Rotterdam - Federer's quest for #1

Ever remember when our big win was to get a post on 606 used in a main BBC article?

I got a few up, plenty others too. Pretty sure Wise_Analyst / Impartial_Lion got a few up too.

I got one up too! Seemed like a badge of honour at the time

When you consider how deranged most of the posts were on 606 it made it even odder. I’m pretty sure one of the ones I got up was an undisguised wind up on one of the Sampras supporting multiple personality disorder crew.

Got say, Dubai looks enticing.

On the Beeb, Borg chose to answer one of my questions...that was cool.

What were the Q and A?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/8350824.stm


Back in 2009!

I found some more

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/8616234.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/8539960.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/8042957.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/7933688.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/7524263.stm

Hehe, I didn’t realise they liked my comments so much...

bogbrush wrote:What were the Q and A?

"Is that true that you texted Fed to thank him for stopping Pete making 5W in a row?"

Not sure what exactly Borg said but he denied that it was specifically for protecting his 5W in a row.

noleisthebest wrote:http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/8350824.stm

Back in 2009!

Wow my memory is failing me. Clearly not to GP's standard!

I knew Borg texted Fed to thank him for stopping Pete in 2001. SO obviously my question was more inquisitive.

bogbrush wrote:Got say, Dubai looks enticing.

More boring than enticing.  Dubai used to have very strong fields.  No longer.  I wonder why.  Is it because Acapulco moved from clay to HC a few years back?  Mexico is much closer to IW, so it makes sense to play there.  The field in Acapulco is so much stronger than Dubai this year.

I think Fed should play at least one of IW/Miami, but no need to overdo it.  Playing Rotterdam/Dubai/IW/Miami seems too much.  The goal for the rest of the season should be to try to win both Wimbledon and the USO.  Unlikely, but with the current form - why not go for it?

Tennis has not been this exciting in a while.  I cannot believe GP wants Fed to retire from tennis now.

Dubai looks like 500 points someone’s dropped on the floor to pick up but I agree going right through four events is too much. Pity, if he managed to win Dubai alongside Rotterdam that more or less gives him a free pass on one of the sunshine double and increases the chance of being #1 at Wimbledon.

Luckily he’s a smart guy and what he plays will be safe, I don’t see him burning himself out.

summerblues wrote:

bogbrush wrote:Got say, Dubai looks enticing.

More boring than enticing.  Dubai used to have very strong fields.  No longer.  I wonder why.  Is it because Acapulco moved from clay to HC a few years back?  Mexico is much closer to IW, so it makes sense to play there.  The field in Acapulco is so much stronger than Dubai this year.

I think Fed should play at least one of IW/Miami, but no need to overdo it.  Playing Rotterdam/Dubai/IW/Miami seems too much.  The goal for the rest of the season should be to try to win both Wimbledon and the USO.  Unlikely, but with the current form - why not go for it?

Tennis has not been this exciting in a while.  I cannot believe GP wants Fed to retire from tennis now.

Come on now SB, that's not what i said. Where's the typical "SB nuance"?

I want Federer to play as long as possible, with a certain win/loss ratio though. 

That whole 'retire as #1 debate' started when i said that if he'll be playing on clay, then he's obviously chasing the year end ranking, and that might give us an hint he'll retire end of season. And then i said: retiring as y/e #1 would be something. Of course i don't want him to retire now, you silly!

bogbrush wrote:Dubai looks like 500 points someone’s dropped on the floor to pick up but I agree going right through four events is too much. Pity, if he managed to win Dubai alongside Rotterdam that more or less gives him a free pass on one of the sunshine double and increases the chance of being #1 at Wimbledon.

Luckily he’s a smart guy and what he plays will be safe, I don’t see him burning himself out.

Very much agree.

I'll be intrigued to see what Nadal does. Surprised he isn't playing Rio as I would've played that rather than Acapulco. 

Going to be a bit of cat and mouse before Wimbledon comes round.

But isn't Nadal injured?  He had quite a scare, I hear.

Daniel wrote:But isn't Nadal injured?  He had quite a scare, I hear.

Kidding?

gallery play wrote:

summerblues wrote:I cannot believe GP wants Fed to retire from tennis now.

Come on now SB, that's not what i said. Where's the typical "SB nuance"?

Ouch

I was not being all that serious here.  We may have some differences in how we would optimally like to see Fed go, but for now, I am sure we both want to enjoy what he is currently producing for as long as it can last.

bogbrush wrote:Dubai looks like 500 points someone’s dropped on the floor to pick up but I agree going right through four events is too much. Pity, if he managed to win Dubai alongside Rotterdam that more or less gives him a free pass on one of the sunshine double and increases the chance of being #1 at Wimbledon.

I don't know that I am very interested in seeing him chase points just in order to stay at #1.  It was one thing to reach #1 at his age, but now that he has done it, what difference will an extra few weeks at #1 make?  I really think for the next 6.5 months he should focus everything on Wimbledon/USO.  If that means (though I do not think it does) skipping the rest of the HC season as well as clay, so be it.

Then after the USO, he can look at where things are at, and decide what, if any, goals he should have for the rest of the season.  If it looks like YE #1 is in play, he may try to go for it, but I would not schedule anything now with that goal in mind.

Also, at 36/37, things can go pear shaped very quickly.  For all we know his back will start acting up next week worse than usual, and that will be largely the end of him.  Who knows?  So, it is better to be cautious and pick a few, but worthy, goals than aim for too many targets.

He’s not semi-retired and he hasn’t finished. You think he wouldn’t like to tie Sampras for y/e #1, or take the 303 weeks up & way beyond the reach of anyone for 20 years?

I don’t think he’s ready to turn it into a wholly Slam-centred tour yet. Dubai would probably allow him breathing space and he knows his body and limits better than we do.

Like I say, if he does it it’ll be because he knows he can. It’s clay that’s finished.

I still think all Fed wants to do is play his tennis healthy, that’s his main motivation,  not the records.

He must love his neoBH deeply now with  his both wings strong, imagine his flight!
Just look how much he enjoyed it all week in Rotterdam.

The winning, the love from crowd, sublime shots and feeling they give you...the whole magic bubble.

Numbers are a side show for paper pushers.

Any news of Fed playing Dubai?

I have a feeling he may turn up there.

noleisthebest wrote:I still think all Fed wants to do is play his tennis healthy, that’s his main motivation,  not the records.

The winning, the love from crowd, sublime shots and feeling they give you...the whole magic bubble.

Numbers are a side show for paper pushers.

Completely agree.

I would in fact like him to skip the USO for teaching them a lesson for slowing the courts down so much last year.

bogbrush wrote:He’s not semi-retired and he hasn’t finished. You think he wouldn’t like to tie Sampras for y/e #1, or take the 303 weeks up & way beyond the reach of anyone for 20 years?

I don’t think he’s ready to turn it into a wholly Slam-centred tour yet. Dubai would probably allow him breathing space and he knows his body and limits better than we do.

Like I say, if he does it it’ll be because he knows he can. It’s clay that’s finished.

I think you, and a lot of others here, are massively underestimating what Federer has done - and overestimating the fitness and ability of a post 30 year old.

303 weeks is already unlikely to be beaten for at least the next 50 years.  Very unlikely.  Adding more weeks at this point is redundant. His cons weeks n1 record won't be beaten in our lifetime for certain.  His slam total is only under threat (albeit a massively diminished threat now) from Nadal - and even he'd have to do it by winning a ton of french opens.  The lame-ass way.

Slams are far more important than stretching his body.  He is almost 37 and can't afford to do that. As Summerblues notes, an injury at this stage is around every corner.  It can happen that easily and we've seen it happen to Fed before.  If he gets another one now, he will call it quits. 

I know a few of the more delusional posters around here think that players peak at 35 (and that Fed has... lmao)  but it simply isn't the case.  He is slower, more unfit, and is staving off losses by his incredible shot making, net play (which no other bugger is bothering with), and by having a solid serve.  He is not going to be able to carry on forever. He has to manage his schedule very carefully - which is what he has been doing.

Interesting how Fed’s dad who apparently handles fans’ mail etc was surprised that many thought Fed reclaiming number one was bigger than any of his slam wins. 

So close and yet so far from his own son, in some way:



“How long he can defend the top spot now is in the stars,” he told Swiss newspaper Blick.
Maybe only a few weeks - if Nadal plays well in Acapulco - it can be over very quickly.
Of course it’s great. World No 1 has always been important to Roger.
I’ve already congratulated him by phone, we're always in contact with Roger. 
It’s just a 500 ATP tournament - not a grand slam - and yet the attention was huge.
I received three times more messages, mails and calls from Europe, USA, Africa and Australia than after his wins at Wimbledon or at the Australian Open!”

I think it's very special that he managed it at 36.5 without playing a match of clay.  Weak field or not at the mo, that's insanely good.

For me, it was special more for the way it all happened.

That people have been writing him off since 2012. Almost with envy.

That he played with a bad back and lost to guys like Delbonis and Daniel Brands...yet kept going.

In a way he reached a top he didn’t know even existed.

Maybe he’s discovered it for all of us, in fact.

noleisthebest wrote:I still think all Fed wants to do is play his tennis healthy, that’s his main motivation,  not the records.

He must love his neoBH deeply now with  his both wings strong, imagine his flight!
Just look how much he enjoyed it all week in Rotterdam.

I think it is both - tennis and the records.

I agree that Fed seems to truly enjoy playing tennis just for the sake of it.  Even at 36, he seems to get as excited about it as ever.  And I think that helps him mentally - that is one of the reasons why I think he has always been able to shake off bad results and keep going.

But you would be kidding yourself if you thought he was not very mindful of the records too.  Just look at Rotterdam.  He may have enjoyed it all week there, but he would have never played there had it not been for the record.  His main motivation to even go to Rotterdam was the record, not the pure joy of tennis.

summerblues wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:I still think all Fed wants to do is play his tennis healthy, that’s his main motivation,  not the records.
He must love his neoBH deeply now with  his both wings strong, imagine his flight!
Just look how much he enjoyed it all week in Rotterdam.

I think it is both - tennis and the records.

I agree that Fed seems to truly enjoy playing tennis just for the sake of it.  Even at 36, he seems to get as excited about it as ever.  And I think that helps him mentally - that is one of the reasons why I think he has always been able to shake off bad results and keep going.

But you would be kidding yourself if you thought he was not very mindful of the records too.  Just look at Rotterdam.  He may have enjoyed it all week there, but he would have never played there had it not been for the record.  His main motivation to even go to Rotterdam was the record, not the pure joy of tennis.

Je didn’t go to Rotterdam for the record, he went there to become number one.

Being number one is a status/feeling (and all that comes with it), not a record.

The fact he broke the record along he way “the oldest” number one is secondary.

summerblues wrote:But you would be kidding yourself if you thought he was not very mindful of the records too.  Just look at Rotterdam.  He may have enjoyed it all week there, but he would have never played there had it not been for the record.  His main motivation to even go to Rotterdam was the record, not the pure joy of tennis.

I am not sure of that. Being number 1 is the goal of any sport. Probably the most significant status. The one that puts you in the center stage with everybody looking and caring about you. For a few more weeks you are no longer the has been but the guy on top of Everest. As he said himself long ago, it solves everything! So I am not sure beating record's Agassi was more important than retrieving that unique and ephemere but exhilarating position.

You're wrong again.  Ronnie O Sullivan couldn't give two hoots about being WN1, for example.  It's about winning titles.

Wrong! Sad! Loser!

luvsports! wrote:Wrong! Sad! Loser!

Yeah, you're really trying too hard now.  Lefties always love making fools of themselves, though, like Comrade Corbyn and Diane Abbot.    Grow up. 

Daniel wrote:You're wrong again.  Ronnie O Sullivan couldn't give two hoots about being WN1, for example.  It's about winning titles.

Ronnie is a different world.
And the world is not black and white.

With all respect to his talent, character and achievements, Ronnie did not reach, or has not been given the same path as Fed.

And tennis is a bit more interesting in its dynamics with the opponent.

And more demanding in many ways.

If Ronnie is not interested in being WN1, it just means he has not been given the dimension to see and reach for the top.

Which is fine.

On the surface that quest may look as an ego trip, but there is something in us which always pushes us to go up and up.

Daniel wrote:

luvsports! wrote:Wrong! Sad! Loser!

Yeah, you're really trying too hard now.  Lefties always love making fools of themselves, though, like Comrade Corbyn and Diane Abbot.    Grow up. 

I actually agree with the lefties bit.

Being number 1 is the goal of any sport. - Tenez

Ronnie is a different world - NITB

You aren't following what I am replying to.

Daniel wrote:

Being number 1 is the goal of any sport. - Tenez

Ronnie is a different world - NITB

You aren't following what I am replying to.

Ronnie is a tormented mind and doesn't even care about titles. so once again, you don't have a point. More to the fact that all other snooker players want to be number 1. So please substantiate your points.

Being number 1 is the goal of any sport.

Those are your words.  And I can find you a dozen more players who don't share your view.  Winning titles is what these guys play for, dude.

Daniel wrote:

Being number 1 is the goal of any sport.

Those are your words.  And I can find you a dozen more players who don't share your view.  Winning titles is what these guys play for, dude.

It depends. Players lose interest in being #1 as soon as they realize it's not realistic. But any promising junior player would tell you he dreams of being #1 one day.

A very young Tomic, back when he wasn't a waste of space, said he wanted to be no1.

Daniel wrote:

Being number 1 is the goal of any sport.

Those are your words.  And I can find you a dozen more players who don't share your view.  Winning titles is what these guys play for, dude.

Yes, but what is winning a title but that same feeling of being the best in that tournament, winning a title is a “mini number one” for that week.

When you win a match, you are a “mini number one” to yourself.

And so on....

But when you are the number one on the list...it’s the ultimate and longest lasting feeling among all these other ones...like the end of a journey in some way.
You have reached the destination.

Last stop. Job done. Enjoy the view.

You're arguing now just for the sake of it.  If you ask any new player what he wants most of all, WN1 won't be higher than winning a Slam.  Not even close.

Very much looks like Federer is skipping Dubai. I guess winning meant he had #1 through to IW anyway and he reckons he might as well win the same number of matches for 1000 points.

I would have been shocked if Fed had played Dubai. If he had failed to reclaim #1 in Rotterdam, then perhaps. But once he reached Rotterdam SF, Dubai was toast.

summerblues wrote:I would have been shocked if Fed had played Dubai.  If he had failed to reclaim #1 in Rotterdam, then perhaps.  But once he reached Rotterdam SF, Dubai was toast.

Why shocked?
He probably wants to play just as much as we want him to.

I reckon if there was another week between Rotterdam and Dubai he probably would’ve.

It must be quite frustrating for him...to be in the form of his life and to have to turn tournaments down.