Wimbledon 2009

Alex

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Why do you think that?

Surely he is the favorite at Flushing Meadows?
 

Nearco

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He's past it. Haas and Del Potro should both have beaten him in Paris and bottled it. The Argentine, Murray and Djokovic are all a lot better on hard courts than they are on clay and grass and will have too much for him now.

Up to now Federer's decline has only been obvious when Nadal beat him on surfaces that favoured the Swiss. Now I think other players are gonna see that he's beatable. And of course if Nadal comes back fighting fit for even just a year Fed won't get a sniff while he's around.
 

kietotheworld

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Seen this a few times now - how on earth was he not a hungry as Roddick? fsakes - he was immense at 11 -11 or something he was 30 40 down - a virtual match - point but fought back
15-40 actually.
 

Sam

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So gutted for Roddick :(

Played the game of his life and still came up just short. If there is 1 guy in sport at the moment who really deserves another big title its him. You can see just how much it hurts him.
 

CheadleBeagle

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So pleased for Roger. Deserves it all. I'm not a Roddick fan but he was immense too. Shame anyone had to lose but as Roger said, there is no draw in tennis.
 

Alex

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In crunch situations Federers serve was incredible in the 5th, so many times he dug it out
Yeah it was probably one of his best match in terms of his serving that I have seen from him; overall though, he has played far better. In terms of him being clutch he always is, it just varies on how he shows it
 

Alex

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He's past it. Haas and Del Potro should both have beaten him in Paris and bottled it. The Argentine, Murray and Djokovic are all a lot better on hard courts than they are on clay and grass and will have too much for him now.

Up to now Federer's decline has only been obvious when Nadal beat him on surfaces that favoured the Swiss. Now I think other players are gonna see that he's beatable. And of course if Nadal comes back fighting fit for even just a year Fed won't get a sniff while he's around.
:lol:
 

Interista

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I thorougly admire Federer but I was rooting for Roddick today, he played an immense game and should have won, he should just regret bottling a piss easy volley on the 6-5 in the 2nd set tie-break and for concentrating all the mistakes in the last game. There's nothing else you can blame him for, he did anything he could to defeat Federer. The Swiss made history today but surely didn't play a great game, he had the merit to get a lot of point from his serve, I doubt he had ever delivered 50 aces in his whole career. In terms of pure entertainment, I think last year's final was better but I also enjoyed this one, the last set was something out of this world. I wish Roddick to win another Slam before he retires, he stated he will try again to win Wimbledon and he shouldn't give up. For example, this tournament looked a curse for Ivanisevic but the Croatian won it on his fourth final when nobody would have given him a chance.
 

Nearco

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Fed's serving only looked top notch because Roddick isn't that good a returner. Witness Hewitt taking him to five sets.
 

Alex

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Weird that you rate Murray so high then, how come Roddick dismantled him, was Miss Murray on her period or something
 

Nearco

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I think he played too tentative and is just not as good on grass. If they met at Flushing I would expect Murray to win comfortably. He beat Wawrinka in straight sets last year after all.
 

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I now have serious well earned respect for Andy Roddick after today's performance. Hopefully he goes one better next year.
 

Dyslexic Untied

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Roddick was fantastic today. Like someone said earlier, he actually had Federer nailed from the baseline and that`s very rare. His backhand was fantastic today, saw him pull off Nadal style passing shots that I`ve never seen from him before.

Federer left his backhand at home it seemed, and struggled to control from the baseline. A good head and very good serving got him through at the end, and towards the end of the fifth you started to know that it could only go one way, despite how close it was.


A great game, and Federer is now the greatest ever, IMO.
 

Jopub

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Fed's serving only looked top notch because Roddick isn't that good a returner. Witness Hewitt taking him to five sets.
What ?

I dont think you understand Federer's serve mate.

His serve is built upon angles and taking a bit off the pace, variation of slice and speed off the ball. You can only get the angles he does if you take some pace off of it and they are unreturnable, you simply cannot get near enough to them to have a shot at it. Borg was a master at this

Roddick's on the other hand are about brutal pace straight line power that if they hit the corners, are unreturnable but if you can get a racket on it, are returnable as you saw increasingly from Federer throughout the match
 

Jopub

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Roddick was fantastic today. Like someone said earlier, he actually had Federer nailed from the baseline and that`s very rare. His backhand was fantastic today, saw him pull off Nadal style passing shots that I`ve never seen from him before.

Federer left his backhand at home it seemed, and struggled to control from the baseline. A good head and very good serving got him through at the end, and towards the end of the fifth you started to know that it could only go one way, despite how close it was.


A great game, and Federer is now the greatest ever, IMO.
I still think Laver has that shout .....but we'll never know
 

Ixion

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Oh come on, was there really a need for 15 on your tracksuit Roger? Great champion but the man is an absolute arrogant wanker.
Agree with that, never been able to take a liking to Federer. Intentional or not he comes across as arrogant so often.
 

Dyslexic Untied

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I still think Laver has that shout .....but we'll never know
Well to be fair I never saw him play, so I my opinion is tainted by the era I live in I guess. Don`t think players can be compared from 60,70, 80 and 90s either, as the sport (and gear) has evolved so much.

But for me, now that Fed is alone on 15 and won on all surfaces, I think he`s a good candidate.
 

noodlehair

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In fairness to Federer, I'd probably be a bit arrogant too if I was the most invincible tennis player in the history of the world.

Felt for Roddick. Despite giving absolutely everything, and Federer not being on his game at all, he still couldn't find a way to clinch it.

He didn't even lose really. He just got exhausted trying to find a way to win
 

B Cantona

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I don't think he's that arrogant. Maybe a bit, but he can be very humble too

I mean are we slagging Giggs off as arrogant for that picture where he poses with all the champagne, one for each league victory? Come on now

21 straight grand slam semis

Back to back French and Wimbledon

Lost 1 match at Wimbledone since 2002, and that 9-7 in the 5th set of the final to another of the best players the game has ever seen

Goes into the US Open looking to win 6 straight

And some are writing him off?!?! :lol::lol::lol:
 

Sam

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He didn't even lose really. He just got exhausted trying to find a way to win
Sums it up perfectly. What a brilliant 1 liner noods :)

Still gutted btw...might take a while to get over this one.
 

Alex

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Why such a fan of Roddick Sam#1? He is a good player and I would have loved to see him when as he is American, except that it was Rog that he was playing. Had he been playing Nadal or Murray I would have been going ape shit for him to win.
 

Northstand

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A few things...

Good match, and epic in duration rather than quality. Despite Federer being my favourite player, I was disappointed for Roddick. He was fantastic again, and it's the best I've seen him. Ever. His ground strokes have come on so much.

Also, he didn't seem pissed off to me when he said 'but you'd already won it five times'. It was just a bit of banter between two players who get on well. If he was a little pissed off who could blame him, he'd just lost the biggest match of his career.

I also don't think he was disrespectful by leaving before Federer. From memory, that's what often happens-the winner is allowed to take the applause, and the loser makes off sharpish.

Roddick comes across as a top lad, and on this year's evidence, and player who has improved his game beyond measure. Hopefully he kicks on again and puts pressure on the top four in the next few years.
Agree with all of this, and especially the bolded bit. I didn't actually see the bit where Roddick commented on Federer having won it five times, but his demeanour immediately after the match, where he had the decency to thank the crowd, to congratulate Federer unreservedly, and to applaud when Federer was presented with the trophy, showed a lot of class.

I thought it was a great game, although not quite at the level of last year's final.
 

Sam

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Why such a fan of Roddick Sam#1? He is a good player and I would have loved to see him when as he is American, except that it was Rog that he was playing. Had he been playing Nadal or Murray I would have been going ape shit for him to win.
I honestly don't know exactly. I've always been a big fan of his since I got into tennis. I guess it was because I firstly liked him as a person, comes across as a decent guy etc etc and because when I used to play tennis I kinda had a similar style, big serve and a massive forehand. So I just kinda always supported him.
 

Alex

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Not even a tennis fan, but I tuned in today. What a match!
You'd have done far better to tune in last year. That said I like tennis and think it is fun to play, but I mainly stick to the Grand Slams they are the best and have all the best players playing at their best for the most part. YOu also get to see a variety of styles and play on the 4 different courts, yes I know the Oz and US Opens are both hardcourts but anyone who thinks they are at all similar has shit for brains. For the rest of it I'm mainly sportscenter unless I see an interesting semi or final on.
 

B Cantona

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The issues with todays game, while it's a classic in length - I mean that final set was mental, and to be fair there was some exceptional play too, both produced enough to be worthy champions - but there weren't many close games. Federer broke once in the match, the final game, and in that entire last set there was what 2 or 3 break points? Extremely serve dominant
 

Alex

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Although it wasnt as good as the last two finals, brad I am sure we can appreciate the classic serves to some degree. I mean today was a masterpiece in that respect. And I am sure Nearco will be on here saying yada yada, but in the end at that level an ace is an ace adn a good serve is a good serve.
 

B Cantona

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Of course

How often both men came up with an ace or un-returnable serve when their opponent even had half a sniff. Especially Roddick, albeit Federer was dominant in the ace count, he clocked up over 50 I think

Still, it's not as appealing on the eye is it?
 

Jopub

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Fair comment - it was a 'classic' in terms of being epic but when serve dominates a tennis match the build up to pressure points is somewhat tedious - you know stuff is not really going to happen untill after the score is 4-4 when suddenly losing a serve really does have an impact on the game

Saying that there was still plenty of great tennis by both. People keep saying Federer was poor, which to me is bollocks - Roddick stood up to him and traded from the baseline, kept chasing down balls - Fed had a real match on his hands there

It fascinates me that had Roddick a real instinctive volley, whilst serving that well, he'd have won comfortably ........but he doe'snt so..

Last year's was a different quality entirely though, Nadal chased down even more balls and Federer kept having to run a lot more than today.

Still an excellent match
 

Skelter

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Federer :D



How is Addict?

We didn't even get to talk about Murray!
 

VP

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It's a pity the caf was down when Murray lost. Would've been amusing to see some of the reactions on here.

Anyway i think it's clear that Federer is the greatest ever now. If he beats Nadal a couple of times in a grand slam then it would be indisputable.

Where's instant karma nowadays? He used to hate federer with a passion.
 

B Cantona

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He didn't even lose really. He just got exhausted trying to find a way to win
In the final set

The second set was, for me, a classic choke job. Yes Federer stepped it up, but Roddick was still highly complicit in tossing the set away from 6-2 up in the tie breaker

And if he'd gone 2 sets up, might well have been a very different story