Australian Open 2014 : MOTD : Day 10 QF day2

Go Fed, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!!!!!!   

COME ON!!!!!

New Racquet and coach was the right choice.

Yes....agree FK...this new racquet was a must and long due! When you think that his UEs on this side was similar to Murray!!!!! It shows how much of an asset that is. he can now relax and be more creative knowing his BH is a safer shot.

This is why Stan and others had a better BH than him almost....but now with his new racquet, he has by far the best SHBH again.

Yeeess!! I'm starting to dream of grand slam glory again!!
What impresses me the most at the moment is Roger's mental strength. His confidence was low last year, and we could see it. Was afraid that he would crumble again after that third set but he kept it strong. Well done Roger!!

I really get annoyed with people comparing Stan's BH with Fed's....
Stan's BH is good, but like the rest of his game pretty simple and basic.
Kholi and Youzhny play a nicer game than Stan, so does Strakovski.
Gasquet's BH is better as well.
Stan's only advantage over them all is his upper body strength.

....and yes, welcome back, Roger   

Polly 81 wrote:Yeeess!! I'm starting to dream of grand slam glory again!!
What impresses me the most at the moment is Roger's mental strength. His confidence was low last year, and we could see it. Was afraid that he would crumble again after that third set but he kept it strong. Well done Roger!!

As he says it so many times...his confidence was down cause his fitness was done.

noleisthebest wrote:I really get annoyed with people comparing Stan's BH with Fed's....
Stan's BH is good, but like the rest of his game pretty simple and basic.
Kholi and Youzhny play a nicer game than Stan, so does Strakovski.
Gasquet's BH is better as well.
Stan's only advantage over them all is his upper body strength.

True but that gives him the pace so much needed to keep the road runners on their toes.

Tenez wrote:

Polly 81 wrote:Yeeess!! I'm starting to dream of grand slam glory again!!
What impresses me the most at the moment is Roger's mental strength. His confidence was low last year, and we could see it. Was afraid that he would crumble again after that third set but he kept it strong. Well done Roger!!

As he says it so many times...his confidence was down cause his fitness was done.

Yes, but that could have had a knock on effect after his fitness got better, i.e. now. Could have taken a while for confidence to grow to match his fitness/back, but looks like it hasn't which is excellent.

And I would to remind a few here than NITB and I were amongst the few convinced that injury and not age or confidence was the reason he kept losing recently. We got a lot of slack for it but we were right! I am not saying age will not be an effect soon...or even now as his recovery time is extended...but on the day he can be as good as ever...in fact with his new racquet....even better!

Polly 81 wrote:

Tenez wrote:

Polly 81 wrote:Yeeess!! I'm starting to dream of grand slam glory again!!
What impresses me the most at the moment is Roger's mental strength. His confidence was low last year, and we could see it. Was afraid that he would crumble again after that third set but he kept it strong. Well done Roger!!

As he says it so many times...his confidence was down cause his fitness was done.

Yes, but that could have had a knock on effect after his fitness got better, i.e. now. Could have taken a while for confidence to grow to match his fitness/back, but looks like it hasn't which is excellent.

I'd say the confidence is now essentially down to his new racquet. Give him the old one and Murray would have been much tougher to handle!

Tenez wrote:

I'd say the confidence is now essentially down to his new racquet. Give him the old one and Murray would have been much tougher to handle!

I was impressed with how fast he's got used to it, noticable difference even from his match against Tsonga.
Murray really tested it tonight.

Update on rankings:
Murray will now go down to 6, as whoever wins the first semi will overtake him. Might go down to 7 if Fed gets to the Final. But good on him for coming back like that after the surgery.

So..
Berdych and Wawrinka: whoever gets to the final goes up to no.5, if they win title, then no.3.
Nadal: No. 1 whatever happens
Federer: wins semi then no.6, wins title no.3

If his back holds up, ranking will take care of itself very soon.
Great to see Ferrer finally dislodged from top 4!

noleisthebest wrote:Great to see Ferrer finally dislodged from top 4!

Not yet, only if Berd, Stan or Fed wins will he be dislodged. That would be double good for you then  Nadal loses, and Ferrer out of the top 4.

I was watching the match on Eurosport stream with Serbian commentating, until the sound went off in the third set and then came back with Matts and some idiot (was it Goodall?) briefly at the end of the 3rd.
Then the Serbian guy came back and said something really cute (amidst all the really painful blabbing!), he said that with Fed's resurgence and the really aggressive tennis he has been playing, as well as Stan's SBH in the top 8, he hoped for the whole new generation of players to be inspired to play the game "the old school" way.
He even got carried away and went to say that it's Fed's tennis that encouraged Nole to hire Becker and improve his volleying and all-court game, moving even the current crop of players to start playing tennis the way it should be played

Which goes back to my comment about prodigies whose role, apart from creating so much beauty is also to inspire romanticism and belief.

And I love it that of all the days, it's tonight I'll be going to a concert in London to finally tick one off "to do before I die"  things: to hear Joshua Bell, the prodigal violinist with play live (he plays with the only remaining Stradivarius!).

To glorious Roger and all prodigies that make  life in this dark world worth living!

Tenez wrote:And I would to remind a few here than NITB and I were amongst the few convinced that injury and not age or confidence was the reason he kept losing recently. We got a lot of slack for it but we were right! I am not saying age will not be an effect soon...or even now as his recovery time is extended...but on the day he can be as good as ever...in fact with his new racquet....even better!

Yes, and wasn't it all so worth it now!

noleisthebest wrote:I was watching the match on Eurosport stream with Serbian commentating, until the sound went off in the third set and then came back with Matts and some idiot (was it Goodall?) briefly at the end of the 3rd.
Then the Serbian guy came back and said something really cute (amidst all the really painful blabbing!), he said that with Fed's resurgence and the really aggressive tennis he has been playing, as well as Stan's SBH in the top 8, he hoped for the whole new generation of players to be inspired to play the game "the old school" way.
He even got carried away and went to say that it's Fed's tennis that encouraged Nole to hire Becker and improve his volleying and all-court game, moving even the current crop of players to start playing tennis the way it should be played

Which goes back to my comment about prodigies whose role, apart from creating so much beauty is also to inspire romanticism and belief.

And I love it that of all the days, it's tonight I'll be going to a concert in London to finally tick one off "to do before I die"  things: to hear Joshua Bell, the prodigal violinist with play live (he plays with the only remaining Stradivarius!).

To glorious Roger and all prodigies that make  life in this dark world worth living!

good on you. Enjoy.....too romantic for me but certainly a talent!

It will be Bach's double violin concerto in fact, I put Debussy link for the wider public's taste  

Ah...good one! lucky you!

Murray's view on Federer's best year and Federer best tennis!

But in terms of compared with six, seven years ago, I mean, it's tough because sometimes I beat him six, seven years ago and didn't play as well as I did tonight. Sometimes he's maybe played better than that and I could have won the match.

I think he's deluding himself...  Fed is definitely where I expected him to be this year and is challenging again, but as good as 7 years ago?  Hardly.  I guess Murray is trying to rationalize his defeat.

noleisthebest wrote:
 to hear Joshua Bell, the prodigal violinist 

Ooh! Enjoy nitb! I'd love to see Itzak Perlman play one day, he plays the Strad that was owned by Menuhin. Beautiful sound!

Wouldn't mind seeing this live either! Although Rog might need to practice a bit more

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZISGe6JYUA

FedererKing wrote:I think he's deluding himself...  Fed is definitely where I expected him to be this year and is challenging again, but as good as 7 years ago?  Hardly.  I guess Murray is trying to rationalize his defeat.

Fed is better tactically and technically than 7 years ago. No doubt. The slight loss of explosiveness is compensated by simply better, smarter shots nowadays.

Polly 81 wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:
 to hear Joshua Bell, the prodigal violinist 

Ooh! Enjoy nitb! I'd love to see Itzak Perlman play one day, he plays the Strad that was owned by Menuhin. Beautiful sound!

Wouldn't mind seeing this live either! Although Rog might need to practice a bit more

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZISGe6JYUA

Yes, Perlman is good, but a bit too intense for me,  and Yehudi a bit too elegiac, Bell is just right -passionate but dreamy.
I AM excited!   

Thad add and Fed tapping racquet making those sounds reminded me of first seeing him live (from close) and all the different sounds he produced with his backhand, that's when I fell in love with it, it really is just out of this world.

Tenez wrote:

FedererKing wrote:I think he's deluding himself...  Fed is definitely where I expected him to be this year and is challenging again, but as good as 7 years ago?  Hardly.  I guess Murray is trying to rationalize his defeat.

Fed is better tactically and technically than 7 years ago. No doubt. The slight loss of explosiveness is compensated by simply better, smarter shots nowadays.

And his game is also more developed and complex, it's just smoother and richer, he fills every inch of the court with it now.

Tenez wrote:Murray's view on Federer's best year and Federer best tennis!

But in terms of compared with six, seven years ago, I mean, it's tough because sometimes I beat him six, seven years ago and didn't play as well as I did tonight.  Sometimes he's maybe played better than that and I could have won the match.

I just saw this post now, yes, Murray is spot on.
People underrestimate the improvement factor and how the whole tour is imperceptibly moving on that's why it's so hard to catch up after a long break, although not so much these days, improvement of fitness seems to be the main thing players work on in the off season.
You could see it so clearly last year with Nadal, who it took a good 6 months to regain his footwork.

Federer was tiring in that 4th set today. The good thing is that Murray was even more tired. The problem Fed will face versus nadal is that Federer will have to cover more ground even and should have a tougher ball to time.

If on the other hand Nadal plays as badly as today, it might be a straight win for Federer as it should have been for Dimi. There is a huge difference in quality between today's Federer and Dimi. Federer has simply better shots, holds his baseline much better and now can certainly shorten rallies hopefully helping fed to last longer.

I'll have to agree with Amri here in the sense that if Nadal is fit, on this surface, he is still too much to handle for Fed....at this stage. A fitter, more confident Federer could certainly beat Rafa....but I don't think that is where fed is now so he will have to rely on nadal being off form....which certainly was the case today.

I saw a very nervous Nadal against Nishikori, and maybe a little nervous against Dimi ( didn't see enough, just a few games),

All Nishi was doing is taking the ball early and making Nadal run a lot, it was brilliant to watch.
Nishi basically choked, and that was the only reason he lost.

It was in that match that Nadal earnt that "blister", which in fact is not a blister at all, it's a graze on his palm he got when Nishi sent him tumbling down, so Nadal caught himself in that fall with his hand.
That's also when the mysterious shoelace got "broken" and he vanished into tunel.
He just couldn't live with the humiliation of being sent to the ground, it was all over his face.

Fed should go into   that match hungry and relaxed.
I look forward to it.
I also saw he said this after his match today:

"I’m looking forward to speaking to Stefan, because when he came to Dubai, we clearly spoke about playing Rafa. He thought he had some good ideas."

Very glad to see the Old Man win against Murray. It would have been nicer to have done it in straight sets. It would be   to see him win against Nadal and get a match closer to #18.

noleisthebest wrote:"I’m looking forward to speaking to Stefan, because when he came to Dubai, we clearly spoke about playing Rafa. He thought he had some good ideas."

Yes, I noticed that too.

Djoko picked the wrong coach obviously!
I was always a fan of Edberg.....never of becker!

laverfan wrote:Very glad to see the Old Man win against Murray. It would have been nicer to have done it in straight sets. It would be   to see him win against Nadal and get a match closer to #18.

yes - Was good to see him rolling back those years.

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:"I’m looking forward to speaking to Stefan, because when he came to Dubai, we clearly spoke about playing Rafa. He thought he had some good ideas."

Yes, I noticed that too.

Djoko picked the wrong coach obviously!
I was always a fan of Edberg.....never of becker!

I thought Becker would be good, but he seemed to have burdened and pressured Nole emotionally even more.
That was so evident in yesterday's match.
A bit sad Nole can't cope with pressure of big occasions, every time he needed to fight for history pages, he stumbled:  first time for number 2 spot after being an eternal number 3 behind Fedal, all he needed to do is beat Nieminen just before AO 2009, but he lost, then The Streak against Fed (although technically Fognini robbed him of it by giving him the w/o), then last year's opportunity for holding all 4 GSs had he won RG, and now this, when he was to become the record 5 tome AO champ...he is just too emotional and soft on the inside despite the outward mask of hardness.
Doesn't matter.
It may happen on the 8th of June for him and then all this will look not so bad.

Hats off to Fed. He is quite different player at this period of his career. I just looked at his footwork, he was everywhere and looked still fresh. His early ball striking, that is something. His hitting even with 98inc. frame has amazing power and BH side looks the best ever. I like his current game more than during 2005-2008, when it was rather serve fest. We can enjoy his great hitting about adding one or two hits within points, which I really appreciate. Despite the serve speed is not fastest, still his kick from the second is the best second serve on the tour.

So, as I was sceptical about his outlook with Nadal, now it doesn't look bad. If they played B03 I would favor Fed over Nadal. But best of five is very tricky. I mean Fed's chance is to win it in straight sets, if they play longer then Fed's chance drops hugely. This match is too important for both and Nadal  will be ready as always. Blisters don't play any role in it. These matches are played in mental trance.

I am going to be off my work on Friday for that extra case, hopefully Fed can do it. That would be something.

noleisthebest wrote:
I thought Becker would be good, but he seemed to have burdened and pressured Nole emotionally even more.
That was so evident in yesterday's match.
A bit sad Nole can't cope with pressure of big occasions, every time he needed to fight for history pages, he stumbled:  first time for number 2 spot after being an eternal number 3 behind Fedal, all he needed to do is beat Nieminen just before AO 2009, but he lost, then The Streak against Fed (although technically Fognini robbed him of it by giving him the w/o), then last year's opportunity for holding all 4 GSs had he won RG, and now this, when he was to become the record 5 tome AO champ...he is just too emotional and soft on the inside despite the outward mask of hardness.
Doesn't matter.
It may happen on the 8th of June for him and then all this will look not so bad.

If you don't try new things, then you will never learn how things work. Yes, I have had a question mark about Becker and Nole's poor attitude in the match with Stan was weird. But it is quite early and next months will tell us.
I do understand why Nole asked Becker for his coaching. Nole lived in Germany, wants to improve net game, Becker was a great fighter and strong character. But, is Becker good person for coaching, does he like advising and preparation for Nole's matches, is he able to analyze details from the matches, I don't know and have some doubts about it. Let's hope that it won't take much time to sort it out how it really works.

Otherwise I agree with Ten, that Stefan seems to be a kind of person, who has all traits for being a good coach.

I haven't seen the matches today (just a few games of Nadal-Dimi) but i did expect Federer to beat Murray. Not only because of his good form against Tsonga but we should also not forget Murray had a back surgery. 
Nadal will be a different story. He'll come up with all he has to remind Federer what it's like to play against him at a slam. For Federer everything has to click and he has to win 2 out of every 3 big points.  Fed actually has to do it in 3 hours max and that makes it so much easier for Nadal (regardless the score, with every passing minute his chances will increase).

But who knows, the odds have been more against Fed than they are this time.

I am curious what ideas Edberg has made up. One thing is sure: he knew how to beat bigger, stronger, harder hitting guys.

gallery play wrote:I haven't seen the matches today (just a few games of Nadal-Dimi) but i did expect Federer to beat Murray. Not only because of his good form against Tsonga but we should also not forget Murray had a back surgery. 
Nadal will be a different story. He'll come up with all he has to remind Federer what it's like to play against him at a slam. For Federer everything has to click and he has to win 2 out of every 3 big points.  Fed actually has to do it in 3 hours max and that makes it so much easier for Nadal (regardless the score, with every passing minute his chances will increase).

But who knows, the odds have been more against Fed than they are this time.

I am curious what ideas Edberg has made up. One thing is sure: he knew how to beat bigger, stronger, harder hitting guys.

Murray had back issues for sure....but frankly I think they showed up towards the end...and seemed to trouble fed concentration. At the beginning Andy played as well as usual. He looked terrifying bulky and fit....but I agree he probably did not fancy the long rallies as much out of fear or breath, I am not sure. But you should have seen Fed going relentlessly to the net. His attacking game was really impressive.

more than the blister, I felt Nadal did not move too well. It's going to be tough for Fed for sure...but he seems to have a plan and with his bigger frame he will keep Nadal on his toes has he has lots more power now from this wing....which was up to know why he lost to Nadal.

Good call on Murray/Fed match...I was not as confident as you.

paulcz wrote:If you don't try new things, then you will never learn how things work. Yes, I have had a question mark about Becker and Nole's  poor attitude in the match with Stan was weird.  But it is quite early and next months will tell us.
I do understand why Nole asked Becker for his coaching. Nole lived in Germany, wants to improve net game, Becker was a great fighter and strong character. But, is Becker good person for coaching, does he like advising and preparation for Nole's matches, is he able to analyze details from the matches, I don't know and have some doubts about it. Let's hope that it won't take much time to sort it out how it really works.

Otherwise I agree with Ten, that Stefan seems to be a kind of person, who has all traits for being a good coach.

Problem I can easily envisage with Becker is first the fact he has a huge ego and cares more about him and his reputation than Djoko...which is the last thing a player wants. To me it is going to be the same fiasco as Connors/Roddick. Coaches have to scarify themselves for their student or at least entertain a supportive friendly relationship.

The second problem is that Becker is still ahead in slams over Djoko (6/5) and Becker will probably be happy to keep his numbers better than Djoko. Lendl was so much ahead than Murray that it was no issue and Lendl is intelligent, he has no ego over his record, or not much I am pretty sure...I think he cares more about his gold handicap!

Why didn't Djoko keep his old coach? Really weird!

Tenez wrote:

gallery play wrote:I haven't seen the matches today (just a few games of Nadal-Dimi) but i did expect Federer to beat Murray. Not only because of his good form against Tsonga but we should also not forget Murray had a back surgery. 
Nadal will be a different story. He'll come up with all he has to remind Federer what it's like to play against him at a slam. For Federer everything has to click and he has to win 2 out of every 3 big points.  Fed actually has to do it in 3 hours max and that makes it so much easier for Nadal (regardless the score, with every passing minute his chances will increase).

But who knows, the odds have been more against Fed than they are this time.

I am curious what ideas Edberg has made up. One thing is sure: he knew how to beat bigger, stronger, harder hitting guys.

Murray had back issues for sure....but frankly I think they showed up towards the end...and seemed to trouble fed concentration. At the beginning Andy played as well as usual. He looked terrifying bulky and fit....but I agree he probably did not fancy the long rallies as much out of fear or breath, I am not sure. But you should have seen Fed going relentlessly to the net. His attacking game was really impressive.

more than the blister, I felt Nadal did not move too well. It's going to be tough for Fed for sure...but he seems to have a plan and with his bigger frame he will keep Nadal on his toes has he has lots more power now from this wing....which was up to know why he lost to Nadal.

Good call on Murray/Fed match...I was not as confident as you.

I'll try to watch the highlights of both matches, it's hard to predict what will happen on friday without having seen the quarters.

Bloody Krajicek will bump his head to the wall for not to putting more effort in getting Federer to Rotterdam next month. It's inspiring to see what the new racket (and coach) did to him. I was hoping to see him live again, especially in this form.

gallery play wrote:
I am curious what ideas Edberg has made up. One thing is sure: he knew how to beat bigger, stronger, harder hitting guys.

That sounds very encouraging. 

I too have no idea why Djokovic hired Becker, and to be honest I thought it was a joke to begin with. Becker doesn't strike me as the coaching type either. There's a difference between being able to play yourself, and being able to convey what needs to be done to someone else. Maybe I'm being a bit harsh. 

@Tenez, re: Marian Vajda. I think it was due to travel/family type issues.

Polly 81 wrote:
@Tenez, re: Marian Vajda. I think it was due to travel/family type issues.

Yes, I think you are right.....but everything has a price! I mean had Djoko wanted to keep him....he would have....probably cheaper than Vajda. (well guessing at least).

Also, I like the fact that Edberg thought about it for a long time before saying yes. That means that he didn't just jump on the opportunity for some glory, (and money) and perhaps was modest, and was actually thinking 'what can I bring to Fed's game?'.

Wilander just said Nadal doesn't even have to play his best tennis to win this tournament...
hate to admit it but he's right in a way. Just 2 more dogfights and the trophy is his

Polly 81 wrote:Also, I like the fact that Edberg thought about it for a long time before saying yes. That means that he didn't just jump on the opportunity for some glory, (and money) and perhaps was modest, and was actually thinking 'what can I bring to Fed's game?'.

Yes, good point. As much as I always thought it strange to have former slam winners as coach....(if you think about it, Murray is the first slam champion in history who was coach by a slam champion for his first slam!) it seems to be a trend nowadays and maybe not a bad one...though I don't think future young players will need slams champions coach in the future....I hope not.

I hope not too, as it would turn out to be a game of which player can grab the best coach/former champion.
Although it did surprise me to hear Fed say recently that he doesn't see himself coaching in the future. He would be a great coach, he understands the game so well.

he would be good but would he be able to pass on what is actually his biggest strength?....his talent

Haha good point!

gallery play wrote:Wilander just said Nadal doesn't even have to play his best tennis to win this tournament...
hate to admit it but he's right in a way. Just 2 more dogfights and the trophy is his

He's always been up Nadal's ass, and that's totally disrespectful to Fed.  If Fed turns up, Nadal is going home.

gallery play wrote:Wilander just said Nadal doesn't even have to play his best tennis to win this tournament...
hate to admit it but he's right in a way. Just 2 more dogfights and the trophy is his

Yes I just saw that too...but he sais it before the Murray match. However I think Matts might be right....would have been right if it wasn't for that new racquet...and maybe blisters.

FedererKing wrote:

gallery play wrote:Wilander just said Nadal doesn't even have to play his best tennis to win this tournament...
hate to admit it but he's right in a way. Just 2 more dogfights and the trophy is his

He's always been up Nadal's ass, and that's totally disrespectful to Fed.  If Fed turns up, Nadal is going home.

Matt is actually a pretty good commentator. He has been a bit disrespectful in the past but still very often right and a great analyst of the game.

Much better than Mc who says Nadal has better volleys than Fed!