USO 2018 R4: [2] Federer vs Millman

Who ya got

  • Millman in 3

    Votes: 6 6.4%

  • Millman in 4

    Votes: 26 27.7%

  • Millmanin 5

    Votes: 6 6.4%

  • Federer in 3

    Votes: 42 44.7%

  • Federer in 4

    Votes: 11 11.7%

  • Federer in 5

    Votes: 3 3.2%
  • Total voters
    94
Nadal has a tougher road towards the final but i don’t trust thiem at all. It likely will be nadal vs delpo and cilic vs Djokovic. Hope it’s not Nishikori in the semis.
 
Congrats to Millman on beating Federer to make his maiden Slam quarter-final at the ripe old age of 29 (never got beyond a 3rd round before).

Djoko's reaction:

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its really amazing after winning 5 straight us opens and it being his second most successful slam at one point, how he is such a non factor. suddenly as happy as i was/am for del potro, 2009 stings even more.

i know how fond of uso roger is and it seemed like after the Wimbledon loss, he really wanted to win the uso
 
icedevil0289 said:
its really amazing after winning 5 straight us opens and it being his second most successful slam at one point, how he is such a non factor. suddenly as happy as i was/am for del potro, 2009 stings even more.

i know how fond of uso roger is and it seemed like after the Wimbledon loss, he really wanted to win the uso
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For him not to win one ever since 2008 is rare. He should just play Australia and Wimbledon at this point.
 
BeatlesFan said:
Fed seems oddly fine in the presser. Smiling and laughing, doesn’t seem sad or petulant at all.
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The guy has won 20 slams and has a ridiculous career earning. I would be smiling and laughing too. I just don’t think roger has that fire anymore. I will be shocked if he won another slam .
 
Tennisgods said:
Yep, we’ve seen it before. But not this consistently, surely. A pattern is emerging.

Basically, Fed hasn’t played well since Australia has he? And as you say, he’s been well rested, so what’s the problem?

Ok, it may well be confidence, but I imagine that isn’t helped by being beaten by Johnny Millman. Where will he regain this confidence at 37 years of age? He’s declining by the month as it is.
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But isn't the possibility that he is not training as much possible as well? Hence the terrible state of his game. Have you really seen the competitive drive from since Feb this year?
I don't think from a physiological standpoint the drop off is so steep within one year. Instead I think it's more probable he is trying to find a "balance" between his life outside of tennis.

Except that there can be no balance. You're all in. Or you're out. Fed's social media accounts provide a small indication of what he gets up to. The latter half of 2016, the focus was squarely on his rehab and his excitement at returning to the court. Now days, it's everything under the sun with a few afterthoughts about tennis related things (ok slight exaggeration but you get the point).
Look no further that the recent interview's from Djokovic's coach about his resurgence. For the two years Djokovic sucked he was doing all this random crap outside of tennis, (along with spending time with his family which is a given), opening vegan restaurant, Pepe, amor y paz etc etc. The first thing Vajda asked upon being hired again was that he needs to recommit completely - and voila, the level of play and subsequently the results returned.

I think the same will hold true for Fed. And therein lies the beauty of this loss.
It was downright pathetic (not talking about Millman's excellent composure and level, more of Federer's game itself). And it will naturally force Federer to re-examine what is actually important to him at this stage.
If it's still tennis, I think next year will be better than 2018 (excluding AO) in terms of his game. If it's not, he will have to accept these types of losses (but I'm guessing he would probably retire if that's the case).

Either case is OK. There is nothing the man owes to anyone after all these years (well except his family obviously lol).
 
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Wow! Didn’t see the match, however hearing fed played shocking.

His form has been bad for a while. I guess a bit fearing a beat down from Novak too. Credit to the milkman!

Novak will put end to his run next though!
 
icedevil0289 said:
its really amazing after winning 5 straight us opens and it being his second most successful slam at one point, how he is such a non factor. suddenly as happy as i was/am for del potro, 2009 stings even more.

i know how fond of uso roger is and it seemed like after the Wimbledon loss, he really wanted to win the uso
Click to expand...

This isn't the USO that Federer won 5 times in a row though. It's molasses slow these days. I'm not trying to sound bitter or anything here, I mean at least they sped up the AO, but this returning on a HC from back where the lines people are is an utter joke. And it's not just Nadal, Federer did it against Kyrgios, even Raonic did it against Isner, but it's just not my style of tennis. On clay I totally understand it, but it looks so out of place on a HC. These 30+ shot rallies that end in UEs with moonballs in the middle of a point look so ridiculous to me, especially when I remember what the USO used to be.
 
I’m not saying feds done far from it! However, I see a pattern emerging here. Every time, either Novak or Rafa are in great form and he 1 round before them in sometimes fears the match and tanks.

Fed did not want to meet Novak here just like he did want to meet Rafa last year. It proves when nadalovic are back on song, fed is put back in the shade. He comes alive when they both having a dip. The way it’s been for ages.
 
ACE of Hearts said:
The guy has won 20 slams and has a ridiculous career earning. I would be smiling and laughing too .
Click to expand...
Not after bring on the losing end of one of the biggest upsets in USO history. And Fed has been crabby in many pressers after unexpected losses. Not this time, he’s laughing now in the French portion of his Q and A.
 
if anyone is interested, https://twitter.com/Ubitennis/with_replies, is posting about fed's press conference, or atleast parts of it. he says there was no injury (i didn't think there was) but definitely says the heat/humidity got to him. (in before novak fans say something about how atleast he didn't have to play in 120 degree weather or w/e). he says he basically couldn't get air, was losing energy and at some point was happy the match was over and first time he's struggled with conditions. he credits john for playing well and likes his attitude and also says he has a lot more options on this slower surface.
 
BeatlesFan said:
Not after bring on the losing end of one of the biggest upsets in USO history. And Fed has been crabby in many pressers after unexpected losses. Not this time, he’s laughing now in the French portion of his Q and A.
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Like I said I think he has lost some of that competitive juice. Idk. He seems at peace i guess. His kids are getting older. I am hoping he gets a good sent off when he decides to call it quits. The game’s gonna suck for me when he retires.☹️
 
@ACE of Hearts you were right. The conditions tonight affected Fed. Probably went into room and no autographs because not feeling great. Fed also mused that he might have also had a random bad day on top of this, but he firmly blamed the conditions and said the new structure at Ashe made it feel more stifling. Very complimentary of Millman and the playing conditions. They trained together in Stuttgart before grass season which was a great match for Millman who'd excited RG early and hard girlfriend in Stuttgart.
 
icedevil0289 said:
if anyone is interested, https://twitter.com/Ubitennis/with_replies, is posting about fed's press conference, or atleast parts of it. he says there was no injury (i didn't think there was) but definitely says the heat/humidity got to him. (in before novak fans say something about how atleast he didn't have to play in 120 degree weather or w/e). he says he basically couldn't get air, was losing energy and at some point was happy the match was over and first time he's struggled with conditions. he credits john for playing well and likes his attitude and also says he has a lot more options on this slower surface.
Click to expand...
Good summary of many of the points.
 
Steve0904 said:
This isn't the USO that Federer won 5 times in a row though. It's molasses slow these days. I'm not trying to sound bitter or anything here, I mean at least they sped up the AO, but this returning on a HC from back where the lines people are is an utter joke. And it's not just Nadal, Federer did it against Kyrgios, even Raonic did it against Isner, but it's just not my style of tennis. On clay I totally understand it, but it looks so out of place on a HC. These 30+ shot rallies that end in UEs with moonballs in the middle of a point look so ridiculous to me, especially when I remember what the USO used to be.
Click to expand...


don't even get me started, its why when people like nadal push for 50 shot rallies and anything below that is just mindless tennis it pisses me off to no end. people will forever scratch their heads at why next gen is not breaking through, but continue to slow down surfaces. i also laugh when people complain about fast surfaces (where are they, the current "fast" is imo medium fast at best) and no one is saying they should speed up everything. diversity is key but clearly they don't care. they just think long rallies=good tennis
 
Meles said:
@ACE of Hearts you were right. The conditions tonight affected Fed. Probably went into room and no autographs because not feeling great. Fed also mused that he might have also had a random bad day on top of this, but he firmly blamed the conditions and said the new structure at Ashe made it feel more stifling. Very complimentary of Millman and the playing conditions. They trained together in Stuttgart before grass season which was a great match for Millman who'd excited RG early and hard girlfriend in Stuttgart.
Click to expand...

The playing conditions have change for years now. Do i think the us open has been slowed down? Absolutely. I am glad he’s giving the milkman some credit but Federer blew this one badly.
 
icedevil0289 said:
I don't know if he has the exact date bookmarked per say but Idk if I agree that it will be all that spontaneous. I mean fed often plays his calendar 1.5 years in advance iirc so I do think fed will plan for retirement (ofc bar any career threatening injury) or atleast have some idea if he can control it. tbh i doubt he is sticking around for the Olympics. if he is staying until 2020, its because he still enjoys playing but certainly not to tick off the Olympics because with the new DC rules idt he qualifies.

laver cup will be in Geneva next year and he said something along the lines of it being perfect for the end of his career and wanting to get big 4 + stan out there. idk i feel like the switch to uniqlo and a big reason for it being what they can do for him post career + Geneva laver cup, 2019 retirement seems looming. i wouldn't blame him tbh ofc and if he can sort of go out in a way where he isn't forced to, more power to him. unfortunate because my interest in tennis, atleast on the men's side, is waning with everyone and their mom playing the same way and surfaces molding into one.
Click to expand...

Sure he might make a plan but he could also change his mind in the meantime (say he plans to retire in Laver Cup next year but he wins AO or Wimbledon and decides to stick around longer) or decide out of the blue that he's not motivated to train anymore, that's what happened to Sampras actually and he was quite a methodical player himself (contrary to popular belief, he didn't retire after 2002 USO). I think the plans Fed makes are mostly related to training regime, tournament schedule and charities/events, I'm not sure he'll do a year long retirement tour or something.

Uniqlo deal was obviously more about what Fed will do for them as an ambassador/brand after he's retired as an active player, it's just something the TTW butthurt crowd about Fed uses to take potshots at him (no, they're not idiots that thought Fed was gonna play for 10 more years). I'll always follow tennis to some degree but yeah after the big 4 I doubt I'll have vested emotional interest in the game. I have no respect for the younger generation because they haven't proven themselves in the slightest on the big stage against the aging veterans (in stark contrast to often maligned new balls gen of Hewitt, Roddck and Safin) and as you said, the variety is just not there in enough quanitiy in terms of playing style and conditions. I think men's tennis especially will be in a lot of trouble once the big 4 are gone.
 
ACE of Hearts said:
The playing conditions have change for years now. Do i think the us open has been slowed down? Absolutely. I am glad he’s giving the milkman some credit but Federer blew this one badly.
Click to expand...
Conditions were the high humidity perhaps exacerbated by the new stadiums very close in roof structure.
 
NoleFam said:
Djokovic hit 100 unforced errors to Simon in 2016 AO and lost to a journeyman a couple of months ago.
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Indeed. But didn’t he win the Simon match?

And that journeyman defeat came with Djoker showing signs of the comeback he completed in the very next slam. Different circumstances.

Anyway, all in good humour. I do know what you mean, of course we appreciate how special 2017 was. Some of us just don’t want to watch this final inevitable decline. Not much fun tbh.
 
icedevil0289 said:
if anyone is interested, https://twitter.com/Ubitennis/with_replies, is posting about fed's press conference, or atleast parts of it. he says there was no injury (i didn't think there was) but definitely says the heat/humidity got to him. (in before novak fans say something about how atleast he didn't have to play in 120 degree weather or w/e). he says he basically couldn't get air, was losing energy and at some point was happy the match was over and first time he's struggled with conditions. he credits john for playing well and likes his attitude and also says he has a lot more options on this slower surface.
Click to expand...

Thought it was pretty obvious that he was struggling with the conditions. Just a shame it had to end that way. But the "options" stuff is BS to me. He might have more options, but when his main weapons (serve and FH) are basically stunted by the court or don't work the way their supposed to it doesn't matter how many options he has. He knows that I think. He just gave a "presser" answer.
 
zagor said:
Sure he might make a plan but he could also change his mind in the meantime (say he plans to retire in Laver Cup next year but he wins AO or Wimbledon and decides to stick around longer) or decide out of the blue that he's not motivated to train anymore, that's what happened to Sampras actually and he was quite a methodical player himself (contrary to popular belief, he didn't retire after 2002 USO). I think the plans Fed makes are mostly related to training regime, tournament schedule and charities/events, I'm not sure he'll do a year long retirement tour or something.

Uniqlo deal was obviously more about what Fed will do for them as an ambassador/brand after he's retired as an active player, it's just something the TTW butthurt crowd about Fed uses to take potshots at him (no, they're not idiots that thought Fed was gonna play for 10 more years). I'll always follow tennis to some degree but yeah after the big 4 I doubt I'll have vested emotional interest in the game. I have no respect for the younger generation because they haven't proven themselves in the slightest on the big stage against the aging veterans (in stark contrast to often maligned new balls gen of Hewitt, Roddck and Safin) and as you said, the variety is just not there in enough quanitiy in terms of playing style and conditions. I think men's tennis especially will be in a lot of trouble once the big 4 are gone.
Click to expand...

i don't think he's do a retirement tour, i know he said after speaking to i think Edberg, he seemed to be against that. i think in terms of planning he might know in advance when he has an idea of calling it quits, but i certainly don't think he'll announce it until it comes closer, like a few tournaments before. i just don't think i believe when he tells people who keep yapping about retirement that he hasn't even thought about or he has more than a few years left.
 
Steve0904 said:
Thought it was pretty obvious that he was struggling with the conditions. Just a shame it had to end that way. But the "options" stuff is BS to me. He might have more options, but when his main weapons (serve and FH) are basically stunted by the court or don't work the way their supposed to it doesn't matter how many options he has. He knows that I think. He just gave a "presser" answer.
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he was talking about millman having more options on this court, not himself. although i realize it reads differently with the way i typed it
 
DragonBlaze said:
But isn't the possibility that he is not training as much possible as well? Hence the terrible state of his game. Have you really seen the competitive drive from since Feb this year?
I don't think from a physiological standpoint the drop off is so steep within one year. Instead I think it's more probable he is trying to find a "balance" between his life outside of tennis.

Except that there can be no balance. You're all in. Or you're out. Fed's social media accounts provide as small indication of what he gets up to. The latter half of 2016, the focus was squarely on his rehab and his excitement at returning to the court. Now days, it's everything under the sun with a few afterthoughts about tennis related things (ok slight exaggeration but you get the point).
Look no further that the recent interview's from Djokovic's coach about his resurgence. For the two years Djokovic sucked he was doing all this random crap outside of tennis, (along with spending time with his family which is a given), opening vegan restaurant, Pepe, amor y paz etc etc. The first thing Vajda asked upon being hired again was that he needs to recommit completely - and voila, the level of play and subsequently the results returned.

I think the same will hold true for Fed. And therein lies the beauty of this loss.
It was downright pathetic (not talking about Millman's excellent composure and level, more of Federer's game itself). And it will naturally force Federer to re-examine what is actually important to him at this stage.
If it's still tennis, I think next year will be better than 2018 (excluding AO) in terms of his game. If it's not, he will have to accept these types of losses (but I'm guessing he would probably retire if that's the case).

Either case is OK. There is nothing the man owes to anyone after all these years (well except his family obviously lol).
Click to expand...

Good post, all agreed. Still think age has a massive part to play in all this though! The decline comes fast, especially once late 30’s. Never seen Fed sweat as much as tonight (I know it was very humid) but he seemed down from the start with the conditions. Never looked able to tough it out. Younger Fed could do that.
 
BeatlesFan said:
Transcript of Fed’s presser on the USO site now. He complained repeatedly of not being able to breathe, no circulation of air in the stadium and it being “really hot.”
Click to expand...

Was that just for him? His opponent seemed not to have this issue. Expect this kind of garbage from Serena, not him.
 
BeatlesFan said:
Transcript of Fed’s presser on the USO site now. He complained repeatedly of not being able to breathe, no circulation of air in the stadium and it being “really hot.”
Click to expand...

There we go. Basically not conducive to playing tennis at 37 years old. “First time it ever happened to me.” Indeed.
 
MatsPhilander said:
Was that just for him? His opponent seemed not to have this issue. Expect this kind of garbage from Serena, not him.
Click to expand...
Garbage? He complimented Millman for handling the conditions better than he did and mentioned he trains in the humidity of Brisbane. He didn’t mention Millman is 8 years younger than he is.
 
icedevil0289 said:
don't even get me started, its why when people like nadal push for 50 shot rallies and anything below that is just mindless tennis it pisses me off to no end. people will forever scratch their heads at why next gen is not breaking through, but continue to slow down surfaces. i also laugh when people complain about fast surfaces (where are they, the current "fast" is imo medium fast at best) and no one is saying they should speed up everything. diversity is key but clearly they don't care. they just think long rallies=good tennis
Click to expand...

To be quite honest, they're going to have to speed up some courts to see this generation break through. They're all tall giraffes playing a baseliners game because the courts are so slow. It's like an oxymoron in living walking tennis playing form.
 
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