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29th August 2014, 11:20 AM
#1431
Junior Member
Senior Hubber
^^^ Indeed. And Fed has won Montreal in the past by the way. Maybe, even though he doesn't admit to it, raga gets upset with the Nadal-bashing on this thread. So let me clarify here that none of this is to say that Nadal necessarily needed slower courts to win, especially against Federer! :P He beat him in Miami back in 2004 itself. He nearly beat Fed in Wimb 2007 as well. Last year, he produced a brilliant hard court season in North America. Winning Cincy was truly awesome. It has more to do with the organisers' desperation to see a match up that would thrill viewers (esp since it was Fed-daylight-competition in 2004-07). And it saddens me to see Nadal play up to that and try to pretend that this is how tennis should be played all the time, long, grinding and punishing rallies with no attack. I used to like him, but not after I heard him baselessly bash tennis tradition like that. There is a reason we have four slams and not all on clay and Nadal should respect that.
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29th August 2014 11:20 AM
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29th August 2014, 11:26 AM
#1432
Junior Member
Senior Hubber
There have been allegations of match fixing for a long time. I won't rule out fixing per se. Just that I am not convinced it was going on in Cincy. Maybe in other tournaments. It's not like we are suddenly seeing the arrival of Fed the clay GOAT. He is only winning on surfaces where he holds what remaining edge he has. He hasn't even been doing well in Indian Wells, a tournament he has won lots earlier. And even if an ageing Fed as the no.2 seed in USO is inappropriate at his age, it is hardly such a travesty as pygmy-sized timid Halep at no.2 in the women's draw. And is it just fixing or the complete lack of consistency as well as injuries for the other top guys? It still continues to be about big four with Wawrinka the only tentative addition to the club. Nadal didn't play and Murray is out of form for quite some time so who else but Djoko and Fed. Says more about the inability of the likes of Tsonga or Berd to play great tennis on a sustained basis.
Last edited by crimson king; 29th August 2014 at 11:31 AM.
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29th August 2014, 03:21 PM
#1433
Senior Member
Seasoned Hubber
For alll the hype around I don't think Fed is winning this at all. He may not even reach QF..
So Nadal worshippers can rest in peace. I am also very sure that Nadal will come back and start sweeping the tour again.
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29th August 2014, 04:02 PM
#1434
Junior Member
Senior Hubber
^^^ +1, except I would back Fed to get to semis. Same as Aus Open. Will probably run out of steam and switch on Fed-error mode at that stage. And with Djoko a bit distracted, Murray off colour and Wawrinka becoming Yargh-rinka, it's all set for another Year of The Bull. Could be a 2010 to draw level with Fed.
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29th August 2014, 04:38 PM
#1435
Senior Member
Seasoned Hubber
Originally Posted by
raagadevan
Sure! We will ignore the allegations of ATP fixing the outcomes of Grand Slam tournaments and the Olympics (tennis) finals in favor of a player (not "you know who!), and we sure will believe that a certain old player's sudden resurrection into winning Masters 1000 and possibly more Grand Slam events is just the result of that player being the GOAT!
Looks like you've not been paying attention to anyone other than Bull....
Olderer has been playing great throughout this year. He is 50-9 so far for the season. Has reached 4 Masters 1000 final (2 of them when the chronically injured Bull was around). Has reached 1 GS Final (again when the stem cell fixed Kneedal was kicked by a 19 year old 144th ranked first strike tennis player). He has done pretty well in all the tournaments which had played faster than normal. This was not the first season he had won Cincinnati (it was his 6th). We know who had won it for the first time last year & promptly didn't show up to defend his title (because it was not clay).
So cut your crap about old player's sudden resurrection.
But like I said you don't have to worry much, Olderer could lose to anyone at this stage of his career. So the target will still be 17 & I don't see it becoming 18 inspite of an easy draw at the Open.
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29th August 2014, 04:43 PM
#1436
Senior Member
Seasoned Hubber
Originally Posted by
crimson king
I am not ignoring them. I only said in this particular case I am not very much convinced and you will have to live with that. Please, he just beat Ferrer, Raonic and the likes, not Djokovic or Nadal (THAT would have merited some serious attention). It is not comparable to his 2012 Cincy when he bageled Djoko in the first set in the final.
I do find the cries of Federer the favourite for US Open suspicious because while he has found a second wind, it is not so overwhelming as to conclude that a player who lost to effing Robredo last time would suddenly become the hot favourite. My favourite for the tournament is still Djokovic, it's only a matter of whether he gets to the final or not. Either the commentators are being very fanboy-ish or this is an attempt to build up hype. It is well known that the US audience cares more about Fed and not so much the rest (in his absence), except maybe Nadal (who is also not playing). So claims of a Fed revival would get crowds back to the tournament. Overall, it is not a good prognosis for tennis. I think people should be more excited about the rise of Kyrgios than an 18th slam for a player who already has the record.
If Olderer's revival is not a good prognosis for tennis, then its even worse for a chronically injured guy to have won 14 slams right?
Pardon my ignorance..
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29th August 2014, 04:49 PM
#1437
Senior Member
Seasoned Hubber
Coming back to Olderer, I think ever since he started using his 97 Prostaff his forehand has lost the zip. He is hitting with more loop which is either falling short or losing steam. However it has helped his serve & BH to certain extent. I know he must be still working on it but his once a big weapon (FH) has suffered the most. But then I can't complain much as his FH started to fade even with his old racquet last season. We can't have all of it I guess @ 33.
Last edited by omega; 29th August 2014 at 04:53 PM.
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29th August 2014, 05:02 PM
#1438
Junior Member
Seasoned Hubber
Roger certainly playing well this year. I hope he will reach the final at US Open become a winner in the last edition of GS.
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29th August 2014, 06:58 PM
#1439
Junior Member
Senior Hubber
Originally Posted by
omega
If Olderer's revival is not a good prognosis for tennis, then its even worse for a chronically injured guy to have won 14 slams right?
Pardon my ignorance..
You got me completely wrong. Pl relax a bit and read what I said properly. I am saying what is not a good prognosis for tennis is the fact that people are more excited about yet another slam for Fed (or Djoko or Nadal for that matter) than the rise of an exciting young player like Kyrgios. I love Fed too, I like Djoko as well but tennis has to move on ultimately. And it needs new stars for that to happen. I wonder if Kyrgios will really win a lot of popularity even if he wins a few slams. People seem to be terribly obsessed with the Big Four. Not that everyone is like that but generally speaking that is the case. Most people don't even tune in before the QFs or semis of slams. We could see a sharp decline in interest in tennis once the big four are done or simply cannot play well enough to win slams anymore. Something similar is likely to happen in WTA too once Serena is done. I guess that's why WTA is already trying desperately to push young stars though picking Bouchard for said purpose is probably not going to help their cause.
None of it was ever intended to be a knock on Federer. He has played well this year...exclusively fast court tennis. He seems to have given up on finding a winning strategy on slow courts (refer his comment after losing in RG, was almost like a good riddance to clay). But that's where he has the best chance to do well anyway and he has focused on that.
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30th August 2014, 03:02 AM
#1440
Senior Member
Seasoned Hubber
For the sake of argument, let us assume that Ferrer was told that he had to lose the Cincinnati finals. He agreed (had no other choice), but wanted to make a point. He played his “normal” game in the second set and won it 6-1, giving Federer, ATP and whoever else was behind the “fixing” panic attacks! And of course he lost the third set as per the “arrangement”!
Well; I do not believe that is what really happened. I agree with crimson king that “the Ferrer case has more to do with Fed's own wild swings of rhythm”. I was happy that Federer won another Masters 1000 trophy. The point that I was trying to make was that wild speculations and accusations could me made against any player, with or without “convincing” proof. I am 100% certain that similar allegations would have been made on this thread if a certain other player was involved in a similar match!
It is my personal opinion that Roger Federer is the most graceful player ever in the history of tennis. All considered, I also feel that he is the greatest of all time (GOAT!) as of the present time. It is also likely that Nadal would take over that position in the coming years.
We also have several up-and-coming youngsters who could beat any one of the top guys (veterans) on any given day. Let us hope that a few, if not all, of them would develop into great players mastering multidimensional skills in the art of tennis.
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