Wimbledon Day 13, Sunday 14th July

Tenez wrote:I just wish Nadal and Djoko had killed each others for 5 sets in the semi before meeting Federer. 

Winning or losing slams requires a bit of luck.... And I have not seen much in Federer's career.

You think God giving him that talent is not lucky enough?
Life is fair, although I think that the gift of Nole being born a Serb is better than Rog's gift of tennis talent.

Tenez wrote:I just wish Nadal and Djoko had killed each others for 5 sets in the semi before meeting Federer. 

Winning or losing slams requires a bit of luck.... And I have not seen much in Federer's career.

I can only see the 2017 Wimbledon as one where it fell for him. Other than that I tend to agree, I can’t recall the last time he awaited the winner of Nadal / Djokovic in the semi - or even their last meeting in a semi.

Yep....and I will add AO 17 and AO18 where he managed to have a bit more rest before the finals in spite of his long and gruelling matches getting there in AO17.

But that FO19...what a pity. Fed was more fresh then than he is now and I certainly would have fancied his chances if it was not for that hurricane.

noleisthebest wrote:

Tenez wrote:I just wish Nadal and Djoko had killed each others for 5 sets in the semi before meeting Federer. 

Winning or losing slams requires a bit of luck.... And I have not seen much in Federer's career.

You think God giving him that talent is not lucky enough?

I don;t think there is any luck in that talent. It is his love of the game and his "knowledge" of life that you can see in his every move.

Life is fair, although I think that the gift of Nole being born a Serb is better than Rog's gift of tennis talent.

Life is fair? Since when? You know from your Book that this place belongs to the devil, so far at least, and all heros lose down here, including prophets.

In that respect Nadal and Djoko are a real threat to surpass Federer.

bogbrush wrote:Yeah, sb, it’s difficult to see for me though how Federer can play so low errors to make the attacking needed work.

I think Fed's sturdier BH makes the difference.  In 2014/15 W and 2015 USO Fed could not rally and had to attack all out.  He kept it competitive, but THAT was too difficult even for Fed.  He can now rally much better and that will be enough to get him through - first he will win more points off rallies and second he will be able to rally longer to find a better time to attack.  He does not need to outrally Djokovic outright.  So that is my main reason for optimism.

In addition, the more I think of it, the more I am convinced Nole will not be as solid as he used to be.  To me, he dropped off significantly after AO19.  Almost like a less pronounced version of his post 2016 RG slump.  Even in Madrid, the only tournament he won after AO, he did not look anywhere near his best.  Likewise at RG.  People can blame it on wind all they want, but a top form Nole would have played better in that SF.

I did not watch Nole vs RBA but LK and Paul in their convo seem to admit Nole's ground game was not up to snuff.  They put a positive spin on it - Nole is now more versatile and was able to compensate with his variety.  But - whether true or not - that is the last thing I am worried about.  Nole is not going to win by bamboozling Fed with his variety.  He either wins by being the unpenetrable wall or not at all.

So, I am optimistic.  Maybe too optimistic.  We shall see soon enough.

noleisthebest wrote:You think God giving him that talent is not lucky enough?

Very true.  Luck.  Plain and simple.

noleisthebest wrote:Life is fair

But this is certainly not true.  I like to say that if a person is to know only one thing and nothing else at all, that one thing should be: "Life is not fair".

bogbrush wrote:I do know that nitb needs to get off the lines of coke or whatever it is that’s causing these stupid posts. Seriously girl, it’s stupid.

It is a free world.

bogbrush wrote:I can only see the 2017 Wimbledon as one where it fell for him. Other than that I tend to agree, I can’t recall the last time he awaited the winner of Nadal / Djokovic in the semi - or even their last meeting in a semi.

2018 Wimbledon setup was just perfect.  Rafa/Nole in the same half, going toe-to-toe for 5 sets in a grueling SF.  Fed was just not good enough to take advantage of his nice draw.

summerblues wrote:

bogbrush wrote:Yeah, sb, it’s difficult to see for me though how Federer can play so low errors to make the attacking needed work.

I think Fed's sturdier BH makes the difference.  In 2014/15 W and 2015 USO Fed could not rally and had to attack all out.  He kept it competitive, but THAT was too difficult even for Fed.  He can now rally much better and that will be enough to get him through - first he will win more points off rallies and second he will be able to rally longer to find a better time to attack.  He does not need to outrally Djokovic outright.  So that is my main reason for optimism.

In addition, the more I think of it, the more I am convinced Nole will not be as solid as he used to be.  To me, he dropped off significantly after AO19.  Almost like a less pronounced version of his post 2016 RG slump.  Even in Madrid, the only tournament he won after AO, he did not look anywhere near his best.  Likewise at RG.  People can blame it on wind all they want, but a top form Nole would have played better in that SF.

I did not watch Nole vs RBA but LK and Paul in their convo seem to admit Nole's ground game was not up to snuff.  They put a positive spin on it - Nole is now more versatile and was able to compensate with his variety.  But - whether true or not - that is the last thing I am worried about.  Nole is not going to win by bamboozling Fed with his variety.  He either wins by being the unpenetrable wall or not at all.

So, I am optimistic.  Maybe too optimistic.  We shall see soon enough.

Neither. 

Djokovic will win because Federer is tired. It would matter not how well Djokovic plays. The reason is set in stone. Tiredness.

When Nole beat Fed here in 2014, Fed was a 32yo aging champion.  The best one here ever, but one whose time has come and gone, no longer good enough to beat all comers.

Now, however, Nole is 32, and it is his time to be the aging champion who can no longer hold to his title.

Good luck Roger!

legendkillar wrote:Djokovic will win because Federer is tired. It would matter not how well Djokovic plays. The reason is set in stone. Tiredness.

Perhaps.  As I said, maybe I am too optimistic.

Tenez wrote:Yep....and I will add AO 17 and AO18 where he managed to have a bit more rest before the finals in spite of his long and gruelling matches getting there in AO17.

But that FO19...what a pity. Fed was more fresh then than he is now and I certainly would have fancied his chances if it was not for that hurricane.

I still think there was a chance for Fed if he could've kept Nadal pinned on his FH. Tricky I know given conds negated both their FH's, but I think Fed should've gone to Nadal's FH more as everytime he went to the BH, just got burnt by it.

Speaking of luck. He got a piece with Berrettini being so god awful! To get out in under 90 minutes was a touch.

Tenez wrote:
I don;t think there is any luck in that talent. It is his love of the game and his "knowledge" of life that you can see in his every move.

What, are you saying Federer earnt that talent at the moment of conception?

Tenez wrote:
Life is fair? Since when? You know from your Book that this place belongs to the devil, so far at least, and all heros lose down here, including prophets.  

The Prophet did not lose. Which is why life IS fair.

Tenez wrote:
In that respect Nadal and Djoko are a real threat to surpass Federer.

To quote "my" Book: Men look on the outward but God weighs the intentions of the heart.

summerblues wrote:

legendkillar wrote:Djokovic will win because Federer is tired. It would matter not how well Djokovic plays. The reason is set in stone. Tiredness.

Perhaps.  As I said, maybe I am too optimistic.

Well being honest, I didn't think Federer would beat Nadal on Friday. Just because how well the conditions were set up and Federer wasn't really at his best going into it and then following that horrible second set vs Nadal, I saw no coming back or history to repeat with a Nadal beat down following. 

Yet here he is in the final, so already I wouldn't say your optimism is misplaced. He's proved me wrong once. He has it in him to prove me wrong again in quick succession.

There have been showers in the area today. Maybe the roof might come into play before a ball is served. 

legendkillar wrote:There have been showers in the area today. Maybe the roof might come into play before a ball is served. 

Yes but is that a real advantage versus Djokovic. If anything I think Djoko looked more troubled by the hurricane conds than Federer...even if Fed goes for the thinner margins.

I would not mind lots of wind today. Djokovic lost a few slams because of wind..including Murray's first at the USO.

legendkiller. how do you know fed is tired? he said he was after the match. This isnt after a match. You're taking something he said 2 days ago and applying it to today. and djok isnt the same player either. If we want to talk about luck, nitb, the number of times feds had the harder draw is a joke. Fed has a great chance to win.

Wrote this. Hope I am wrong!

'How Novak Djokovic will stop the stars aligning for Roger Federer'


https://www.theroar.com.au/2019/07/14/how-novak-djokovic-will-stop-the-stars-aligning-for-roger-federer/

I wish they gave Rod Laver a rest...it's beginning to get tedious...

Tenez wrote:

legendkillar wrote:There have been showers in the area today. Maybe the roof might come into play before a ball is served. 

Yes but is that a real advantage versus Djokovic. If anything I think Djoko looked more troubled by the hurricane conds than Federer...even if Fed goes for the thinner margins.

I would not mind lots of wind today. Djokovic lost a few slams because of wind..including Murray's first at the USO.

More it could be an advantage for Federer  

Sadly no breeze in the air today.

Daniel2 wrote:legendkiller.  how do you know fed is tired? he said he was after the match. This isnt after a match. You're taking something he said 2 days ago and applying it to today.  and djok isnt the same player either.  If we want to talk about luck, nitb, the number of times feds had the harder draw is a joke.  Fed has a great chance to win.

I said the tiredness to SB as jest. Of course he'd be tired after a match as it's instant. 

If we are talking fatigue, there could be some given he had 2 tough matches in the QF and SF respectively.

Surprised the BBC haven't done a crowdfund for Boris.

So far so good.

Decent returns from Roger, just did not do anything with them.

All quiet here. Must mean nobody is watching this.

Any ball wide to Federer's FH side is a guaranteed point for the Screech. The movement to that side has been non existent for years.

That's it use the slice.

Good point finished with a bad miss.

Federer's movement to the right has been poor since before 2014. He just needs to deal with it.

Meanwhile, poor start here.

im out but back soon

Ok. Holds comfortably enough.

Shame that BP. He had a play there, but could not execute.

At 0-30 I thought uh oh. 

But that was a serving masterclass onwards from Fed. 

Fed certainly with the right gameplan for sure.

Good start but you just feel that the Screech will grind him down.

orrrr fed will win like he did v nadal

Fed missing a couple of real makeable shots by his standards. 

Got to tighten that up.

A top service game there. Winced at the BH approach, but that was a mighty get.

Nole will not grind him down if the match unfolds the way it has started.

First: few long rallies thus far

Second: Fed not (yet?) forced to play above himself.

Beautiful stuff

Beautiful stuff

High quality match so far

If there was any hope about rallying, right there. Pepper the FH, pull the trigger on the BH side. 

I still think Fed could play better with his FH today. 

Djokovic comfortable to sit back on the baseline. That might change if Fed forces the issue in this opening set.

Nole had me a little nervous as he came back from 40-0 to 40-30.

Djokovic finding the first serves when he needed them. At deuce now. Fed got to take his chance.

Shame. Good stuff from Nole.

Grrrr again Fed missing on a crucial point. 

Just hope this doesn't come back to bite him. 

Djokovic first serves in nearing 50%. Would be disappointing for Fed not to take advantage.

I've already had to turn off castle and boris.  Just awful commentators.

Why play that dropshot when the FH side was open!

1st serve percentage dropping like a stone

Has to win this set or its match over.

The return was insane enough, but that BH and FH even more insane!