"This guy is very bad, he will never be #1"--Gaudio about Federer

M

merlinpinpin

Hall of Fame
In his defense, that was in 2000, but still funny:

"This guy is very bad, he will never be world no. 1. He doesn't know how to play backhand, how can he be world no. 1?" Gaudio had mentioned to Benito Perez Barbadillo, Rafael Nadal's current agent who was working for ATP at the time.

"I was feeling that I could beat him, that I was there. But I was always losing, I didn't know how but in the moment I had to win the point, he was winning it," said Gaudio about his matches against Federer.

(http://www.**************.org/tenni...tion-about-roger-federer-this-guy-is-so-bad-/)

He ended up losing all his five matches vs Fed, including the infamous 6/0, 6/0 Masters semi in 2005, Gaudio's best year by far (to his credit, he made it competitive in at least one set in all their other matches, though).

Hindsight is such a wonderful thing... :D
 
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zagor

zagor

Bionic Poster
Miss Gaudio, such a fascinating headcase (even in a sport that is full of them, he stands apart) and one fo the best 1HBHs I've ever seen on clay.
 
George Turner

George Turner

Hall of Fame
Sysyphus said:
Well, to be fair, even in hindsight I often ask myself how the guy with arguably the second worst backhand drive in the top 100 after Karlovic could achieve such heights with so little. A study in grit, tactical ingenuity, and the power of junk balls.
Click to expand...

Fed need lessons from Raonic on the backhand drive.

giphy.gif
 
mike danny

mike danny

Bionic Poster
merlinpinpin said:
To his credit, that was in 2000, but still...

"This guy is very bad, he will never be world no. 1. He doesn't know how to play backhand, how can he be world no. 1?" Gaudio had mentioned to Benito Perez Barbadillo, Rafael Nadal's current agent who was working for ATP at the time.

"I was feeling that I could beat him, that I was there. But I was always losing, I didn't know how but in the moment I had to win the point, he was winning it," said Gaudio about his matches against Federer.

(http://www.**************.org/tenni...tion-about-roger-federer-this-guy-is-so-bad-/)

He ended up losing all his five matches vs Fed, including the infamous 6/0, 6/0 Masters semi in 2005, Gaudio's best year by far (he made it competitive in at least one set in all their other matches, though).

Hindsight is such a wonderful thing... :D
Click to expand...
I honestly think Fed heard this interview before the 2005 WTF SF and got mad.
 
Shaolin

Shaolin

G.O.A.T.
mike danny said:
I honestly think Fed heard this interview before the 2005 WTF SF and got mad.
Click to expand...

I saw that match. Gaudio played so badly that Fed hardly had to lift a finger to double bagel him.

I remember the Chinese tournament officials complaining about the matches that year, saying something like 'They paid for a Mercedes and got a broken down old car'. After that match Gaudio's career took a nosedive and he pretty much went away IIRC.
 
mike danny

mike danny

Bionic Poster
Shaolin said:
I saw that match. Gaudio played so badly that Fed hardly had to lift a finger to double bagel him.

I remember the Chinese tournament officials complaining about the matches that year, saying something like 'They paid for a Mercedes and got a broken down old car'. After that match Gaudio's career took a nosedive and he pretty much went away IIRC.
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Well I can't blame them for thinking like this. Most of the top players in that time withdrew from the event (Nadal, Roddick, Hewitt). If Federer had withdrawn as well, it would have been probably the worst WTF edition in the last 15 years.

The final salvaged the tournament considerably.
 
ghostofMecir

ghostofMecir

Hall of Fame
What’s interesting here is someone saying, “He’s so bad that he won’t reach #1.” Usually we say, “He sucks somhell never be top 50,”or he’ll never win a title,” not that “he’ll never be #1.” The hype was always there ever since the Orange Bowl and junior days.

Gaudio had one of the most beautiful one-handed BHs I’ve ever seen. He wasn’t the greatest athlete and he was too short to make up for that with his serve . Then you had the mental issues and he never reached success commensurate with possessing such a beautiful stroke.
 
S

sureshs

Bionic Poster
What I find most interesting is that when some of us here pointed out that Fed had a weak backhand, we were attacked. But it seems we were always correct as confirmed by a pro like Gaudio.
 
S

sureshs

Bionic Poster
Red Rick said:
People can be wrong, especially when predicting the future.

I don't see how that's news.
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The news here is that a fellow pro and Slam winner thought that Fed "does not know how to play backhand." It is very rare for such a statement to be made, even in private.
 
heninfan99

heninfan99

Talk Tennis Guru
"Former Brazilian tennis star Gustavo Kuerten on Tuesday said Pete Sampras was "much better" than current world number one Roger Federer and that the late Formula 1 champion Ayrton Senna was also better than current star Michael Schumacher.

Kuerten, a former world number one himself who beat both Sampras and Federer during his career, told Brazilian TV Globo that the Swiss number one only stands out due to the absence of retired American Sampras. "In Formula 1, Schumacher took advantage of Senna's death to conquer his triumphs, just like Federer took advantage of the vacuum left by Sampras to obtain his victories. Both are good players, but I prefer Sampras," Kuerten said."

Kuerten won the French Open three times and has beaten both Federer and Sampras in his career.
 
D

Deleted member 756486

Guest
heninfan99 said:
"Former Brazilian tennis star Gustavo Kuerten on Tuesday said Pete Sampras was "much better" than current world number one Roger Federer and that the late Formula 1 champion Ayrton Senna was also better than current star Michael Schumacher.

Kuerten, a former world number one himself who beat both Sampras and Federer during his career, told Brazilian TV Globo that the Swiss number one only stands out due to the absence of retired American Sampras. "In Formula 1, Schumacher took advantage of Senna's death to conquer his triumphs, just like Federer took advantage of the vacuum left by Sampras to obtain his victories. Both are good players, but I prefer Sampras," Kuerten said."

Kuerten won the French Open three times and has beaten both Federer and Sampras in his career.
Click to expand...
Lol at Senna being better than Schumacher.
 
Pheasant

Pheasant

Legend
Predicting that somebody will not be #1 is not necessarily going out on a limb. Had he said that Federer will never sniff the top 10, then that would have been saying something.

Here is my Gaudio-type of prediction about Shapavolov. “This guy is so bad, that he won’t reel off 23 consecutive slam semis, or go to 18 out of 19 slam finals. Even worse, I doubt that he breaks 302 weeks at #1. Also, I just don’t see that Shapavolov has enough of a game to win 20 slam titles.”
 
Red Rick

Red Rick

Bionic Poster
sureshs said:
The news here is that a fellow pro and Slam winner thought that Fed "does not know how to play backhand." It is very rare for such a statement to be made, even in private.
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What? In private that kind of talk is super common..
 
augustobt

augustobt

Legend
heninfan99 said:
"Former Brazilian tennis star Gustavo Kuerten on Tuesday said Pete Sampras was "much better" than current world number one Roger Federer and that the late Formula 1 champion Ayrton Senna was also better than current star Michael Schumacher.

Kuerten, a former world number one himself who beat both Sampras and Federer during his career, told Brazilian TV Globo that the Swiss number one only stands out due to the absence of retired American Sampras. "In Formula 1, Schumacher took advantage of Senna's death to conquer his triumphs, just like Federer took advantage of the vacuum left by Sampras to obtain his victories. Both are good players, but I prefer Sampras," Kuerten said."

Kuerten won the French Open three times and has beaten both Federer and Sampras in his career.
Click to expand...
Lol. This was from 2006!
 
augustobt

augustobt

Legend
paranoidandroid said:
No way.
Senna was far more exciting to watch but Schumacher is superior in every other way.
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Senna dominated the peakest peak of F1 and had one title ridiculously robbed (89). Schumacher won that disgraceful 1994 title (with Traction Control) and even got one with automatic gears! (2004).
 
billnepill

billnepill

Hall of Fame
How can anyone call Federer "very bad" at any stage of his career? Even if Gaudio is terrible in evaluating how good a player really is, he could have referred to some common knowledge at the time - he was a Junior Wimbledon champion in 1998 and major prospect to begin with.. He could said many things, "very bad" is not one of them.
 
Gazelle

Gazelle

G.O.A.T.
Gaudio: "I lost against this guy, but he's so bad really..."

Sounds like a recreational player complaining when losing against a perceived 'lesser' player.
 
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