What was the turning point for Federer's year?

What was the catalyst for Federer?

  • Total voters
    86
  • Poll closed .
flyinghippos101

flyinghippos101

Legend
It was clear that a certain event was the catalyst for Federer suddenly not sucking. It can be debated that it was a result of one of the following events

1. The loss at the Australian Open final to Nadal and the subsequent emotional breakdown
2. Sub-par early hardcourt season
3. The racket smash in Miami
4. Losing to Wawrinka at Monte Carlo
5. Madrid Masters win over Nadal and ending his year and a half Masters drought
6. First French Open win
 
Sartorius

Sartorius

Hall of Fame
7.The practice week he had before Madrid.

Something obviously clicked there and he was suddenly playing a lot better.
 
jamesblakefan#1

jamesblakefan#1

G.O.A.T.
Pulling out those matches early in the FO vs Acasuso and Haas. Really gave him confidence and helped propel him to the FO title after Rafa's loss vs Soderling.
 
VivalaVida

VivalaVida

Banned
Turning Pro said:
nadal's injury in the semi v djoker in madrid.
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dawson_crying.gif
 
S

SerbWhoLovesDelPo

Guest
After Nadal's loss at RG, he was gonna win it anyway. Same with Wimbledon. He always gets it together for slams.

P_Agony said:
He was injured after playing just 55 minutes of tennis? :confused::shock:
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He could have. I'm not saying he did, but he could have.

Soccer matches effectively last even shorter than 55 mins and still players can pick up an injury during a match.
 
IvanAndreevich

IvanAndreevich

Legend
Madrid. Said in the press conference that he's ready to win it. Stepped on the court and played like Roger Federer ought to all the way through.
 
Breaker

Breaker

Legend
SerbWhoLovesDelPo said:
After Nadal's loss at RG, he was gonna win it anyway. Same with Wimbledon. He always gets it together for slams.



He could have. I'm not saying he did, but he could have.

Soccer matches effectively last even shorter than 55 mins and still players can pick up an injury during a match.
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Err, what? maybe for some centre halves on the best teams and forwards on the lesser teams but full backs, midfielders, and strikers who track back without being subbed are usually running for a full 90. Not to mention these injuries usually come from being hacked in the shins whilst running at top speed, being elbowed, or other contact.
 
matchmaker

matchmaker

Hall of Fame
Well, it is obvious that he had a terrible start of the year: the Nadal debacle at the AO, a subpar HC season, smashing racquets, faltering forehand, losses to players he should not lose against,...

The turnaround was definitely Madrid and coupled to that Nadal's failing physique that all of a sudden opened a boulevard to the elusive FO title and from there on he had so much confidence that he pulled out the match against Roddick at Wimbledon, reaching his lifetime goal: 15 GS victories + carreer Grand Slam.

No more pressure at that point, to the extent he let the USO slip away, probably due to a lack of eagerness.

We will never know what would have happened if Nadal were fully fit and had won the Madrid Masters for instance.

Roger's year might have been catastrophic as a consequence of yet another loss.

But it appears little details change the grand scheme of things.
 
jamesblakefan#1

jamesblakefan#1

G.O.A.T.
I don't get why everyone is saying Madrid, it's like they forget the matches he had to pull out vs Acasuso, Haas, and JMDP in the French to even get to the finals. Even after the Madrid title, and after Nadal's loss, the Fed FO title was not set in stone.

The inside out FH here @ 0:15 was the true turning pt of Federer's season.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEg_0a9av-E
 
namelessone

namelessone

Legend
It's a combination of him gaining a bit of confidence after the Madrid win, Nadal's body failing and him surviving Acasuso,Haas and JDMP in FO. I don't think Nadal got injured in Madrid per se,just that playing Madrid worsened his condition. Nadal played with pain in his knees since Monte Carlo and played 3 consecutive tournaments in one month without rest. Then he rested one week and played Madrid in which he had a tough match with djoker.

It doesn't matter if the played 55 minutes,15 minutes or whatever. Has anyone actually watched that match? There was time stalling from both players but the points were loooongg,just like in the previous Nadal-Djokovic matches in this clay season. That can't have been good for Nadal who already had physical problems since MC. After Madrid Nadal went to the doc again to get checked up and then the rollercoaster of injuries started.

I don't understand why people isolate the Madrid match between him and Fed. Fed knew he had his work cut out for him even after Madrid. He sure didn't seem at his best in the early matches of FO. If Madrid rejuvenated him he ought to have played better in FO against Acasuso and Haas because of his new found confidence but he didn't,in fact he was a few balls away from being ousted by the german. What really kicked Fed's mental game into high gear was Nadal's elimination. He seemed more focused after that because he knew that his chances had increased exponentially.
 
jamesblakefan#1

jamesblakefan#1

G.O.A.T.
namelessone said:
It's a combination of him gaining a bit of confidence after the Madrid win, Nadal's body failing and him surviving Acasuso,Haas and JDMP in FO. I don't think Nadal got injured in Madrid per se,just that playing Madrid worsened his condition. Nadal played with pain in his knees since Monte Carlo and played 3 consecutive tournaments in one month without rest. Then he rested one week and played Madrid in which he had a tough match with djoker.

It doesn't matter if the played 55 minutes,15 minutes or whatever. Has anyone actually watched that match? There was time stalling from both players but the points were loooongg,just like in the previous Nadal-Djokovic matches in this clay season. That can't have been good for Nadal who already had physical problems since MC. After Madrid Nadal went to the doc again to get checked up and then the rollercoaster of injuries started.

I don't understand why people isolate the Madrid match between him and Fed. Fed knew he had his work cut out for him even after Madrid. He sure didn't seem at his best in the early matches of FO. If Madrid rejuvenated him he ought to have played better in FO against Acasuso and Haas because of his new found confidence but he didn't,in fact he was a few balls away from being ousted by the german. What really kicked Fed's mental game into high gear was Nadal's elimination. He seemed more focused after that because he knew that his chances had increased exponentially.
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Didn't the Haas match come after Nadal was eliminated.

I still say that inside out FH at 30-40 3-4 down 2 sets to love vs Haas was the turning point of his season.
 
namelessone

namelessone

Legend
jamesblakefan#1 said:
Didn't the Haas match come after Nadal was eliminated.

I still say that inside out FH at 30-40 3-4 down 2 sets to love vs Haas was the turning point of his season.
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Hence the nervousness of Fed. He knew he had this one chance and he better not blow it,that's my reason for why he played so bad against haas in the first 2 sets. Ok,Tommy played some great tennis but Federer was shaking in his boots. Those who remember the match know that once Federer got the third,Haas crumbled mentally. Federer literally breezed through the following set and haas came back shortly only in the middle of the 5th. Seriously,the 4th set of that encounter seemed like speed tennis,and the same can be said for the first part of the fifth.
 
grafselesfan

grafselesfan

Banned
The fact is Federer's fortunes began to turn almost the exact point Nadal became seriously injured. If you choose to consider that complete coincidence go ahead, but the facts are there.
 
jamesblakefan#1

jamesblakefan#1

G.O.A.T.
namelessone said:
Hence the nervousness of Fed. He knew he had this one chance and he better not blow it,that's my reason for why he played so bad against haas in the first 2 sets. Ok,Tommy played some great tennis but Federer was shaking in his boots. Those who remember the match know that once Federer got the third,Haas crumbled mentally. Federer literally breezed through the following set and haas came back shortly only in the middle of the 5th. Seriously,the 4th set of that encounter seemed like speed tennis,and the same can be said for the first part of the fifth.
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True. Hence my reasoning for that inside out FH being the turning point of this season. Just think if he misses that and loses that match, it really changes the whole course of the year - JMDP would have more than likely gone on to win the tourney, then who knows if Fed even takes Wimbledon at that point, we could've had JMDP w/ 2 slams this season had Fed lost that match. :shock:
 
mandy01

mandy01

G.O.A.T.
grafselesfan said:
The fact is Federer's fortunes began to turn almost the exact point Nadal became seriously injured. If you choose to consider that complete coincidence go ahead, but the facts are there.
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Nadal wasnt injured in Madrid and to be honest I think Roger's turn around began in Rome gamewise although he lost to Djokovic.
Using that logic Nadal would've had an even harder time getting to no.1 had Roger not lost all those points in the first half of the year due to mono.
So in a way..Nadal's fortunes turned BECAUSE Roger got mono...and later back injury.
 
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jamesblakefan#1

jamesblakefan#1

G.O.A.T.
mandy01 said:
Nadal wasnt injured in Madrid and to be honest I think Roger's turn around began in Rome gamewise although he lost to Djokovic.
Using that logic Nadal would've had an even harder time getting to no.1 had Roger not lost all those points in the first half of the year due to mono.
So in a way..Nadal's fortunes turned BECAUSE Roger got mono...and later back injury.
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Don't feed this troll, she exists just to p!ss Fed fans off, this much has become obvious, she's the biggest troll on TT.
 
B

BorisBeckerFan

Professional
grafselesfan said:
The moment Nadal got injured.
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It's pretty clear that Nadal's level dropped due to injury and Fed took advantage of that. I know many Fed fans get upset at the notion that Fed won because Nadal wasn't well. I however rejoice not in Nadal's injuries but rather Fed's lack of injuries. Staying healthy is just one of the things that makes Fed great. Sampras had a few bumps in the road but by and large had an injury free career as well. I agree that Nadal's injuries have have had alot to do with Fed's success but to me it doesn't knock down Fed's achievements one bit but instead highlights one of the aspects of being great and that's staying healthy.
 
jamesblakefan#1

jamesblakefan#1

G.O.A.T.
BorisBeckerFan said:
It's pretty clear that Nadal's level dropped due to injury and Fed took advantage of that. I know many Fed fans get upset at the notion that Fed won because Nadal wasn't well. I however rejoice not in Nadal's injuries but rather Fed's lack of injuries. Staying healthy is just one of the things that makes Fed great. Sampras had a few bumps in the road but by and large had an injury free career as well. I agree that Nadal's injuries have have had alot to do with Fed's success but to me it doesn't knock down Fed's achievements one bit but instead highlights one of the aspects of being great and that's staying healthy.
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So was Robin Soderling the real turning point of Fed's season?
 
mandy01

mandy01

G.O.A.T.
In the poll I'd actually pick the Miami incident...For all these years Roger kept himself better contained on court than any other current top player.He needed to open the bottle..he needed to let it all out once and for all ON court.He needed to let go of the pressure then and there because he's not stoic by nature..he's an emotional guy ,he just controlled himself too well all this time.I think Miami was sort of the breaking point..
From what I can tell after Miami,he went back,got married which made him relax in a way,got back to Monte Carlo to see where he was and then got working really really hard .
 
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namelessone

namelessone

Legend
jamesblakefan#1 said:
So was Robin Soderling the real turning point of Fed's season?
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He was one of the big ones. By defeating Nadal he gave Federer motivation and hope that he could win RG. The only highlight in Fed's season up to this point is Madrid so if Fed doesn't win RG,that can't be good for his confidence going into wimbledon,especially if he would have lost his chance with Nadal out.

Nadal was THE ONLY man who blocked Fed's path to RG. Federer proved this by winning RG while not being in great form. It is similar to somebody taking out the big hitters for Nadal on the fast courts,it gives him more chances to win that respective title. And dare I say,Soderling proved to be a real gift giver for Fed not just because he beat Nadal but because he also showed up in the RG final,which was perfect for Fed,a big hitter on clay in RG. I bet he thanked the good Lord for that.
 
RCizzle65

RCizzle65

Hall of Fame
jamesblakefan#1 said:
I don't get why everyone is saying Madrid, it's like they forget the matches he had to pull out vs Acasuso, Haas, and JMDP in the French to even get to the finals. Even after the Madrid title, and after Nadal's loss, the Fed FO title was not set in stone.

The inside out FH here @ 0:15 was the true turning pt of Federer's season.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEg_0a9av-E
Click to expand...

Yep I'd agree with this, after Nadal's loss, it certainly had an effect on Federer, that this was his golden opportunity to finally grab the French crown he had been missing in his almost complete career. And even before that loss, he still had tight matches with Acasuso and Mathieu who had their chances.
 
mandy01

mandy01

G.O.A.T.
RCizzle65 said:
Yep I'd agree with this, after Nadal's loss, it certainly had an effect on Federer, that this was his golden opportunity to finally grab the French crown he had been missing in his almost complete career. And even before that loss, he still had tight matches with Acasuso and Mathieu who had their chances.
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The Haas match is important from the view point of FO .What gave him a renewed perspective for the year as a whole was his Madrid win and what allowed that to happen was him going back, and working hell a lot on his game after Miami IMO.
I remember him saying after Madrid "I got the win I needed badly"..I thought that was very important.
 
jamesblakefan#1

jamesblakefan#1

G.O.A.T.
mandy01 said:
The Haas match is important from the view point of FO .What gave him a renewed perspective for the year as a whole was his Madrid win and what allowed that to happen was him going back, and working hell a lot on his game after Miami IMO.
I remember him saying after Madrid "I got the win I needed badly"..I thought that was very important.
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But he still was shaky in the early rounds of the FO...all that work he did post Miami goes for nothing if he misses that FH at 30-40.
 
grafselesfan

grafselesfan

Banned
mandy01 said:
Nadal wasnt injured in Madrid
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I am sure you would like to believe this. Unfortunately Nadal himself, Nadal's doctors, Nadal's own coach and uncle, and Nadal's subsequent withdrawal from Wimbledon soon after the French Open all suggest otherwise.
 
zagor

zagor

Bionic Poster
Inside out FH against Haas on a virtual MP,he played much better at FO from that point.He played great in matches against Monfils,Delpo and Soderling after,on his 2007 clay level IMO.Madrid win was great but it wouldn't mean that much without a FO title,especially at this point of Fed's career when it's mostly about slams.

As for Nadal injury,sure it benefited Fed but Nadal and the field also benefited from Fed's mono(which further resulted in loss of confidence and fitness for Fed)and back problems,overall injuries/sickness/fatigue are part of the game as far as I'm concerned and that doesn't go just for Nadal but for Fed(since many Fed fans like to downplay and excuse Novak's AO win)and any other player as well.
 
RCizzle65

RCizzle65

Hall of Fame
grafselesfan said:
I am sure you would like to believe this. Unfortunately Nadal himself, Nadal's doctors, Nadal's own coach and uncle, and Nadal's subsequent withdrawal from Wimbledon soon after the French Open all suggest otherwise.
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His domination of Hewitt the round before says otherwise, unless your suggesting that he owned him so badly that he injured himself
 
zagor

zagor

Bionic Poster
grafselesfan said:
A way past his prime Hewitt on slow Roland Garros clay might as well be Dinara Safina on the other side of the net.
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Hewitt was past his prime in 2006 and 2007 as well but he still gave Nadal some relatively tough matches on clay,definitely tougher than the worst slam blowout in his career he suffered at the hands of Nadal at FO this year.

Hewitt also played some solid tennis this year overall,was close to reaching Wimbledon semis and pushed Fed pretty hard at USO.
 
grafselesfan

grafselesfan

Banned
zagor said:
Hewitt was past his prime in 2006 and 2007 as well but he still gave Nadal some relatively tough matches on clay,definitely tougher than the worst slam blowout in his career he suffered at the hands of Nadal at FO this year.

Hewitt also played some solid tennis this year overall,was close to reaching Wimbledon semis and pushed Fed pretty hard at USO.
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I am aware Hewitt gave Nadal one really tough match on Hamburg clay but Hamburg clay is not the same as Roland Garros or the other major clay events at all. Federer was doing great on Hamburg clay when he was still losing early rounds to nobodies all the time at Monte Carlo, Rome, and Roland Garros. Hamburg is fast courters clay.
 
mandy01

mandy01

G.O.A.T.
grafselesfan said:
I am sure you would like to believe this. Unfortunately Nadal himself, Nadal's doctors, Nadal's own coach and uncle, and Nadal's subsequent withdrawal from Wimbledon soon after the French Open all suggest otherwise.
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er....who said he was injured in Madrid?..I dont remember Nadal saying he was injured in Madrid.He said he shouldnt have played Madrid( probably because he lost it...funny how he chose to play 3 weeks in a row at first,then complain about Madrid).
Madrid was a masters event and the conditions were same for all players.
 
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mandy01

mandy01

G.O.A.T.
jamesblakefan#1 said:
But he still was shaky in the early rounds of the FO...all that work he did post Miami goes for nothing if he misses that FH at 30-40.
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But like I said with or without FO if the work did anything to him it was to give him a renewed perspective for the year..His chances at Wimbledon had just gotten better with that Madrid win and his overall propects looked a lot better than they were before.
 
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zagor

zagor

Bionic Poster
grafselesfan said:
I am aware Hewitt gave Nadal one really tough match on Hamburg clay but Hamburg clay is not the same as Roland Garros or the other major clay events at all. Federer was doing great on Hamburg clay when he was still losing early rounds to nobodies all the time at Monte Carlo, Rome, and Roland Garros. Hamburg is fast courters clay.
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Wasn't just thinking Hamburg,he gave Nadal one of the tougher matches in 2006 FO and even in 2007 FO he put up more of a fight than this year when he just got pummeled.

Although you probably have a point about Hamburg,I remember when Goran reached the final there(got destroyed by Medvedev though).

Not that the Nadal-Hewitt FO match is some grand measure of Nadal's form and level of play on clay but it still maybe shows Nadal wasn't in as bad form as some people claim so some credit still has to go to Soderling for pulling off one of the biggest upsets in tennis history(and I don't even like the guy,he strikes me as a bully).Nadal didn't play his best but he wasn't crippled either,for all we know the injury that forced him to pull out of DC,Queens and Wimbledon might have happened during or after the match with Soderling.
 
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