US open prediction game! Day 8!

The serve stats look quite consistent over the 3 sets....maybe 1st serve slightly slower in the 3rd as expected. The drop in pace is more significant with Isner.

Was still a gruelling match. Sure many short points but Fed had to run faster.

Federer court coverage:

Round 1: 3300ft = 1000m
Round 2: 4400ft = 1340m
Round 3: 4600ft = 1400m
Round 4: 5600ft = 1700m

So he had to do more running of course v Isner and probably faster running too.

But when you compare those with Murray and Djoko, it's comical. In some matches they have to run 4 times as much as Federer's first round!!!!

Federer would be gone and dusted if he had to run as much as those guys.

Yes, the play was quite fast.
Isner was good, not just a serving tree.
He has improved, too.

Shame Fognini is not playing Nole tonight, he'd make him run a lot.
That's unless he'd choose to retire

Murray ran like mad last night, I was impressed by some of his gets, he even outdid Nadal.

Unlike Nole he does not stretch for shots so has to sprint, crazy!

noleisthebest wrote:Yes, the play was quite fast.
Isner was good, not just a serving tree.
He has improved, too.

Shame Fognini is not playing Nole tonight, he'd make him run a lot.
That's unless he'd choose to retire

Murray ran like mad last night, I was impressed by some of his gets, he even outdid Nadal.

Unlike Nole he does not stretch for shots so has to sprint, crazy!

But Murray is considerably slower off the starting blocks. He anticipates well though.

Tenez wrote:
But Murray is considerably slower off the starting blocks. He anticipates well though.

He does, but that's not hard the way he plays his CC tennis.

He excels in lateral chasing, whereas Nole is quick in all directions, esp as he is usually on centre baseline.

The key for bearing him is to, pull him wide and go down the line, which Stan does well.

noleisthebest wrote:

The key for bearing him is to, pull him wide and go down the line, which Stan does well.

That's why I thinking yesterday watching the match....Shouldn't the net on the sides be actually lower to help the shot makers? You may remember I have argued in the past that due to new strings and spinier balls the court should be more like 2 trapeze facing each others with the narrower sides facing each other (like a bow tie) instead of being that long rectangle.

But in fact what should be better is reverse the net shape. So instead of having a V shape with the lower point at the centre, it should be a straight line or even a Ʌ higher point in the middle of the net. The current setting really doesn't invite players in taking risk and this is why we have those long CC rallies.

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:

The key for bearing him is to, pull him wide and go down the line, which Stan does well.

That's why I thinking yesterday watching the match....Shouldn't the net on the sides be actually lower to help the shot makers? You may remember I have argued in the past that due to new strings and spinier balls the court should be more like 2 trapeze facing each others with the narrower sides facing each other (like a bow tie) instead of being that long rectangle.

But in fact what should be better is reverse the net shape. So instead of having a V shape with the lower point at the centre, it should be a straight line or even a Ʌ higher point in the middle of the net. The current setting really doesn't invite players in taking risk and this is why we have those long CC rallies.

That's a good idea, esp as attacking players usually have low net clearance.

I suppose everyone would adjust even to that but it would spcertainly change and shake the game up a bit.

I find it embarrassing to see pros resort to long CC exchanges.
Is that all they have to show for 20 years of drilling the ball 4 hours a day?

noleisthebest wrote:
That's a good idea, esp as attacking players usually have low net clearance.

I suppose everyone would adjust even to that but it would spcertainly change and shake the game up a bit.

I find it embarrassing to see pros resort to long CC exchanges.
Is that all they have to show for 20 years of drilling the ball 4 hours a day?

It would certainly benefit the SHBHs.

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:
That's a good idea, esp as attacking players usually have low net clearance.

I suppose everyone would adjust even to that but it would spcertainly change and shake the game up a bit.

I find it embarrassing to see pros resort to long CC exchanges.
Is that all they have to show for 20 years of drilling the ball 4 hours a day?

It would  certainly benefit the SHBHs.

Yes!

Did you notice we have 4 SBH-ers in the last 8?
And what's their average age ?

Good point....so as we mentioned so many times here.....conditions are everything.

bogbrush wrote:Updated Federer serving speeds

Av 1st serve, 2nd serve & fastest serve speeds (mph)

1st round    115, 93, 125
2nd round   116, 93, 129
3rd round    112, 89, 124
4th round.   114, 93, 126

I couldn't stay up. How did he look physically?

He looks very good.  No ailments.  He played very well and his serve was holding up well.  He has a chance to win this.
it's not all about speed - his placement was good and he was consistent.  He had to make sure he didn't get broken.

I still don't rate Fed's chance much. Honestly, this is not (only) a jinx.

he is tired, it is obvious he gets tired quickly so he is urgently trying to win quickly with minimum energy loss...and that is extra pressure on him.

No signs of tiredness in his last match.  He played very well.  He has also shown he can beat Murray and Djok in a row recently, so it's not like he's useless.  The problem is he just isn't consistent these days and one or two bad service games can cost you.  He has a decent chance of pulling off the win, but he can't go sloppy like he did at Wimbledon.

The good news is Murray is out so he won't be forced to long rallying.

Those court mileage stats are key!

Tenez wrote:The good news is Murray is out so he won't be forced to long rallying.

Those court mileage stats are key!

More good news!

Luthi:
"Roger has still many good years ahead of him. I don't really fear for a retirement in 2016" .

When you think about it spending half of your working years doing what you love is fantastic.

I wish I was blessed with such a talent. Love of the game and love of training hard.

Tenez wrote:When you think about it spending half of your working years doing what you love is fantastic.

I wish I was blessed with such a talent. Love of the game and love of training hard.  

Yes, he is one lucky man. I wish I could play like him for a day...
You have other talents he doesn't.

If Federer hasn't retired by 2017, I will be very surprised.

FedererKing wrote:If Federer hasn't retired by 2017, I will be very surprised.

This is what I call sticking one's neck out!

His love of the game is one thing, but it's pretty obvious that he gets tired more often these days and is struggling to win Slams - which is what he really wants to do.  Another year of winning nothing and after the olympics?  He's got to call it a day sooner or later.

FedererKing wrote:His love of the game is one thing, but it's pretty obvious that he gets tired more often these days and is struggling to win Slams - which is what he really wants to do.  Another year of winning nothing and after the olympics?  He's got to call it a day sooner or later.

I don't think so. Winning slams or not are not a factor. He'll keep on playing as long as he can play the tennis he wants. I think he's very happy with the results he had this year, and rightfully so.

I don't think so - despite what Federer says. If he continues to lose and feel the effect of his bad back and age, he'll call it a day.  That's what I think. I think he's just waiting for the Olympics and will see 2016 to an end.