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Tennis - General Discussion

Globox_82

Banned
Yup, but Murray seems to blink first in key moments.

I know but I think to Novak Andy is the most annoying player and since they are friends I don't think andy fears him like he does fear roger and rafa.
But Novak is genius or his coach is. Once he finds a proper way to play a player he can turn around rivarly like he did with Roger and Rafa. If we look just last 10 matches with each. early on he was getting dominated by them, losing close matches etc.
In a way I fear that match in Shangai might have been a turning point. But we shall see. Andy is incredible talent.

BTW here Novak says to Rafa that he is not unbeatble on clay, a few years ago. People were laughing, last year he became the only guy to beat Rafa back 2 back on clay. And I believe if Roger didn't stop Novak in SF 2011 he had Rafa. Balls were faster last year at RG.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plbomcLe1rI
 

szaromir

Banned
anus hurts?
A lot.
I don't know, I just don't see it. On one hand it seems there's no younger competition, on the other I think 10 more slams is a tough ask when you have 5 and halfway through your career, with Rafa still rocking on clay, Andy coming into his own and potentially snatching some slams, maybe Roger coming up with yet another miraculous run like he did at Wimby thus year.
 
He'd need 10 more slams at least plus win French Open first (tho if he can do it while still in the Nadal era he'll certainly be something special)

Not even Federer in his prime could beat Nadal in the French. Yeah it would be impressive if the Djoker could accomplish that. I think his performance against Nadal in this years french was more impressive than any time Fed has showed up for a slaughtering at the hands of Nadal in Roland Garros.
 

Globox_82

Banned
Not even Federer in his prime could beat Nadal in the French. Yeah it would be impressive if the Djoker could accomplish that. I think his performance against Nadal in this years french was more impressive than any time Fed has showed up for a slaughtering at the hands of Nadal in Roland Garros.

that rain, Nadal throwing ball at umpire, next year.....
 

Akito

Member
Enjoy
London Finale 2012 Final Hot Shot Top 10 Countdown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=239M9wDg80M&feature=g-u-u
ibwTPWsLLjln88.gif
 

Globox_82

Banned

That's when he won`? lol JK

Can't wait for my favorite slam AO

1 Djokovic, Novak (SRB) 12,920
2 Federer, Roger (SUI) 10,265
3 Murray, Andy (GBR) 8,000
4 Nadal, Rafael (ESP) 6,795

A lot of point going into AO, novak will stay nr1 no matter what. Removes some pressure and it's his best slam. High bounce, slow court.

Andy plays great there as well.


Worth watching
Novak Djokovic Victory Lap In London - Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZQlbmwbXb0&feature=g-u-u

Novak Djokovic Victory Lap In London - Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb8vaQBq8-Q&feature=g-u-u
 

MIMIC

Banned
So, yeah, Fed is a very classless individual. He did something very unsportsmanlike (and juvenile) that went largely unnoticed by many people. But some caught it:

Traditionally, the bench to the left of the chair umpire is reserved for the higher-ranked player in a tennis match. In the case of the year-end match at the ATP World Tour Finals between Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, the honor should have gone to Djokovic, the world No. 1.

But Federer entered the O2 Arena first for Monday's final and took the chair for himself.
It's a familiar seat -- no man in history has spent more weeks at No. 1 than Federer -- but one that wasn't supposed to be his on Monday evening.

As noted by a number of tennis observers on Twitter, Djokovic appeared to notice the faux pas when he entered and seemed annoyed. He went on to lose the first nine points of the match en route to a quick 0-3 deficit. That's not saying there's any causation, mind you. Yet players, even ones with as much talent as Djokovic, have been thrown off by less.

He would rally to win the first set, 7-6.

Did Federer sit in the seat on purpose, to send a message? Was it a mistake? Does Federer always assume he's the top-ranked player in the room? I bet if Federer met the president and someone in the room said, "Mr. President, there's an urgent call for you," Federer would dig his phone out of his pocket to see who was ringing him.

It was probably a harmless accident or maybe they broke with tradition on purpose and we're all reading too much into Djokovic's reaction. For what it's worth, Federer and Djokovic both sat in the proper seats during Sunday's semifinal wins.
USA Today

Watch the replay on ESPN3. When entering the arena, Federer stops at the bench that has Novak's towel draped across it. His name is printed on the towel so there's no missing it. When Novak enters, his towel has magically moved to the other bench.

I always knew Fed was an asshole. Seriously....who does shit like that?
 

Globox_82

Banned
So, yeah, Fed is a very classless individual. He did something very unsportsmanlike (and juvenile) that went largely unnoticed by many people. But some caught it:


USA Today

Watch the replay on ESPN3. When entering the arena, Federer stops at the bench that has Novak's towel draped across it. His name is printed on the towel so there's no missing it. When Novak enters, his towel has magically moved to the other bench.

I always knew Fed was an asshole. Seriously....who does shit like that?

Guy is a two faced dick. always has been. Ego tripped freak that only cares for his records.
 
So, yeah, Fed is a very classless individual. He did something very unsportsmanlike (and juvenile) that went largely unnoticed by many people. But some caught it:


USA Today

Watch the replay on ESPN3. When entering the arena, Federer stops at the bench that has Novak's towel draped across it. His name is printed on the towel so there's no missing it. When Novak enters, his towel has magically moved to the other bench.

I always knew Fed was an asshole. Seriously....who does shit like that?
I. Think you are reading too much into things brah.
 

Bigfoot

Member
So, yeah, Fed is a very classless individual. He did something very unsportsmanlike (and juvenile) that went largely unnoticed by many people. But some caught it:


USA Today

Watch the replay on ESPN3. When entering the arena, Federer stops at the bench that has Novak's towel draped across it. His name is printed on the towel so there's no missing it. When Novak enters, his towel has magically moved to the other bench.

I always knew Fed was an asshole. Seriously....who does shit like that?

If you think that about Fed, then you must think Nadal is a huge asshole compared to Roger. Nadal is the king of gamesmenship. I've seen Nadal do things like this and worse (make his opponent wait 10+ minutes in the entrance just so Nadal can walk in last, refuse to get out of his chair first, intentionally bump his opponent when changing sides, etc...) so it is pretty hard to complain if Fed does something similar one time (which could have been completely accidental for all we know)
 

MIMIC

Banned
If you think that about Fed, then you must think Nadal is a huge asshole compared to Roger. Nadal is the king of gamesmenship. I've seen Nadal do things like this and worse (make his opponent wait 10+ minutes in the entrance just so Nadal can walk in last, refuse to get out of his chair first, intentionally bump his opponent when changing sides, etc...) so it is pretty hard to complain if Fed does something similar one time (which could have been completely accidental for all we know)

The bump by Nadal was pretty bad but I don't think the other things are outright gamesmanship.....just him being OCD (like the stupid bottle thing). But he does engage in small gamesmanship tactics, like taking forever to serve during break points.

But as for Federer's actions being accidental: unless he can't read, then it's pretty hard to give him the benefit of the doubt. The fact that he's been playing this tournament longer than anyone else doesn't leave much doubt that Fed did that on purpose.
 

Xun

Member
So, yeah, Fed is a very classless individual. He did something very unsportsmanlike (and juvenile) that went largely unnoticed by many people. But some caught it:


USA Today

Watch the replay on ESPN3. When entering the arena, Federer stops at the bench that has Novak's towel draped across it. His name is printed on the towel so there's no missing it. When Novak enters, his towel has magically z moved to the other bench.

I always knew Fed was an asshole. Seriously....who does shit like that?
His ego (and a lot of his fans) put me off of him.

He just comes across as a smug self-loving arse a lot of the time.
 

MIMIC

Banned
Worth watching
Novak Djokovic Victory Lap In London - Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZQlbmwbXb0&feature=g-u-u

Novak Djokovic Victory Lap In London - Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb8vaQBq8-Q&feature=g-u-u

"Tasmania"

Novak cheated. =p

His ego (and a lot of his fans) put me off of him.

He just comes across as a smug self-loving arse a lot of the time.

He's the greatest player of all-time and gets annoyed when people don't bow down and worship him.

When it comes to players like Roddick, he has nothing but high praise for him and seems to admire his hard work and dedication to the game and whatnot. He is also 21-3 against him. In Federer's mind, Roddick has been a "good boy" and submitted to his master.

Not Novak. And that burns Fed up.
 

MIMIC

Banned
Is there some sort of advantage reason for why the left seat is for the better player?

There's no "advantage"; just something they do, I suppose.

Also, some interesting H2H notes:

1. Overall H2H: 16-13, Federer

2. Career H2H in finals: 4-4

Djokovic: 4 (2012 World Tour Finals, 2011 Dubai, 2009 Basel, 2007 Canada)
Federer: 4 (2012 Cincinnati, 2010 Basel, 2009 Cincinnati, 2007 U.S. Open)

3. After losing the 1st set: 0-9 for Federer, 4-20 for Djokovic
Federer has never come back after losing the 1st set against Djokovic (which makes the 1st set all the more important for Federer)
Djokovic has come back 4 times in his career against Federer, most famously in his 2010 and 2011 U.S. Open semi-finals (saving 2 match points in both matches)
 
You guys are just full of it, do you know the guy personally? Haters gonna hate. What has the guy done to you? When has he ever done something distasteful? The chair thing is such BS, who gives a shit, we know that Fed doesnt like Djokovic (and I understand him).

Plenty of players can be dicks or make some comments from time to time but Fed is a perfect gentleman, unless he's that good of an actor. Troll harder Federer haters. But on that subject, on the court, Murray acts like a prick, Djoko too from time to time (remember his old days of faking injuries and whatnot), Fed at least contains himself.
 
And it's normal for the best player of history to have an ego, every fucking player has an ego, you guys have egos, that's how it works. He can afford that, and it's not like he insults players or whatever, and he always has a nice comment when he looses, apart from a couple of times where he appeared bitter, just like Other players, happens all the time.

Laughable coming from guys sitting in their fucking chairs in front of the computer. The day you have 17 Grand Slams, 76 titles, 2 Olympic Medals, have been number one for 302 weeks, you can open your mouth, and we'll see if you manage to stay firmly on the ground, which he manages to do.
 
I've met Roger Federer he is a nice person. Politely declined going to In N Out with me. Fuck the haters. Fed is the most ruthless and brutal champion that has ever lived while doing it beautifully.
 
You guys are just full of it, do you know the guy personally? Haters gonna hate. What has the guy done to you? When has he ever done something distasteful? The chair thing is such BS, who gives a shit, we know that Fed doesnt like Djokovic (and I understand him).

Plenty of players can be dicks or make some comments from time to time but Fed is a perfect gentleman, unless he's that good of an actor. Troll harder Federer haters. But on that subject, on the court, Murray acts like a prick, Djoko too from time to time (remember his old days of faking injuries and whatnot), Fed at least contains himself.

And it's normal for the best player of history to have an ego, every fucking player has an ego, you guys have egos, that's how it works. He can afford that, and it's not like he insults players or whatever, and he always has a nice comment when he looses, apart from a couple of times where he appeared bitter, just like Other players, happens all the time.

Laughable coming from guys sitting in their fucking chairs in front of the computer. The day you have 17 Grand Slams, 76 titles, 2 Olympic Medals, have been number one for 302 weeks, you can open your mouth, and we'll see if you manage to stay firmly on the ground, which he manages to do.

This... is a bit much.

I'm a fan of Federer, but when he acts like a douche I'm going to call him a douche. Does it negate his accomplishments? No, maybe he had a bad day, maybe his twins kept him up all night, etc. But when the cameras are on him, when he's on the tennis court, you need to show some professionalism. And what he did wasn't professional at all.
 

Saty

Member
That's a bit far-fetched theory.

2013 is going to be interesting. Is Novak going to continue to cement himself, Roger still ready and able, has Andy got over the hump, Rafa post-injury are the rest of the top10 going to make inroads and disrupt the top 4's dominance, Del-Potro maybe positioning himself as the biggest threat to them.
 

Xun

Member
You guys are just full of it, do you know the guy personally? Haters gonna hate. What has the guy done to you? When has he ever done something distasteful? The chair thing is such BS, who gives a shit, we know that Fed doesnt like Djokovic (and I understand him).

Plenty of players can be dicks or make some comments from time to time but Fed is a perfect gentleman, unless he's that good of an actor. Troll harder Federer haters. But on that subject, on the court, Murray acts like a prick, Djoko too from time to time (remember his old days of faking injuries and whatnot), Fed at least contains himself.

And it's normal for the best player of history to have an ego, every fucking player has an ego, you guys have egos, that's how it works. He can afford that, and it's not like he insults players or whatever, and he always has a nice comment when he looses, apart from a couple of times where he appeared bitter, just like Other players, happens all the time.

Laughable coming from guys sitting in their fucking chairs in front of the computer. The day you have 17 Grand Slams, 76 titles, 2 Olympic Medals, have been number one for 302 weeks, you can open your mouth, and we'll see if you manage to stay firmly on the ground, which he manages to do.
Jeez man, don't take it personally.
 

MIMIC

Banned
That's a bit far-fetched theory.

2013 is going to be interesting. Is Novak going to continue to cement himself, Roger still ready and able, has Andy got over the hump, Rafa post-injury are the rest of the top10 going to make inroads and disrupt the top 4's dominance, Del-Potro maybe positioning himself as the biggest threat to them.

I think del Potro may make a slam final next year. I just wonder how Nadal's gonna be after so much time off. Will he just storm through the clay season again or will someone else win the French next year?
 
well you know how Roger is...

Yeah, just the most popular and respected tennis player in the world, but don't worry, I'm sure fans will bestow those honors on your man when Fed retires =)

I think del Potro may make a slam final next year. I just wonder how Nadal's gonna be after so much time off. Will he just storm through the clay season again or will someone else win the French next year?

I'm excited to see Nadal at the AO, I want him to do well, I actually miss the guy -_-
 

Globox_82

Banned
I think del Potro may make a slam final next year. I just wonder how Nadal's gonna be after so much time off. Will he just storm through the clay season again or will someone else win the French next year?

If he stays injury free then yes. But he also has to improve his net game. Tennis changes a lot every year, especially at the top. It's not the same as in 2009 when he won USO.
 

Laughing Banana

Weeping Pickle
I hope after Roger's defeat in the final against Djokovic no one in here would say that he is "finished" or whatever.

At this age the simple fact that he was playing the final match of the year against the world number 1 as the world number 2 was nothing short than incredibly impressive.

In fact, the one thing that amazes me the most about the current Fed right now is that despite his age, he has proven time and again that he is capable of hanging out with world-class players much younger than him--that despite his dwindling physical condition he's still got it in him to stay competitive even against various incredible tennis talents such as Djokovic and Murray.
 

Globox_82

Banned
It is incredible, especially when you consider that the second set was a spectacular chokejob from him, so game-wise he has what it takes to beat Djoker.

I came across this highlights reel recently, it's pretty interesting how Djokovic went from being a ballbasher to a counterpuncher:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAOO__iOhs0

You don't win slams by being "counterpuncher", just ask Andy. Only this year when he became more agressive he won a slam and gold medal.

Novak is "controled aggression". He can play lights out tennis, he can play incredible defense, mix those two with great stamina since discovering he was gluten alergic and changing diet. You get a monster. The thing is Novak doesn't have to go for it every single time like Roger, Berdych, tsonga, etc. He is so solid from both wings and is best EVER (imho) at changing direction of the ball. Commentator very often mention this. This leads to many UE from his opponents

EDIT:I think after this match Roger said there is nothing special about Novak.
 

szaromir

Banned
He is a classic counterpuncher, just an exceptionally good one. Do you consider only players like Simon to be counterpunchers (even though he doesn't have any punches to speak of)?
 

Globox_82

Banned
He is a classic counterpuncher, just an exceptionally good one. Do you consider only players like Simon to be counterpunchers (even though he doesn't have any punches to speak of)?

simon, old murray are classic counter punchers. No real weapons, can't generate pace of their own.
 

szaromir

Banned
simon, old murray are classic counter punchers. No real weapons, can't generate pace of their own.
That's not how I understand the term. For me counterpuncher is someone who waits for the opportunity to strike and generally prefers/plays longer rallies. It doesn't me he doesn't have the shots, it's just that he most of the time plays more passively. I don't think it's a derogatory term.

Someone like Simon is generally called pusher. ;)

And in early rounds of tournaments it's Djokovic who dictates play most of the time, it's when he reaches semifinal and final stages of tournaments that he plays a lot more patient brand of tennis. It clearly works for him.
 

Globox_82

Banned
That's not how I understand the term. For me counterpuncher is someone who waits for the opportunity to strike and generally prefers/plays longer rallies. It doesn't me he doesn't have the shots, it's just that he most of the time plays more passively. I don't think it's a derogatory term.

Someone like Simon is generally called pusher. ;)

And in early rounds of tournaments it's Djokovic who dictates play most of the time, it's when he reaches semifinal and final stages of tournaments that he plays a lot more patient brand of tennis. It clearly works for him.



Or it has to do with (more quality) guys he usually meats in SF and F imo. imo Roger has probably the most underrated defense. For example some of the shots he returned in final were insane, it's just that he does it so smoothly that it makes it seem like he isn't pushed. While Novak and others look like they are about to break their spine.
Reson why Nole, andy, rafa can play more passive and controlled game is because they have better BH then roger, can attack from that side as well. Don't get me wrong Rogers one handed BH is the best one handed in biz but two hander is more solid and safer, has more power, etc. Since he has limited BH he has to attack with best stroke ever, his FH and that's his game, he has to go for it. If Roger had two handed BH he be now at 20+ slams, and would be still beating these guys, I believe.

Novaks BH is INSANE the way he can change direction and go down the line is sick. It's what hurts roger, not just BH 2 BH. Well read this.
Brain Game: Djokovic’s Backhand Breaks Down Federer
http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Te...-Game-Djokovic-Backhand-Makes-Difference.aspx
 
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