovic, Nadal or anyone will be with 36, 37, and if they will be able to win slams.

 

[Rafa's OCD]

...against the likes of Djokovic (who has recovered his best form since re-connecting with his old coach Vajda)...

this may or may not be true, but Djokovic was nowhere close to his "best form" on Sunday, he was simply much better than Federer. Federer, for most of the match, played like a bottom 100 player.

 

[NEW_BORN]

Please stop talking out of your ass about things you have no idea about.

You're one to talk. Lose the attitude clown.

 

[EloQuent]

Horrible analogy. In 2008 he won the US Open and reached 3 Grand Slam finals on 3 different surfaces (hard, grass and clay). In 2018 he didn't play on clay, didn't reach the Wimbledon final and probably won't win the US Open (even though he can reach the final with a decent draw).

"As compared with 2017"? In 2017 he didn't play on clay, nor did he pass the quarterfinals of the US Open. In 2008 he won the US Open and reached 3 Grand Slams finals on 3 surfaces (hard, grass and clay).

In both 17 and 18 he didn't play clay. In both 07 and 08 he did. I wasn't comparing for clay, nor does an analogy need to be perfect. Point is, in 18 he's lost 3 finals (IW, Halle, Cincy) that he'd have won in 17. So he's not in a 2013 slump, because he's making finals and for a mortal that's still nice. But his level has dipped.

 

[RaulRamirez]

Not much to reply to here.
This piece was devoid of any true insight - and poorly written in spots.

As for Fed's current form, I don't expect him to win the US Open, but it wouldn't shock me if he did.
(Like most, I think it's between Novak and Rafa - if both are given fair draws, and in different halves.)
Fed's still a threat - still moves well, serves very well, and has all the shots.

 

[yokied]

I'm not saying I think he could have beaten Novak here, or that this plan will work - about the only thing that's guaranteed is at least one immature response to the idea - but I think Trollerer came out to play here and he was tanking say 5-10% enough not to have a strenuous match. I think Fed knows how off a lot of his game is and that he will need to raise his level a lot to beat Djokodal at USO so he didn't want to put in too much effort to be as fresh as possible for USO.

At Fed's age, training has to be pointed quite specifically towards certain peaks with a lot of recovery, lower intensity work and just plain rest. Even given his athletic ability, all the recovery tools and professional assistance and his work ethic, the muscular facts remain the muscular facts. It's very hard to peak again so soon for USO after Cinci. I'm thinking Fed's crew might have told him to be very careful with keeping the real efforts to short periods in each match, if at all.

The other thing going on here is he has definitely put on kinetic chain muscle. Glute, core, chest - all injury insurance policies taken out against various muscles - meaning he's hitting the ball harder for the same swing. This would partially explain some of the groundstroke weirdness and the rise of these abbreviated swings with less core rotation like the buggy whip FH. It takes some time to adjust to because you don't need as big a swing or as much core rotation but the swing needs to start earlier. Even for the king it's not easy to adjust. The racquet is also a factor here: he's either tweaked the racquet (tension maybe) or he hasn't adjusted the racquet yet to accommodate the extra power.

Either way, he hasn't quite worked out what's going on yet. I think he was completely pre-occupied with his problems for the whole match frankly because he didn't even try any of his usual tactics against Novak that he's used many times, most of which work quite well, that revolve around junkballing him and disrupting his rhythm.

I'm sure there are some over-35 guys here who have played at a decent level and had to do more strength work to keep the show on the road who know exactly what I'm talking about here. I'm about two months younger than Fed and found the strength work I started doing a while back had big implications for my game. I also play cricket and it had a massive impact there too.

Then again, he could have all of the above worked out and could just be worrying about off court dramas like Uniqlo busting his balls over designs for the RF range.

 

[Username_]

Its uniqlo's fault he lost

 

[ParrotOnStrings]

and he had a good head-to-head record against Djokovic

aha, "good head-to-head" , he was 1 match down already before the game.
strange argument is also, that djokovic only won, cause federer was so bad. you could say the same for feds wins this year, he only won cause djokovic was injured. eitherway its dumb.

cheers.

 

[Steve0904]

Fed is playing patchy when he only relies on his serve. You would know that if you followed him but why do I bother...

That means he's been patchy for years now though. Since 2012 probably, with a few instances of a good/great ground game thrown in over the 6 years since.

On topic, unless he's actually injured which he himself hasn't said, then I don't get the panic. He's 37 years old. That's all there is to it.

 

[sureshs]

A 37 year old Federer in poor form is still better than everyone else in the world except Djokovic and maybe Nadal.

You are right, Fed has always been below those guys in talent

 

[GabeT]

He’s 37 and he reached a Masters final. His biggest “problem” is his age. His second biggest is that he was facing Nole. I suspect he would have beaten Cilic.

 

[sureshs]

His biggest “problem” is his age.

No, he has always been inferior to Nadal and Djokovic.

 

[Steve0904]

Moreover, he's been "awful" in big matches. Yet he's won 1 of the 3 biggest tournaments played so far this year. The one that will be the biggest part in defining his legacy after he retires.

So safe to say the writer doesn't have a clue to call his own.

 

[junior74]

You are right, Fed has always been below those guys in talent

Good insight. Here's more:

Can Federer win any more Slams?
Discussion in 'General Pro Player Discussion' started by sureshs, Jun 8, 2008.


sureshsBionic Poster

"He will not win any more Masters or Slams. Maybe a couple of small tournaments".

- - - - - - -

8 slams and 13 Masters later:

Suri, you were almost right - again!

https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?threads/can-federer-win-any-more-slams.202329/

 

[GabeT]

He double faulted so much and made routine errors at the net which is what he was doing in the Anderson match post slip (and also what he was doing following the back injury after Montreal at the USO. so many key volleys dumped into the net amongst all his matches and a higher double fault rate than usual).

He had to servebot against Stan until Stan ran out of gas himself. He was servebotting against Goffin and was only starting to return better in the 2nd when goffin was pushing serves in due to shoulder injury.

He wasn't buggywhipping as many forehands as he was in sets 2.5-5 in the Wimby QF but he certainly was relying on servebotting again. Once rallies started getting past 2 shots it was likely unless he whipped some magic he would lose the rally. Djokovic worked the rallies like crazy because he saw the weakness early.

The extra serve and volleying he was doing was also a clear sign he wasn't comfortable off the baseline again and just trying to end points early.

The double faults are both from trying to go bigger on seconds to force unreturned serves, and just a lack of comfort on the kinetic chain altogether. You need the lower back and legs on a kick serve even more than you do a first serve.

Why do people say he double faulted so much? Fed had only 4 DFs. In 2015, when he steamrolled Nole at Cincy, he had 2 DFs. Are we saying that an extra 2 DFs is so much?

And he more than made up for the DFs with more aces this time. He served 11 aces vs 7 in 2015

 

[BeatlesFan]

Lol Beatlesfan.

When I said Fed looked injured in the Anderson match post slip you were one of those that said "there's been nothing in any news articles mentioning any injuries"

I still think there are lingering effects from that injury I believe he sustained in that match.

Because his footwork this week has been way bad. The symptoms he had in the Anderson match post slip are only slightly fixed.

Instead of watching returns he's barely getting rackets on them. And when he is getting rackets on them he isn't even doing anything with returns (as evidenced by one of his worst return performances ever this pas week).

He double faulted so much and made routine errors at the net which is what he was doing in the Anderson match post slip (and also what he was doing following the back injury after Montreal at the USO. so many key volleys dumped into the net amongst all his matches and a higher double fault rate than usual).

He had to servebot against Stan until Stan ran out of gas himself. He was servebotting against Goffin and was only starting to return better in the 2nd when goffin was pushing serves in due to shoulder injury.

He wasn't buggywhipping as many forehands as he was in sets 2.5-5 in the Wimby QF but he certainly was relying on servebotting again. Once rallies started getting past 2 shots it was likely unless he whipped some magic he would lose the rally. Djokovic worked the rallies like crazy because he saw the weakness early.

The extra serve and volleying he was doing was also a clear sign he wasn't comfortable off the baseline again and just trying to end points early.

The double faults are both from trying to go bigger on seconds to force unreturned serves, and just a lack of comfort on the kinetic chain altogether. You need the lower back and legs on a kick serve even more than you do a first serve. First serve you can arm it more which he was doing.


Before you non-sense fanatics come at me with the "Wimbledon was weeks ago! He should be rested" argument let's just remember this guy is 37. He isnt going to heal from an injury however minor or major as fast as he would at 27.

Following Montreal, I would easily argue his best form did not return until Shanghai. He played solid at Laver Cup, but he didnt return to his 2017 form everyone remembers until Shanghai. He barely survived Basel and then was gassed at WTF.

Wimbledon injury was a month ago. It's going to be more time before he recovers. I really doubt he'll be 100% for USO.

Federer and Luthi specifically said there was no injury. Fed we can doubt, but not Luthi. He openly trained on Long Island all August- no injury. Nothing in the workd’s press either. The only person on this “injury bandwagon” is apparently you. His play has sucked since IW with multiple chokes and he wasn’t “injured” then either.