Where would you rank that choke folks?

Lebsta

Rookie
Not gonna lie I thought Fed was tanking the match but it was apparent he was injured or physically hampered. Just was lucky that Sandgren wasn't good enough to capitilize on the opportunity. I don't think any Fed fan will want to watch the semi final which will be like the most gruesome horror movie ever.
 

BGod

G.O.A.T.
Top 5.

1. 2011 USO
2. 2019 WMB
3. 2004 RG
4. 2009 WMB
5. 2019 AO

I put a lot of stock into finals, leads in sets and points on serve. Roddick having 4 set points up a set in a grass final is seriously underscored.
 
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romeo8880

G.O.A.T.
What in world makes you think that federer will win the semi final of all matches, at the Australian open of all tournaments, against novak Djokovic of all people easily at the age of 38.5 coming through one of his worst SF road form wise??

The Houston Rockets, last night were missing 3 starters and 2 of the best players in the NBA, AND playing on back to back nights. Short handed, and 13.5 point underdogs they BLEW OUT the Utah Jazz IN Utah. The jazz have lost a total of TWO games since December 21. Sports are unpredictable, and Roger Federer is the greatest tennis player of all time.
 

abmk

Bionic Poster
Top 5.

1. 2011 USO
2. 2019 WMB
3. 2004 RG
4. 2009 WMB
5. 2019 AO

I put a lot of stock into finals, leads in sets and points on serve. Roddick having 4 set points up a set in a grass final is seriously underscored.

2 unreturned serves from fed, 1 bh flick off a pacy deep fh from roddick.
only 1 SP was missed by Roddick - that volley.
 

Big_Dangerous

Talk Tennis Guru
The Houston Rockets, last night were missing 3 starters and 2 of the best players in the NBA, AND playing on back to back nights. Short handed, and 13.5 point underdogs they BLEW OUT the Utah Jazz IN Utah. The jazz have lost a total of TWO games since December 21. Sports are unpredictable, and Roger Federer is the greatest tennis player of all time.

As bad as he played, he still found a way to win that match and he never gave up. In the words of the great Dominic Toretto:


Blnt, Tennys. :-D

 

NoleFam

Bionic Poster
I didn't see the match but 7 match points to get to the AO SFs and lose? Among the top at the AO for sure.
 
Only one match point was on his own serve. That was the last and the worst one. Just needed to go to open court with the volley. He played a great match otherwise.
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OrangeOne

Legend
World number #100 coming in. Second time on RLA, probably hasn't played many other major stadium courts in a long journey-man career (said that he's often just happy when he gets to practice on-site). 100% of the crowd going for Federer. Playing one of the greatest ever who is recovering from a mid-match issue/injury. Match outcome means something really big to him both ranking-wise and financially. As the poster above me says, only one point (the last) was on his own serve, and Federer's serve ain't nothing.

...maybe he felt the pressure, but assuming he's human, this isn't unexpected, right? I'd be calling it an infinitely bigger choke if this happened the other way around.
 

SystemicAnomaly

Bionic Poster
@The Green Mile
biggest choke in AO history. 7 MP.
Top 5 for sure haha

Dont believe that this is an AO record. According to one source, Lucie Šafářová defeated Yanina Wickmayer in the first round of 2017 Australian Open after saving 9 match points.

There have been other occurences where a player has won after saving 9 match points. The source below indicates that this has happened in Slam events at least 5 times in the Open Era.


This same source indicates that 11 match points might be the record (non-Slam events). Has happened in the ATP and, possibly, the WTA.

This was not the first time that RF saved 7 match points and ended up prevailing. He has done it at least one other time. The AO announcers mentioned this. He did it previously against Scott Draper in 2003 at the Cincy Masters. Apparently, Roger has prevailed after facing match points more than 20 times in his career.

 

chicagodude

Hall of Fame
Only 1 was on his own serve. Not that much of a choke therefore. If it was against a mediocre server then it would’ve been worse, but a server like Federer? Meh, it happens
 

icazares

Semi-Pro
It couldn't have happened to a better guy.
 

tennis24x7

Hall of Fame
The Houston Rockets, last night were missing 3 starters and 2 of the best players in the NBA, AND playing on back to back nights. Short handed, and 13.5 point underdogs they BLEW OUT the Utah Jazz IN Utah. The jazz have lost a total of TWO games since December 21. Sports are unpredictable, and Roger Federer is the greatest tennis player of all time.
So how many 38 year olds are in the Houston Rockets ;) ;)
 

Steve0904

Talk Tennis Guru
Considering Sandgren wasn't supposed to make the QFs here and the huge skill gap between him and Federer under normal circumstances it's not that bad IMO. Anytime you get 7 MPs I'm sure it hurts like hell to lose, but a Sandgren choke was always a possibility just because he was such a huge underdog. Now if Djokovic does that for Fed in the next round then it's a massive choke.
 

The Green Mile

Bionic Poster
Damn, you guys are harsh lol ( or maybe it's me?) I think I rate it quite high because Sandgren was the better 4th set player for majority of it, coupled with the fact that he was playing a guy who was hindered physically for at least two sets. He was winning so many medium to long shot rallies in that 4th, but failed to do so in the MPs. He had plays in almost all seven of those match points, regardless of who served or not. I'd say credit to Fed for slow balling and feeding him junk off the backhand for a nice tactical switch up, Sandgren played a lot more passive after that whilst the forehand deserted him big time.
 

Big_Dangerous

Talk Tennis Guru
Yes, I was being sarcastic.

I kind of suspected that was the case.

In some ways, this is actually a nice result given Sandgren's ugly hateful and exclusive beliefs. I mean if he was blown off the court, 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 or something, then it's a forgettable match against a great champion like Federer. But to have 7 match points come and go and lose a heart breaker in 5 sets - that's something Sandgren won't ever forget and history will forever remember him as the guy who almost took down Federer. :cool:
 

Big_Dangerous

Talk Tennis Guru
Very clearly yes.
The guy was an open homophobic fundamentalist until his Twitter history was dug up.

I believe he also went on TC and tried to defend/justify his position by saying that "Not all white supremacist beliefs are wrong." Ugly person both inside and out, if you ask me.
 

merwy

G.O.A.T.
The Houston Rockets, last night were missing 3 starters and 2 of the best players in the NBA, AND playing on back to back nights. Short handed, and 13.5 point underdogs they BLEW OUT the Utah Jazz IN Utah. The jazz have lost a total of TWO games since December 21. Sports are unpredictable, and Roger Federer is the greatest tennis player of all time.
It doesn’t make sense to be sure that Federer will win and say that sports are unpredictable at the same time.
 
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