US Open Round 4 (Day 8)- with Game Fixtures

That beautiful backhand died like a candle in the wind.
I am so sad and I don't give a hoot who wins USO now....

Did not see this one coming. I do not know whether I should be encouraged or discouraged by the fact that this happened while Fed was actually playing ok.

So Fed is now on a two-slam streak of missed QFs. Let's see how far that one can go.

summerblues wrote:So Fed is now on a two-slam streak of missed QFs.  Let's see how far that one can go.

Why do you have this morbid need to add salt to the wound?

Well nitb, it is what it is. Perhaps I find it actually easier to go and think up some stats than to think about the match too much. It is not like we can change the outcome after the fact anyway.

come on kohli set point!

he takes it!

FFS

Kohli takes the first set, so once again Rafa will have failed to straight-set him.

Kohli saved three set points when he was 0-40 down at 5:6

summerblues wrote:Kohli saved three set points when he was 0-40 down at 5:6

Yes.
Disaster

Kohli has the look of Rosol.

Nadal will lose this.

Oh JS stop your jinxing. I can see why you would have the urge to do it but you cannot expect people on the forum to take you seriously while you are in the middle of your jinxing fits.

Against nadal more so than any other player, you have to beat him. Some players give it away. Robredo played well but Feds had some atrocious service games.

summerblues wrote: while you are in the middle of your jinxing fits.

I'm genuinely really nervous.

luvsports! wrote:Against nadal more so than any other player, you have to beat him. Some players give it away. Robredo played well but Feds had some atrocious service games.

Yes true.

Gasquet ties his match with Raonic at one set all.

I am sure you are genuinly nervous. Rafa is your favorite player and he just lost the first set. I also know how tempting it is to start jinxing in those situations - been there done that. But I still do not think it is the best thing to do on a forum.

       

How many BPs did Kohli save there? 56

Feels like it.

Kohli holds from 0-40 again.

Ferrer takes out Tipsy.

Rafa finally breaks, but you could see it coming.

Yes he had a few BPs before that.

Rafa takes the second set. Kohli doing all right but he will have an uphill battle. He seems to be under pressure most of his service games while Rafa keeps holding quite comfortably.

Had to run some errands, back now to see that Rafa - not very surprisingly - took the third set and that Gasquet - more surprisingly - did not fold and tied Raonic at two sets apiece.

Floodgates finally opened in the fourth set. I am switching to Richard vs Milos where the outcome is still very much in doubt.

I am still awake and not watching any matches. Just sad.

...and Gasquet just breaks to go up 2:1.

Oh dear nitb, I used to be more disappointed after Fed's losses a few years back; by now I think I am genuinely quite happy to just see him play for as long as he will. Of course, whenever he plays, I root for him, but the losses are nowhere near as hard as they used to be.

Rafa wraps up his wn with a 6:1 final set. He could be facing his fellow members of the Spanish Armada all the way to the final: QF against Robredo, followed by SF vs Ferrer and a Final vs Granollers.

In the meantime, Milos breaks straight back.

Phewwwww

It's not the loss itself. I have survived many truly horrible Nole's losses.
Fed's losses are very different.
It's the way he chooses never to stop flying.

I do not even know if it is really true. He himself said he was a "results" guy and that is how I look at sports too. You choose whatever method gives you the best results, flying does not come into it.

But even if it did, in the end the age catches up with everyone. Such is life. He has had it pretty good for pretty long, so we cannot complain, we got to enjoy it for a long while.

JS, unless you post the next day of your prediction game soon, I will probably not make it. I will not have time tomorrow until it is too late, so would have to make my picks before I go sleep tonight.

summerblues wrote:JS, unless you post the next day of your prediction game soon, I will probably not make it.  I will not have time tomorrow until it is too late, so would have to make my picks before I go sleep tonight.

Don't ahve time for the full article now, it's late in the night.

Just post your picks below, or PM me.
Murray (1) vs Istomin (9)
Youzhny (4) vs Hewitt (6)
Berdych (3) vs Wawrinka (7)
Djokovic (1) vs Grannollers (9)

Thanks, appreciate it. I got destroyed today but the show must go on:

Murray
Hewitt
Wawrinka
Djokovic

Noted.

 

Raonic looks more tired of the two.

Gasquet breaks for 6:5 and will be serving for the match.

And he duly serves it out. So, it will be Rafa vs Robredo and Ferrer vs Gasquet in QF.

Milos's loss also means that Nole is the youngest remaining player in the man's draw

noleisthebest wrote:That beautiful backhand died like a candle in the wind.
I am so sad and I don't give a hoot who wins USO now....

 serious?

I heard the Eurosport commentator saying they heard Fed shouting to his camp: "I can't move"....in that 3rd set.

Looks like he cannot string matches anymore...his serving was certainly not a weapon yesterday.

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:That beautiful backhand died like a candle in the wind.
I am so sad and I don't give a hoot who wins USO now....

 serious?

Yes.

not for me....anyone but Nadal....first and foremost.

Tenez wrote:not for me....anyone but Nadal....first and foremost.

I have never been bothered with results and stats, they are great and I'm sure mean a lot more to players, but have lost their value with doping being allowed to kill tennis.

I just hope Federer recovers from this loss as it will have devastaded his confidence.

As always, it will be left to worn out Nole to slay the beast.....I hope he does it for tennis's sake, Nadal winning this USO is a morbid thought.

I'm actually happy Fed didn't win after a 4/5 set marathon match. His only chance to get past the quarters was to progress from here with unlimited confidence, so he had to win something like 6-3 6-1 6-1. But robredo can be really testing for Federer, even though their h2h tells something different. I remember in Roj' most dominant slam win (AO 2007), Robredo was the only one who could trouble Federer. And a few months later it was Robredo who broke Roj winning streak of slam set wins. However, losing to Robredo in NY is another big disappointment and  it confirms there's no way he'll win ever a slam again.

But i do expect quite a lot from him upcoming indoor season, he'll forget this loss and build further on the good matches he played in NY. True conditions, shorter format, and obviously in for a rehabilitation: i predict he'll grab 1 or 2 indoor titles.

I ma glad you mention that AO 07 encounter. DO you remember the pace of that match compared to yesterday's? So much slower back then, not so much the court but mouvement and power of Robredo.

The funny thing is even players of his age (Robredo) are playing better than ever. Fed is very unlucky in that espect not to have that fitness anymore. Despite complaining about his game, he actually looked good for 2 sets. You say the focus was wrong which is clearly true but the main problem was in my view the confidence....simply not there and that makes the bad patches counting more than the good ones. Also Robredo was reading his game so much, maybe because he was not quick enough on his feet.  Fed was trying to wrong foot him too much but it did not work. He picks the wrong shot too many times nowadays.

Yes, I still believe he can win another slam. BUt he can't quite do it with this antic racquet. He needs to upgrade add spin/weight to his shots so he can make the most of his attacking shots. Robredo was simply mooballing on many rallies but moonballing with a purpose a la Nadal. That's what those new strings/racquets can do.

Yesterday was obvious how the game has changed and how his game looked obsolete.