ATP Tour Final - The Draw

Tenez wrote:That's the last thing fed wanted.....wasting energy....

He must be livid wih himslef for allowing it to happen.

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:

Tenez wrote:yep...Fed played poorly in teh first set but managed to do just enough.....Playing better now than Nishi's form is dropping fast.

It doesn't take long for Nishi to drop level.
He is too silky for tennis.

too late....I have framed that!

I am doomed...

Oh that footwork...looooooove it!

I don't know about you, but watching Fed brings lump to my throat.

It's like when the most passionate and deepest passage of a musical piece hits you in the heart and you close your eyes.

And when you open them, you feel a little sad.

noleisthebest wrote:

Tenez wrote:That's the last thing fed wanted.....wasting energy....

He must be livid wih himslef for allowing it to happen.

But that improvised FH for 4:1, should ease the pain a little.

Nishi is the new Davydenko.

noleisthebest wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:

Tenez wrote:That's the last thing fed wanted.....wasting energy....

He must be livid wih himslef for allowing it to happen.

But that improvised FH for 4:1, should ease the pain a little.

I am hating this match on Federer's behalf now.

Federer will never win another GS. He has absolutely no stamina anymore. He can't even last 2 sets.

Much better for Nishikori that he plays Fed in the 3rd group match than 1st or 2nd. Fed just seems to lack the aggression he had that won him so many slams.

AceofDeath wrote:Much better for Nishikori that he plays Fed in the 3rd group match than 1st or 2nd. Fed just seems to lack the aggression he had that won him so many slams.

Fed is more aggressive than ever.

Which other nutter dares to come to the net and volley on THIS court!!!!!?

There is something neandertalian in Federer....now that I see him with a beard.

In a perverse way, Fed is now enjoying this match, showing Nishi who's the boss.

Tenez wrote:There is something neandertalian in Federer....now that I see him with a beard.

Mirka?

noleisthebest wrote:

AceofDeath wrote:Much better for Nishikori that he plays Fed in the 3rd group match than 1st or 2nd. Fed just seems to lack the aggression he had that won him so many slams.

Fed is more aggressive than ever.

Which other nutter dares to come to the net and volley on THIS court!!!!!?

Aggressive play from the baseline sorry. I know he comes forward plenty these days

Not sure what to think if he loses this match from being a break up in all the sets.. haha as I write this he has a MP

He's avoided the meltdown!

6/6 on break points

AceofDeath wrote:6/6 on break points

yep...a bit of an improvement from his last slam final!

AceofDeath wrote:
Aggressive play from the baseline sorry. I know he comes forward plenty these days

Yes, but Nishi is the quickest and best passer in the game.

AceofDeath wrote:
Not sure what to think if he loses this match from being a break up in all the sets.. haha as I write this he has a MP
He's avoided the meltdown!

This feels like a Pyrrhic victory.
He wasted precious energy and possibly squandered this WTF.
I really hope not, though.

Yes I am not sure he will even make the final. He played poorly. he will have to make th emost of a poor form from Stan or Murray.

I hope nadal will be able to deliver v Djoko...though I don;t have much hope.

Easily the best match of Nishikori in the tournament. This while he only has had theoretical chances left to advance. Great shots, outstanding movement. Would have won easily with a better serve. 

Very up and down from Fed, missing intensity and concentration at times. Did he really sit down one game too early in one set?   I have no doubt, he can raise his level for the SF. Murray would be the easier opponent than Wawrinka surely, but Wawrinka is favourite to go through imv.

Autumnleaf wrote:Easily the best match of Nishikori in the tournament. This while he only has had theoretical chances left to advance. Great shots, outstanding movement. Would have won easily with a better serve. 

Very up and down from Fed, missing intensity and concentration at times. Did he really sit down one game too early in one set?   I have no doubt, he can raise his level for the SF. Murray would be the easier opponent than Wawrinka surely, but Wawrinka is favourite to go through imv.

Yes, but Fed really let him.

Fed should've finished him off in straight sets, just didn't want to flog himself and in the end did just that...

noleisthebest wrote:Yes, but Fed really let him.

True enough wrt the wonky service games. Or such terrible misses like that shot in the second set that gave Nishikori the BP for his second break. Kei is a very good returner, but even the best returner needs a little help against the players with the very best service games. 

Today Roger's service games just weren't the greatest.

The problm was, he didn't need the win yet he didn't want to lose.
So obviously never went into the match as sharp/focused as he did against Nole or Berd.

It's very annoying he allowed it to happen. The only saving grace is he has a day of rest and will hopefully play at least as tired an opponent as himself on Saturday.

And then on Sunday...full on in the first set and lots of luck in the 2nd.

Shame, because he has hit superb form here in London.

But he is a pro...and pros deliver.

^^ I believe he'll be alright, has the advantage of an off-day, while the opponent has to play the very next day. Hopefully Murray-Wawrinka fight tough for the second spot in their group and none of them are spring chicken either!

P.S. I share your dislike of the term "old man".

Myself wrote:Or such terrible misses like that shot in the second set that gave Nishikori the BP for his second break.

I was talking about this miss: https://streamable.com/e/ucpx 

Almost comical, looks like a ball I could put away.

Autumnleaf wrote:^^ I believe he'll be alright, has the advantage of an off-day, while the opponent has to play the very next day. Hopefully Murray-Wawrinka fight tough for the second spot in their group and none of them are spring chicken either!

P.S. I share your dislike of the term "old man".

I am not optimistic. This match really drained him a lot. He has two RR ahead of him back to back.

Even Stan will be very tough...unless they agree before the match...they don't kill each other like last year.

I am desperate!

Autumnleaf wrote:

Myself wrote:Or such terrible misses like that shot in the second set that gave Nishikori the BP for his second break.

I was talking about this miss: https://streamable.com/e/ucpx 

Almost comical, looks like a ball I could put away.

Just mistimed it as he was flying into the shot.
It does look like the whole Universe is going to collapse in moments like that!

Murray trying to lose weight?
Every little helps.

Just checked: Nole's "receiving" legs are not ripped, just lean and very mean.

Hard work, but he must feel like feather in them!

Berdych is tragic.
Even his coach is laughing at his pathetic drop-shot.
He must play some good matches during the year to get all these points...but I never get to see them!

Even if he were doping (which I doubt), you can't just take roids and get beefed up without putting in huge effort as well.  It's not like Bananaman.

So Berd gets zero points & $167,000 participation fee this week.
It should cover hotel and shopping bills for his large entourage in London.

On Swiss TV they just said that the Djokodal SF is scheduled at 2 pm. Terrible scheduling, you gotta wonder if they learnt anything from last year's disaster.

I would have thought they put on Djokodal last because of the 2 superstars involved, but seems not. ;(

Pathetic match between Berdych and Djokovic. Djokovic didn't want to exert himself and Berdych was just ... bad, his usual one-dimensional self. No energy in the crowd as well, where should it have come from? Surely not from the excellence displayed on court.

Pretty unfair that Stan and Murray are playing the second match.
Shouldn't they be given afternoon slot as one of them will play in the semi, Nadal-Ferrer is a dead rubber.

Fedal forces are still alive and kicking behind the closed doors.

Agreed about Nadal-Ferrer, but it's probably about the more interesting match for the paying audience again, not some Fedal forces.  Nadal-Ferrer just isn't a very exciting match-up, will probably sell out nonetheless because of the Nadal fans. But Murray-Wawrinka is without a doubt more intriguing. Are the afternoon-matches cheaper btw?

ETA: The one who benefits the most from this unfair scheduling is of course Novak Djokovic. Gets a day off today and then plays the first SF.

No, afternoon and evening sessions are all the same price.

Murray-Nadal was more attractive fans-wise on Wednesday (than Ferrer-Stan), yet again Nadal played the afternoon session.
Fed-Nole were in the same position on Tuesday (both winners of their first match like Nadal and Murray) and they played in the evening.
I think organisers and sponsors are pushing him as hard as they can.

Are we 100% sure that Nadal vs Djokovic is the 2pm match ??

Nothing on the official website.

That's really bad scheduling.

Final should be played at 8pm like an evening session, not at 3.30, to give some hope of recovery to second SF-ists...

But as usual, Nadal gets it cushy...

noleisthebest wrote:That's really bad scheduling.

Final should be played at 8pm like an evening session, not at 3.30, to give some hope of recovery to second SF-ists...

But as usual, Nadal gets it cushy...

Yes, he can be nice and fresh as he watches the final on his TV.

You k ow what's really funny, I went to see tickets on gumtree and they are ALREADY selling them as
Saturday SF, afternoon Djokovic-Nadal
And then, wait for it -

Saturday SF, evening Federer-WAWRINKA!!!!
Is there something we don't know?

noleisthebest wrote:Saturday SF, evening Federer-WAWRINKA!!!!
Is there something we don't know?

Seriously weird, but probably just jumped the gun. Wawrinka is the favourite to win imho, Murray would have to dig in deep and I'm not sure he's willing to do that. He has no chance to win the WTF anyway.

noleisthebest wrote:So Berd gets zero points & $167,000 participation fee this week.
It should cover hotel and shopping bills for his large entourage in London.

I heard he never won a match in London despite qualifying a few times....is that true?

Autumnleaf wrote:On Swiss TV they just said that the Djokodal SF is scheduled at 2 pm. Terrible scheduling, you gotta wonder if they learnt anything from last year's disaster

Agree!. Really stupid. 6 hours extra rest over 24h is huge.

noleisthebest wrote:That's really bad scheduling.

Final should be played at 8pm like an evening session, not at 3.30, to give some hope of recovery to second SF-ists...

But as usual, Nadal gets it cushy...

I remember I went to a couple of finals and they seemed to be later than 3.30. Have they changed that recently?

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:That's really bad scheduling.

Final should be played at 8pm like an evening session, not at 3.30, to give some hope of recovery to second SF-ists...

But as usual, Nadal gets it cushy...

I remember I went to a couple of finals and they seemed to be later than 3.30. Have they changed that recently?

Yes, I checked...singles starts at 6.
Doubles are at 3.30.

Still...

I wonder how my poor umbrella's doing these days...

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:So Berd gets zero points & $167,000 participation fee this week.
It should cover hotel and shopping bills for his large entourage in London.

I heard he never won a match in London despite qualifying a few times....is that true?

No idea.
I saw him three times there.
He lost to Nole once, to Fed on Sunday, and he also played Murray one year, but I can't remember who won

Tenez wrote:I heard he never won a match in London despite qualifying a few times....is that true?

Impossible. They mentioned multiple times during the Nishikori match that he had never lost R2 in London before this year.

Autumnleaf wrote:

Tenez wrote:I heard he never won a match in London despite qualifying a few times....is that true?

Impossible. They mentioned multiple times during the Nishikori match that he had never lost R2 in London before this year.

Ah..this is what I misunderstood for some reasons.

Here is the schedule....

http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/scores/current/barclays-atp-world-tour-finals/605/daily-schedule

Depressing...I am wishing Fed to win that semi and retire like last year!

Tenez wrote:Here is the schedule....

http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/scores/current/barclays-atp-world-tour-finals/605/daily-schedule

Depressing...I am wishing Fed to win that semi and retire like last year!

No you don't!

I think it is a disgrace to have that second semi so late. Tennis is all about fitness and then they choose to allow one player to have nearly 30% extra recovery time!

It's absurd!