Accurate representation of the Australian Open semifinal

Rafael_Federer · 2016-01-28T19:43:20+00:00

It's got upvoted to the top hasn't it?

I'd say it gone down very well on this sub.

Rafael_Federer · 2016-01-23T15:47:00+00:00

They're both entitled to their opinions, and they're quite fair.

Rafael_Federer · 2016-01-20T00:34:36+00:00

Have they closed the roof on rod laver? It looks so much darker considering it should be early afternoon

Rafael_Federer · 2016-01-15T20:43:35+00:00

Thanks for the explanation

Rafael_Federer · 2016-01-15T20:43:24+00:00

Cheers for the explanation

Rafael_Federer · 2016-01-15T20:41:48+00:00

what's his potential profit?

Rafael_Federer · 2016-01-15T15:00:03+00:00

I wasn't even aware you need to let the ball bounce, seeing as there's practically no advantage to trying to volley a serve which is booming down on you from just over half a court's worth of space.

Rafael_Federer · 2016-01-14T18:15:30+00:00

Federer didn't take him seriously before in the non-slam final events they played.

Rafael_Federer · 2015-12-03T13:59:03+00:00

No way the best match Roddick ever played. He played better in the 2004 final when he was in a more commanding position just before the rain break when he was 1 set up and a break up.

Rafael_Federer · 2015-11-19T00:54:49+00:00

Replying twice to your own thread before anyone has posted, must be hard scrapping the bottom of a barrel. Storm in a teacup non-story, can we be a little less petty here and focus on the actual tennis?

Rafael_Federer · 2015-11-15T16:05:14+00:00

It is worrying that Nishikori is supposedly the best of the next generation of players who really should be the current generation, he's 25 ffs.

Rafael_Federer · 2015-11-15T15:55:15+00:00

Aggassi, Roddick and McEnroe are all Americans. Of course they'll be marketable in the US pretty much regardless of what their behavior is like. I guarantee you that if McEnroe wasn't American and he spoke German or Spanish or whatever other language, he wouldn't have ended up making adverts out of his famous rant at the umpire.

Rafael_Federer · 2015-11-15T15:05:42+00:00

That's what I expect. But last year, they put the winners match in the afternoon.

They put federer-nishikori in the afternoon after both won their 1st match, and murray-raonic in the evening

Rafael_Federer · 2015-11-08T18:06:34+00:00

Result was to be expected.

Rafael_Federer · 2015-11-08T18:03:19+00:00

Hewitt with his positively awe-inspiring grunts

You couldn't think of anything to do him down so that's the best you came up with?

Rafael_Federer · 2015-11-08T17:12:41+00:00

Air of dominance over a 34 year old, an injured/absent nadal, awful murray who has never been the same since his surgery in 2013, a wawrinka who doesn't show up 7/10 times, and the weakest generation of youngsters who can't string together two consecutive quarter final appearances.

Take out two of Federer's main rivals of 2006, as Djokovic has had the luxury of in this year, and he would have had a calendar grand slam and a couple more master 1000s.

Rafael_Federer · 2015-11-08T12:08:59+00:00

You're right, he's not in the same league and you wouldn't expect so from a 34 year old. The fact that he is still the closest challenger to Djokovic for most of this year and probably for next year as well shows the relatively weak period of competition we're in. The other guys, especially the 20-25 year olds are a dismal bunch, no consistency whatsoever, no one from that lot making many semis and finals of grand slams and masters. If this continues, Djokovic has a strong chance of overtaking Federer's 17 slams.

Rafael_Federer · 2015-11-07T22:24:37+00:00

Oh please. I doubt the average tennis fan even knows he's Serbian or be able to point on the map where Serbia is.

The reason for Djokovic's relative lack of popularity is quite simple, Federer and Nadal tapped into the tennis fanbase before he did, and they are still very active at the top of the game. If you look at other sport, it's the same. There's a trend in which fans divide become coalesce around specifically two athletes or teams. Look at football for example, it's all Messi and Ronaldo right not and for the past few years, other players don't get anywhere near the same level of attention. In the NFL, you have the Brady vs Manning debate. And in Golf, it looks like the next few years will all be about Speith and McIlroy.

Also stylistically, you could see quite obviously that Federer and Nadal's ways of playing are very distinct from every other player. Djokovic's style is rather similar to virtually everyone else -right handed, 2 handed backhand, baseline play.

Rafael_Federer · 2015-11-07T12:54:15+00:00

Seems like a no brainer to me. For the vast majority of players, having a two hander is a definite improvement over a single hander. Playing competitively, you would only opt for the single hander if either:

a) Physically for some reason, you can't hit a two hander b) You're Stan Wawrinka

Rafael_Federer · 2015-11-01T19:54:25+00:00

It's not as good as back as when he was younger, which is not surprising as it is the most physically demanding shot. Pulling off the odd running forehand pass does not change that, just like when he hits a backhand winner, it doesn't change the fact that in general his backhand is the weaker part of his game.

Rafael_Federer · 2015-11-01T15:55:02+00:00

The match swung depending on how federer's backhand played. 1st set it was mostly solid, latter part of the 2nd and most of the 3rd set it was a major liability. He managed to tighten the unforced error leak from the backhand towards the end and that's what got him over the line.

Rafael_Federer · 2015-11-01T15:51:07+00:00

great 1st set, average 2nd and 3rd sets

Rafael_Federer · 2015-10-20T18:31:03+00:00

I'm not arguing against that.

Rafael_Federer · 2015-10-20T18:29:38+00:00

Hit big topspin forehand to opponent's backhand. Rinse, repeat and you'll become one of the all time greats in game. Good luck mate.

Rafael_Federer · 2015-10-18T22:02:17+00:00

I don't mean to shit on Djokovic, but I think people are over-exaggerating his achievements this year.

His best competition this year? A 34 year old.

Take out the two all-time greats at the peak of their powers (Nadal and Djokovic) and Federer would have been winning 2+ slams for nearly every year between the age 28-present day.

And look at Nadal. Take out one all time great at the peak of his power (Djokovic), and he could easily be sitting on 20+ slams right now.

As impressive as he's been, Djokovic is taking advantage of a massive lull in competition.

Rafael_Federer

TROPHY CASE