WORLD TOUR FINALS 2012, London

If Tsonga won this, Murray would still qualify and that would be with one win only (over Berdych) and in three sets, amazing!

And the agony is over....6:2 7:6.
At least the second set was competitive and hopefully filled Tsonga with some pride and food for thought on how to play next year.

Very nice Nitb perceptions from WTF thanks. Good to see that Nole is back after a couple of hard weeks. Having no. 1 again helped him to find another motivation. His coach said that he works very hard and he still finds something which can be improved in his game. Nole looks hungry for next wins again. There was said that Nole with Murray are a step ahead of others at the moment, which will be more obvious next year. He was full of praise for Nole how he overcame the last unpleasant weeks. I am looking forward to the final. My tip is Nole with Murray again, although I would prefer Nole with Fed.

Hi Paul!
yes, I enjoyed my time in O2 very much and hope to crown it all on Monday
Nole came to London with a very heavy heart which is one of the main reasons I went to cheer for him, as he is the player that needs it.
He broke through the dark wall by beating Tsonga and cemented his confidence further by beating Murray.
Now, he is back to his old self: hungry and dangerous. I can't wait for the semi-final and, God-willing the final and victory on Monday.
I would also love to see the Nole Federer final as they are the two best players, not just this year.
Murray is just strong and does a few things well, his game has so little variation compared to the top two. When he runs out of steam, he is finished.
Nole will beat him any day when he is hungry because he is a better player.
Fed as well, just needs to be focused and hungry as well.
I thought Fed wanted to play Nole more than Murray in the semis and that he may tank against Delpo, but on second thoughts I think he'd rather deal with Murray on Sunday.
So, let's look forward to two more wonderful matches and wins from Nole, Numero Uno

Federer Delpo time!
C'mon Rog, Nole wants Ferru in the semis

I must say I simply LOVE the -beat moment, it's electric in the O2 when the crowd claps to the beat, it really gets the adrenaline going for everyone and sets the atmosphere brilliantly

Sue Barker and Andrew Castle need to shut up...talking about Federer winning Wimbledon..."it was because of the roof"

Yeah right..7 Wimbledon titles because of the roof *rolls yes*
Murray lost because Federer was better,get over it!

I'm watching it on Tennistv so it's Robbie & Goodall, so not too bad.

I just want to know who chooses these people to toss the coin before matches?

Both players a bit tense and cagy so far.

Veejay wrote:Sue Barker and Andrew Castle need to shut up...talking about Federer winning Wimbledon..."it was because of the roof"

That's not what they said, you really do misquote things.

rematch of 2 tired soul. at least RF serving better today, but oh, the UFS

What did they said amri?

They were complementing Federer on how good he was indoors, and said that he had been supreme in the Wimbledon final when the roof was on.

Delpo saves BPS 4 all, match hotting up nicely, guard being dropped

Oh, what a sweet bit of kitten with the ball of wool moment here from both players

Delpo on fire atm, I can't believe how he's able to keep up with Federer's pace by just blasting the ball like that (sound effects on, of course).

Linesmen all Fed fans

Fed doing a very poor job of manouvering Delpo today.
Backhand totally off and he loses the TB convincingly.

...but comes back with the vengeance and equals it to one set all.

I go upstairs to check stg, and it's 3:0 for Delpo already!!!

noleisthebest wrote: I can't believe how he's able to keep up with Federer's pace by just blasting the ball like that (sound effects on, of course).

You said this the other day too but it sounds paradoxical to me.

Delpo's still blasting the ball because he can handle the pace. It's not like he can handle the pace because he blasts the ball.
If he was on his backfoot because of the pace, he wouldn't be able to blast the ball.

If this was an important match to Fed, he would have used all the variation he has and play the rallies with more commitment. But today he's going for the bigger shots most of the time, problem is: the form is not there so surely he'll lose this match.

Fed's season is done, it was a great season though

[quote="gallery play"]

noleisthebest wrote:
Delpo's still blasting the ball because he can handle the pace. It's not like he can handle the pace because he blasts the ball.
If he was on his backfoot because of the pace, he wouldn't be able to blast the ball.

True, but it's more to do with Federer choosing to rally and hit down the middle rather than cross-court and get Delpo on the move thus giving him time to set up easily without having to move much.

noleisthebest wrote:

True, but it's more to do with Federer choosing to rally and hit down the middle rather than cross-court and get Delpo on the move thus giving him time to set up easily without having to move much.

???
When was Federer hitting down the middle?

I'm not sure that's accurate analysis NITB, Federer certainly isn't hitting the ball down the middle...
The way to trouble Del Potro is to keep the ball low, and outfox him with variety.

Fed's been pretty lazy most of the match...obviously having already qualified before this match just couldn't get his adrenaline going.

Amritia3ee wrote:I'm not sure that's accurate analysis NITB, Federer certainly isn't hitting the ball down the middle...
The way to trouble Del Potro is to keep the ball low, and outfox him with variety.

nonsense

What's nonsense?
Do you really think Federer is just hitting the ball down the middle?
Or do you disagree the way to beat Del Potro is to have variety (ie don't give him rhythm) and keep the ball low with slices?

Next time you rudely dismiss someone's opinion as 'nonsense' at-least explain yourself.

[quote="noleisthebest"]

gallery play wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:
Delpo's still blasting the ball because he can handle the pace. It's not like he can handle the pace because he blasts the ball.
If he was on his backfoot because of the pace, he wouldn't be able to blast the ball.

True, but it's more to do with Federer choosing to rally and hit down the middle rather than cross-court and get Delpo on the move thus giving him time to set up easily without having to move much.

The balls in the middle are the only ones he hits inside the lines...all his other shots are long or wide.
Amazing how his level collapsed the last few weeks. He seems disgusted with his game right now, and knows he's not going to fix it in 24 hours

The reason Federer lost today was because he made far too many unforced errors imo, he lacked control and precision like he normally has.
I think he may have been trying to save energy for the SF tomorrow, not sure on that.

Well played Del Potro,had a feeling he would beat Roger again
Cant see Federer winning this title again playing like this,theres no way he will make it past the semis.His forehand spraying errors all over the place...no sense of urgency from him either

gallery play wrote:

The balls in the middle are the only ones he hits inside the lines...all his other shots are long or wide.
Amazing how his level collapsed the last few weeks. He seems disgusted with his game right now, and knows he's not going to fix it in 24 hours

The crucial games which he lost he played safe and lazy. His focus just wasn't there.

All in all, a sloppy match from Fed, Delpo was good, but far from unbeatable.
Ferrer needs to beat Tipsarevic in order for Federer to top the group and play Murray in the semi-final tomorrow.
If Tipsarevic wins, then Del Potro tops group B and plays Murray.

noleisthebest wrote:

gallery play wrote:

The balls in the middle are the only ones he hits inside the lines...all his other shots are long or wide.
Amazing how his level collapsed the last few weeks. He seems disgusted with his game right now, and knows he's not going to fix it in 24 hours

The crucial games which he lost he played safe and lazy. His focus just wasn't there.

I agree with you on the focus, but play safe???

It was the opposite, on the crucial moments he made unforced errors.

Congrats to JMDP :

His unforced errors came from terrible timing and lazy movement, as well as some poor shot selection coming from loss of focus.
It wasn't the entire match but a good 30% of it.

I don't get how roger could have played so flawlessly from beginning to end to win the 2nd set but lost in the tie'break and got broken in the other two sets.

He was in absolute control the 2nd set.

noleisthebest wrote:His unforced errors came from terrible timing and lazy movement, as well as some poor shot selection coming from loss of focus.

Not in the 2nd set.

Murray is going to make mincemeat from Federer tomorrow if Federer loses focus like today.

Id much rather see Federer lose to Djokovic then see him being knocked out by Murray
Come on Tipsarevic!!

Tomorrow he'll be even more despondent: he'd rather lose quick than grinding
his way to a third by playing safe....and still losing.

gallery play wrote:Tomorrow he'll be even more despondent: he'd rather lose quick than grinding
his way to a third by playing safe....and still losing.

I hope not.
It's indoors and he is able to sustain Murray's blasting for one set if he is focused. But he certainly can't afford to be iffy like today. I still can't believe he lost

Anyway, I can't believe I'm saying it, but I am going to watch Tipsarevic Ferrer
After all, there's only 3 matches left in the season

P.S.
ok, there's DC final as well.

noleisthebest wrote:Murray is going to make mincemeat from Federer tomorrow if Federer loses focus like today.

This is assuming Ferru beats Tispy tonight?

Federer: I was thinking more about David than about (the semis vs) Andy & Novak; more disappointed for him than I am about losing today

Very strange comment.

laverfan wrote:Federer: I was thinking more about David than about (the semis vs) Andy & Novak; more disappointed for him than I am about losing today

Very strange comment.

S.Tignor's preview on today's matches throws some light on it:

"But Federer is a pro, and the professional thing to do in this case is
to play your best, without killing yourself in the process, because you
owe it to Ferrer to give him a shot at the semis"

By losing the match today, Federer basically eliminated Ferrer out of the semis.

laverfan wrote:Federer: I was thinking more about David than about (the semis vs) Andy & Novak; more disappointed for him than I am about losing today

Very strange comment.

An honest comment. He had David's fate in his racquet and that must have played in his head.

The funny thing is, Federer's semi-final opponent is now in Ferrer's hands.

Tenez wrote:

laverfan wrote:Federer: I was thinking more about David than about (the semis vs) Andy & Novak; more disappointed for him than I am about losing today

Very strange comment.

An honest comment. He had David's fate in his racquet and that must have played in his head.

I am not questioning his honesty. If he already knew this, he could have played better, to ensure a place for Ferrer.

Now he is second in the group (because of his H2H with Del Potro in the RR stage) and plays Djokovic, otherwise he would have played Murray.

If he is expecting Del Potro and Murray to slug it out and considers himself the favourite against Djokovic, he did it peRFectly.

noleisthebest wrote:The funny thing is, Federer's semi-final opponent is now in Ferrer's hands.

From another forum...

"
A. Ferrer winning in 3 sets (2-1).

Comment 3: 3 players have 2 wins and the other player has 0 wins. The player with 0 wins is eliminated. Of the 3 players with 2 wins, they are ordered by their % of sets won. This produces a 1, 2 & 3 order and the players finishing 1 and 2 move to the semi-final round and the player finishing 3 in % of sets won is eliminated. The player with the best % of sets won is the winner of the group.

Eliminates Tipsy. Ferrer, Federer, DelPo are tied at 2-1, and sets won are Federer (5-2), Del Potro (5-3), Ferrer (4-4) implies Federer, Del Potro order.

B. Ferrer winning in 2 sets (2-0)...

Eliminates Tipsy. Ferrer, Federer, DelPo are tied at 2-1, and sets won are Federer (5-2), Del Potro (5-3), Ferrer (4-3) implies Federer, Del Potro order.

C. Tipsy wins ...

invokes... c) Head-to-head results if only two (2) players are tied

Eliminates Ferrer and Tipsy....

Federer and Del Potro both have 2-1 wins. The H2H between Del Potro-Federer is (1-0), so Del Potro wins the group and Federer is second.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/Rankings/Finale%20SF%20Qualifications.aspx
"

Yes it is.

The H2H does not intervene..does it? It's down to the Ferrer v Tsip match....i believe.

Tenez wrote:The H2H does not intervene..does it? It's down to the Ferrer v Tsip match....i believe.

Yes, it does, if two players are tied at 2-1 wins (assuming a Ferrer loss), then H2H does matter.