Wimbledon 2019 is even worse now

Spin Diesel

Hall of Fame
I‘m not a proper Federer fan, I do like him and his tennis though and will miss him!

I just thought about how much more the Wimbledon 19 final weighs now. Would he have won it, at least there was some small not very realistic but romantic hope now, that he wouldn‘t be last in the slam race. Especially since the kids seem to start and step up now.

Apart from that specific final, how much on a scale from 0-100 would you have prefered it, if the current slam count was 22-21-20 N-F-D ?
 

Nadal - GOAT

Hall of Fame
If Fed had won Wimb 19, he probably wouldn't play Wimb 21 and his last Wimb would have been an epic one. Despite not being a Fed fan, I wish he had won the Wimb 19 as he truly deserved so..

What made him lose from 40-15 on serve when he was serving so well throughout the match will remain a mystery to me..
 

MichaelNadal

Bionic Poster
I really think the more righteous man won that day...even though it does not look like that in many people's eyes

bret-hart-shawn-michaels.gif
 

fishpiefriday

Semi-Pro
I don't really care either way. Yeah he probably should've won that match but he choked and Djokovic persevered and deserved one of his most famous victories. In my humble opinion, Federer's occasional mental weakness is why he didn't win a slam (or two) earlier too.
 

Fedforever

Hall of Fame
Actually, although the memory will always hurt I think I feel less bad about him not winning.

Nadal would still be ahead, Novak still likely to move ahead, especially if the AO ban is lifted. I really like Carlos but I don't think he would have won that Final if he'd been playing Novak - he was making too many errors. So you've got to assume Novak will win more going forward.

We'd still be getting all the "3rd best" and "bagel" crap.

Ultimately if a few trolls think it's somehow illegitimate for people to celebrate the beauty of his tennis because of matches he lost or records that got broken then they do. But for the vast majority that's just a crazy notion.
 

ultimathule

Hall of Fame
I‘m not a proper Federer fan, I do like him and his tennis though and will miss him!

I just thought about how much more the Wimbledon 19 final weighs now. Would he have won it, at least there was some small not very realistic but romantic hope now, that he wouldn‘t be last in the slam race. Especially since the kids seem to start and step up now.

Apart from that specific final, how much on a scale from 0-100 would you have prefered it, if the current slam count was 22-21-20 N-F-D ?
Djokovic seemed to have Federer's number especially when it mattered the most. So I'm sure Federer would've killed to have gotten the upper hand of Djokovic in Wimby 2019. Doing so would've wiped away most, if not all, of his bad memories vis-a-vis Djokovic. The victory would've been all the more sweet considering Federer was at the twilight of his career while Djokovic was still in his prime. So in that sense I was rooting for Federer to win.

And yet I still have etched in my brain, the ridiculously partisan Wimbledon crowd, which got me to root for Djokovic. So on a scale from 0-100, 50 is the number that I wished Federer had won, which isn't saying much, but there it is, lol.
 

RelentlessAttack

Hall of Fame
It’s not so much about the race as having a good narrative ending. Who cares about the final title counts when it was this close over such a large sample, the differences are not statistically significant
 

ND-13

Legend
His legacy is still the same, whether 20 or 21 majors. Does not matter at the end of the day.

Quoting Forbes :
That success landed Federer at No. 7 on Forbes’ 2022 list of the world’s highest-paid athletes even though he won only about $700,000 in prize money during that time. He was the world’s highest-paid athlete on the 2020 list with a total of $106.3 million and has ranked as the highest-paid tennis player for 17 straight years.

Federer’s career earnings total of $1.1 billion before taxes and agents’ fees is more than twice Nadal’s $500 million and Djokovic’s $470 million, according to Forbes estimates. It also makes him one of just seven athletes across sports—alongside LeBron James, Floyd Mayweather, Lionel Messi, Phil Mickelson, Cristiano Ronaldo and TigerTIGER 0.0% Woods—to have surpassed $1 billion while still active.
 

nov

Hall of Fame
His legacy is still the same, whether 20 or 21 majors. Does not matter at the end of the day.

Quoting Forbes :
That success landed Federer at No. 7 on Forbes’ 2022 list of the world’s highest-paid athletes even though he won only about $700,000 in prize money during that time. He was the world’s highest-paid athlete on the 2020 list with a total of $106.3 million and has ranked as the highest-paid tennis player for 17 straight years.

Federer’s career earnings total of $1.1 billion before taxes and agents’ fees is more than twice Nadal’s $500 million and Djokovic’s $470 million, according to Forbes estimates. It also makes him one of just seven athletes across sports—alongside LeBron James, Floyd Mayweather, Lionel Messi, Phil Mickelson, Cristiano Ronaldo and TigerTIGER 0.0% Woods—to have surpassed $1 billion while still active.
Would you choose 500mil + GOAT status (possibly for a very long time) or 1 bil?
 

nov

Hall of Fame
That is part of his legacy and an answer to this thread that the Wimb 2019 does not matter in the whole scheme of things
If you ask Federer, i would bet anything he will say you that most titles and GOAT status is better than any money for him.
 

GabeT

G.O.A.T.
Well, just because he came within an inch of decking two GOATs back to back whilst a dinosaur doesn't mean he didn't do anything. That's apparently a hot take, though, which is why I find it hard to take many appraisals seriously. One inch and you're suddenly GOAT/not GOAT? LoL, OK then.
That’s TTW for you. A difference of two inches in placement for just one serve and you go from GOAT to mug, or viceversa
 

ND-13

Legend
If you ask Federer, i would bet anything he will say you that most titles and GOAT status is better than any money for him.

He has told several interviews he is happy that he has been more than able to achieve his dreams

Are you saying you know better about his mind than Fed himself ?

Relax, man. He has won 20 majors , 6 YEC and 103 titles, 310 weeks at No 1, adulation of a billion fans and a $1 billion empire behind him. An extra major is not going to change anything
 
I do sincerely wish he had hit that ace.
Just because you fear Novak ending up ahead of Nadal
True...but man that hurt! Everyone was rooting for Fed and his missed chances at 40-15 silenced the entire stadium and all his fans around the world.
Entire stadium was on Federer's side but God was behind Novak.
 
Last edited:

kevaninho

Hall of Fame
Probably wouldve been the perfect end to his career. He was never favourite to win that tournament, and i felt he deserved it the way he played .

Also to have beaten Nadal and Djokovic back to back, wouldve been special.
 

Whisper

Semi-Pro
His legacy is still the same, whether 20 or 21 majors. Does not matter at the end of the day.

But 9 Wimbledons v 6 for Djoker is very different to 8 v 7. Djoker would need to win 3 more just to catch him, but in reality it’s only 1 more. If Fed was as mentally tough as Rafa and Djoker he’d have 12 Wimbledon titles, undefeated in finals in his best slam like Rafa at FO and Djoker at AO. But he lost 4 finals. With 12 Wimbledon titles he’d be 5 ahead of the next best guy. Oh well he’s still on top at Wimbledon, but only 1 title more than Sampras and Djoker.
 

Fedforever

Hall of Fame
would it have been better if he hadn’t even reached the final?

This is where a lot of discourse around the match becomes so silly.

There wouldn't have been any discussion around the match "diminishing his legacy" if he'd lost in three or four sets or gone out in an earlier round. It was very painful for us Fed fans and always will be but it shouldn't be used to attack him in the way that it is - although for what it's worth I think we all feel it much more than he did. There was an interview with him once where he was asked how it had been after the match and he said "not too bad, my friends and family protected me from the way people were feeling about it.". I thought that was very telling and not the sort of thing you could make up.
 

junior74

Bionic Poster
If Fed had won Wimb 19, he probably wouldn't play Wimb 21 and his last Wimb would have been an epic one. Despite not being a Fed fan, I wish he had won the Wimb 19 as he truly deserved so..

What made him lose from 40-15 on serve when he was serving so well throughout the match will remain a mystery to me..

There is a name for it.
 

ND-13

Legend
But 9 Wimbledons v 6 for Djoker is very different to 8 v 7. Djoker would need to win 3 more just to catch him, but in reality it’s only 1 more. If Fed was as mentally tough as Rafa and Djoker he’d have 12 Wimbledon titles, undefeated in finals in his best slam like Rafa at FO and Djoker at AO. But he lost 4 finals. With 12 Wimbledon titles he’d be 5 ahead of the next best guy. Oh well he’s still on top at Wimbledon, but only 1 title more than Sampras and Djoker.

Fed does not care. Most mature fans don’t care.

His haters care most
 

AO13

Hall of Fame
Well, just because he came within an inch of decking two GOATs back to back whilst a dinosaur doesn't mean he didn't do anything. That's apparently a hot take, though, which is why I find it hard to take many appraisals seriously. One inch and you're suddenly GOAT/not GOAT? LoL, OK then.

Exactly. For example, Jordan misses his last shot in Chicago against Utah, he plays game 7 in the NBA finals first time ever and loses. It changes everything - instead of 6 NBA and MVP titles in finals, he's got 5. Instead of 6/6 in finals, he's got 5/6. Instead of never having to play game 7 in the finals, he plays and loses. Instead of scoring that legendary shot in game 6, he misses.

2010 USO SF 40-15*
2011 USO SF *40-15
2019 WIM F *40-15
All the same.

First time happened in USO 2010. I thought, wow, now that's something I'll only see once in my life. I was shocked.

It happened again second time in a row in the same event, same stage. I was in total disbelief. It was outrageous, unbelieavable. I started to look at Novak like a some kind of tennis monster, a legend in making. And for sure I never thought we will see something familiar ever again. Federer to lose a match after 2 match points on his serve on a Grand Slam. Nah, Djokovic is one of a kind, but no one ever, including Novak, will ever do that again to one of the greatest server ever.

Then... It was out of this world feeling. Roger was having 2 match points in Wimbledon final in 2019, in epic fifth set. I remember when Roger served an ace for 2 match points, I said it loud: "This man is greatest of all time, without a doubt". But then it happened again. And at the end of the match, I said it about Novak: "This man is the greatest tennis player of all time". An inch. A moment. Changed everything forever. Changed my stance on who is the GOAT forever.

To this day, I would call Roger Federer the GOAT had he win that final, no matter how many more slams Novak or Rafa had over him. But the other guy in the final in the end got that title that day.
 

Djokodal Fan

Hall of Fame
It would have been epic win for Federer. That's for sure. Taking down 2 other bloody icons to clinch Wimbledon 'would' have been amazing.

But would haves and could haves don't exist. And no, nobody else other than the fellow GOAT Djokovic deserves to win that title because he was so darn clutch with the entire stadium against him. That's exactly why he deserves that title. He deserves that title for being mentally strong and believing in himself until the last minute.
 

ultimathule

Hall of Fame
There was an interview with him once where he was asked how it had been after the match and he said "not too bad, my friends and family protected me from the way people were feeling about it.".
That's kinda scary when you think about it. Who exactly is Federer referring to when he says "people?" Betting people?
 

Fedforever

Hall of Fame
That's kinda scary when you think about it. Who exactly is Federer referring to when he says "people?" Betting people?

I assume he meant fans.

It's a bit of a burden in a way. One of the benefits of playing an individual sport is the losses are yours alone.
 
Top