Raonic Defeats Federer To Take Home Brisbane Title
Revenge for Raonic has he defeated Roger 6-4 6-4 in the Brisbane International final to win his 8th ATP title. The win sees him reverse the result of last years encounter which saw Federer win his 1000th match on the ATP tour.
Neither player managed to perform at their very best but it was Raonic who executed the better game plan and used his weapons to good effect, facing just one break point and breaking decisively in each set to close it out in 87 minutes.
Quick Match Recap
Federer won the toss and elected to serve, holding to 30 for a 1-0 lead. Raonic then levelled to 15 for 1-1. That was soon 2-2 and Federer found himself in trouble down 0-30 then 30-40, making only 1 of 5 first serves. He saved the break point though with a strong serve, before having to save another en route to holding for 3-2. Raonic quickly levelled and after exchanging holds for 4-4 Roger was broken, choosing to challenge a let which was way long, losing him rhythm and dropping serve. Raonic closed it out to 30.
Into set 2 and Roger held from 15-30 to lead 1-0. Game 2 saw the Swiss drop his racquet in disgust after missing a routine rally ball backhand for the umpteenth time. Raonic held to 30 despite being 40 love up.
At 1-2, Raonic took a medical timeout for a leg injury. Upon return he served 3 double faults in a game, giving Roger a break point but he couldn’t break; producing a shambolic miss on break point which allowed Raonic to hold for 2-2.
In game 7 with the score tied at 3-3 Roger moved up 30-0 on serve but lost 4 points in a row to get broken. Raonic consolidated to love and although Roger forced him to serve it out and had a look at 30-30 at 4-5 (missed yet another easy backhand) the Canadian held to take the title.
Match Stats
| R. Federer | M. Raonic | |
| Aces | 7 | 6 |
| Double Faults | 3 | 6 |
| 1st Serve % | 56% | 57% |
| 1st Serve Points Won | 25/34 (74%) | 28/34 (82%) |
| 2nd Serve Points Won | 14/27 (52%) | 14/26 (54%) |
| Break Points Saved | 3/5 (60%) | 1/1 (100%) |
| Service Games Played | 10 | 10 |
| 1st Return Points Won | 6/34 (18%) | 9/34 (26%) |
| 2nd Return Points Won | 12/26 (46%) | 13/27 (48%) |
| Break Points Won | 0/1 (0%) | 2/5 (40%) |
| Return Games Played | 10 | 10 |
| Winners | 16 | 20 |
| Unforced Errors | 19 | 22 |
| Net Points Won | 7/10 | 20/25 |
| Total Service Points Won | 39/61 (64%) | 42/60 (70%) |
| Total Return Points Won | 18/60 (30%) | 22/61 (36%) |
| Total Points Won | 57/121 (47%) | 64/121 (53%) |
| SABR | 0 | 0 |
Highlights
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc080AXdDKg
Thoughts on the Match
Poor final this one from both guys with neither of them playing high quality tennis. Raonic had a sub par serving day but Fed just wasn’t on the money with the return, allowing Raonic to win 60% of second serve points in the first set and failing to break in set 2 in a game that contained 3 double faults 😆 . Roger’s own serve was below par too, making just 56% of first serves for the match and having to facing 5 break points to Raonic’s 1. Not the sort of numbers he needed to record the win.
Really just one of those bad days at the office for Fed, he looked way short of his best and a step slower from the baseline. Flu, not enough matches in his legs or just one of those days when you’re a bit older who knows but some of the backhands he missed were diabolical, feet in the wrong position, technique all over the shop. Even he went from frustration when he dropped his racquet in disgust to just laughing at himself in the final game on that 30 all miss 😀 so I don’t think we can feel too bad about the loss, no way he was turning things around with how he was playing in best of 3 format.
As for Raonic he played some good first strike tennis and won most of the important points in the match to deservedly take home the title. The only negative for him will be the leg injury he was treated for in the second set. He did look a little sluggish himself after that but Roger didn’t get enough balls in play to find out how big an issue it was.
In terms of the week, it’s been a fairly good one for Fed, 4 matches and 3 wins which is reasonable prep for the Aussie Open. He said in press his participation in Queensland was in doubt with the virus he had pre tournament but was happy with how its gone. Brisbane is rarely indicative of how well he will play in Melbourne either, last year he won it and crashed to Seppi whereas Djokovic lost to Dr. Ivo in Doha and won the whole thing.
What did you think of the final? Any expectations for Melbourne? Let me know in the comments.
1st
PeRFectly summed up post. Playing big servers always a huge gamble when Fed’s serve and movement are off. Losing last year’s final would’ve been disastrous with Fed going for his 1000th win. So compared to that this is nothing imo. Hoping he makes at least the SF in Melbourne, and preferably lands up in Djokovic’s half of the draw rather than Murray’s.
Why would he want to land in Djoker’s side of the draw? Not this BS again about how Fed would rather play him in a SF over a final I hope.
Well, if by some miracle he managed to get the final, I guess he wouldn’t have to face Djokovic there …
Yeah depends on the draw but he usually does well in Aus, Been his second best slam over last few years.
Very quick post on disappointed match..
Spot on Analysis Jonathan…definitely very low quality from Roger…awful backhands… Even when he had breakpoint on second set, he never looked like taking it….Just disappointed after reached finals but it suppose to happen in QF itself…Probably SF was one match he played better tennis…
Considering last year’s result, chance to go deeper in AO…QF/SF is expectation, hope he does that…anything beyond that would be bonus…
Yeah will depend on the draw in Aus. 3rd seed, hopefully gets a good path to second week.
Somehow I am not even disappointed! AO is next, just hope he’s in form and performs waay better than last year!
Had chance to pick a t-shirt prize yet?
Anyone else not disappointed? I was actually laughing at his misses (and so was Roger). Honestly wasn’t expecting him to win this match as he was sick and I thought raonic played a great match. I’ve been a fan of raonic since 2014 so it’s nice that he’s got a title. Anyways onto Melbourne which is more serious. Hopefully he can recover. If he can make semis or finals that would be a good result in my book. Doesn’t have a great chance of winning the whole thing but I would never count him out. Allez Roger lets get 18
Yeah they were pretty bad missed. All very routine backhands. Not in right position and Fed’s backhand technique is not the purest so if he’s late, it isn’t ending well. Best shot he hit all match was that down the line slice.
Old man is old man.
I still think a sickly old Roger would have gotten more games off Djokovic in Doha than a healthy Nadal. What you guys think? Nah, Roger would have saved 4 match points in the previous match then withdrew.
To be honest,watching this final was a waste of time.Both played poor tennis and the scary thing is that Raonic won most of the rallies .Roger clearly had problems of his own and he was laughing on himself after the backhand chokes.
Fed needs to rest now and I pray that he gets healthy and god gives his backhand some power.
Raonic not even mentioning federer in his winning speech is annoying to say the least.
I love it when roger gets annoyed.He never shows emotions on court but today he showed them which was good to see
Well to be honest Fed’s speech said well done Milos, last years final was better, the crowd like me more and I was sick this week 😆 so hardly crime for omitting him.
I think he just forgot anyway, his speech was gibberish for the most part, “the volunteers are the people we get to know best” huh? Yeah you’re just hanging out with those toilet cleaners and bar staff all week like one big family 😆
Yeah Roger volleyed some shady remarks, bad bad McFluerer and Shankerer.
I saw the whole match and the speeches. There was no shade by Roger. Stop making up stuff. So Roger was suppose to play well even though he has the flu. The match against Grigor he could have lost because loss of conditioning. So you think it’s strange that he didn’t play while playing several days in the row with the flu including a match where conditioning was an issue. The misses and footwork were due to lack stamina. Roger played Indian Wells in 2012 sick but became okay later in the tournament. So this was not just a bad day at the office. I like how you harsh with Roger given the circumstances in which he played this tournament after arriving.
Except how exactly do the circumstances matter? Yes, he had the flu. Jonathan mentioned that at the start of the week post about him asking for a Thursday match. Yes, it might well have made him play badly. But “Roger lost because of the flu” implies he would not have lost if he didn’t. And we don’t know that, do we? That’s why we’d rather err on the side of caution and for once just say Roger didn’t play great and raonic deserved to win, rather than “oh, milordy, tragic news, that cold right there has destroyed our man”.
They weren’t shady remarks, it was the truth – last years final was better, the crowd did want Fed and he was sick. But no big deal from Raonic not saying well done. All this pleasantries shite is a waste of time anyway, same every event, hope you have a great year!
I think the flu clearly paid a part in the result but you can’t say with 100% confidence that it was the only reason he lost. Probably was mind 😆 as Raonic was pretty shite too tbh and was asking to get broken but can’t say for certain. So well done Milos!
Nobody said whether or not Roger would have won without the flu. My point is being overly harsh with when Roger had to battle with sickness which affected his practice, his conditioning and then his play. Roger could have easily pulled out of this tournament citing sickness, but continued because that is his job. Then claiming that Roger said shady remarks which was the reason didn’t address Roger in his speech is false. Raonic for not addressing Roger in his speech is own business.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sW9cmyEot8s
When did he say “Crowd like me more” or “I was sick”?
He didn’t say them directly, you could infer that if you wanted.
Aha! You were late for the chat because already writing the post, weren’t you?
Painful to watch but felt better when Fed said “I love you, too” back to to a fan at the ceremony, aww 🙂
Move on to AO!
I arrvied 9.03am, I thought it was due to start at 7.30 local time.
Yup, summed up perfectly. TBH Fed didn’t seem invested in this match at all. Raonic virtually gifted him a BOS in that second set, and Federer just handed it right back. Some shocking backhands; as you said, his movement just wasn’t right today. That said, he got to the final when not feeling great; he’s had a bit of practice and there appear to be no injury issues, so he’s not got a good bit of time to recovery properly and be ready for a deep run at the AO hopefully. 🙂
Raonic looked like he might have picked up an injury – lower back? – that doesn’t bode well for him.
Leg injury for Raonic supposedly. Got a week to recover but best of 5 in Aus not easy.
Oh, his leg. well either way not a good start with the season just starting. Probably not serious though and he’ll have time to recover.
Bah. I didn’t care to get out of bed to watch the Brisbane final. Maybe I was under the influence of the Qatar final which was a drag, really.
Roger has better fish to fry now, like giving himself some time to figure out how to get around Djerk-o-tronic. And get back in touch with his service.
Wasn’t it on at 10am Portugal time? 😆 The struggle is real.
Yes, but it’s Sunday! The real struggle starts tomorrow early morning…
Like you said Jon, bad day at the office. Nothing seemed to go his way. My stream wasn’t perfect so I missed the drop of the racquet. When I saw it back on twitter, I just had to laugh 🙂 He can’t even be mad properly. And the way he laughed the last game when he missed the shots…. it was soooo funny. No biggie, this is just Brisbane.
Beats smashing a racquet like I’m sure he wanted to.
No biggie. After all, given the circumstances I was surprised he’d made it this far, really. So, no biggie, just irritating – and drops some points, but not as many as I’d originally expected. Hope he rests and recovers for a few days in time for AO.
Nos he cant even beat Raonic, sad result.
Condescending is not going to help, anyway let’s hope he does better in AO that he of course isn’t going to win
What or who was condescending?
I just happy he reached the final while nursing flu. Sure some facepalm misses but he is in the final. Not bad resul as warm up to AO. Hopes he gets some good draw at 3rd seed. My early predictions – early exit for Murray, he wants to be home early for Kim’s delivery. I am rooting for Stan to win. Someone has to stop Djoker soon….
Kim isn’t due until long after the Aus Open.
All this shit about leaving the tournament even if he’s up two sets 5-0 in the final when she goes into labour is crafted PR shite from his management team that are the same lot who made Beckham into a brand.
Didn’t watch due to time differences. Surprised but then I thought: last year Fed won here but then bombed out of AO so maybe the result will be reversed this year. ha! Onward. Let’s hope he feels well for AO.
I woke up at 4am to watch on Saturday morning 🙁 Y U NO DO SAME.
I don’t think Roger is going to win AO, or any other Slam, if he can’t even win a 250 I am sure he is over with the Slams; Djocovic on the other hand is majestic, my predictions is that Roger will be out in 4ers and Djocovic will remain Champion by defeating Nadal; U think that Roger has no longer the ambition, and reading the condescend comments in this blog makes me very sad as there is no objectivity on this blog any more, except for John and a few others .
I thin not U think
This match or this tournament didn’t have anything with Djokovic. Roger’s results or career decisions don’t revolve around Djokovic anyway. A win or a lose in Brisbane doesn’t mean anything for the AO or playing Djokovic.
Well said. Bringing in any other player who didn’t play in this match is pointless. And it is after all Brisbane. People do lose smaller tournaments and end up winning big ones. This match, to my mind, had NOTHING to do with the AO (unless Roger had broken a leg during it)
I agree with Mike, when Djokovic lost early in Doha last year I said he was finished and was no longer able to win slams because he can’t even beat a serve bot in a 250. And I was proved right! Thankyou.
Jonathan…. +1 🙂
Can you make the same comment about Roger losing in a 250 against a servebot and “not” winning slams like Novak did last year?? 🙂 🙂 I will gladly take that 🙂
Mike, remember this is the guy who “couldn’t win” Brisbane two years ago, either. He went on to make two Slam semis after that that year, not to mention a very tight Wimbledon final (and we won’t start Katanyi off again there), not to mention two Slam finals the year after. True, he didn’t actually *win* a Slam, but he came pretty close. There’s not necessarily any correlation between performing in a 250 and in a Slam.
I wonder just how well anyone might play when recovering from the flu? He didn’t play well, and I see no comment on here which suggests otherwise. Raonic totally deserved the win, and Federer the loss. What are you expecting fans of Federer to say? ‘That’s it, he hasn’t a hope in hell?’ No, if you’re a loyal fan then you always have hope, otherwise what’s the point?
You can always join a Djokovic blog and celebrate his wins, after all, there’ll be no condescending remarks there. 😉
(Because no one actually likes Djokovic) 😉
Ajde!
You’re right there John! Saw a bit of the Doha final and I actually felt rather sorry for Nadal believe it or not. ND has his number, as he has against most other players (apart from Feds on a fast court). For me, it’s like watching a machine – he sucks all the joy out of tennis.
Read this from Matt Cronin:
Matt Cronin @TennisReporters 12m ago Brisbane, Queensland
I asked Federer about being slower tonight (yes), & the BH wasn’t working (yes), & Roger said he felt “wobbly’
Ok fine but the flu didn’t make Roger lose serve from being 30-0 or not break Raonic after a heap of DF…
Guys, Roger was “wobbly” the whole tournament. He did good to get to the final. I wanted him to win, too. Now everybody praise Raonic because Roger didn’t praise him enough in his speech. (Sarcasm, overprotective mother and augmentive mode off)
“Ok fine but the flu didn’t make Roger lose serve from being 30-0 or not break Raonic after a heap of DF…”
We’ve no idea what did, if it comes to that. “Flu” bugs can be very nasty things. I’ve just had a really bad cold/throat/cough etc. bug all over Christmas and New Year, so I know – a few days of feeling really poorly, then feeling noticeably better, so you’re *clearly* on the way to full recovery, when … bam! It comes round and hits you for a second time. It happens – it may have happened to Roger. Or it may not – we just don’t have enough information to judge.
The flu definitely hindered Roger’s movement throughout the week but losing serve up 30-0 and not breaking Raonic by missing routine BH pass shots on break points is more mental than anything. We’ve seen this loads of times against Djoker in slam finals last year without him having the flu so sure it did effect him to some extent but you need perspective.
Fairly poor performance. But this kind of thing happens, a proper off day and any big server poses a threat. So congratulations to raonic for what should be a fairly big win for him, and hope he makes the AO.
I saw nothing alarming from Roger today; he remains with the same chance as ever at the AO. For me, that means I’d EXPECT him to reach the semis. Anything less, a failure, anything more, a good tournament. If he loses the semis, probably still a good tournament. But his chances at the AO have been slim for a while now. I suspect nadal and Djokovic would both beat him at the venue, I can’t say much about Stan, but he HAS only lost to Djokovic in five sets there in recent years (very few take Djokovic to five), so if Stan gets far enough, I’d pick him over Roger. Probably similar to the French last year, just too much time. But five sets instead.
Murray is anyone’s pick. Roger has his number in recent times, but this is undoubtedly his most consistent slam and one which he arguably should have won by now.
Yeah Fed vs. Murray with where they in their careers on Plexi can go the distance, Fed took it 5 when he had a bad back, Murray took it 4 when he was coming back from surgery. Interesting to see how it pans out if they are both on full tilt.
Jon, not trying to be funny here, but did Roger have a back injury that AO? I understand that year was poor, and that from Indian wells vs wawrinka he was injured, but I personally felt he played an excellent tournament at the AO. The cause of loss to Murray for me was:
a) fatigue from letting tsonga take him to 5
b) as commentators remarked, the court surface meant he simply couldn’t hit enough winners against a Murray that was moving at his very best.
Would he normally wear a compression vest during an Australian Summer evening?
Every time he’s had back issues – the vest makes an appearance for added support and heat.
This is 2013? I suspected he had a back problem against Murray, but more because of the way his serve stats dropped so much compared with the previous match. Can’t remember whether I spotted the vest. But was it surprisingly chilly that day?
Yeah I remember that vest. But my memory plays tricks with me. I seemed to remember him wearing it for raonic and tsonga earlier in the tournament too, but I’ve just had a look at highlights and you’re right, it’s only for Murray.
Fair enough, in any case, he deserved to lose in straights tbh that time. Remember him somehow pulling out two tiebreaks he had no right to win.
Yep, remember Stubbornerer not giving up and letting himself be beaten in straights as he ought to have been, too. Probably wore Andy out for the final, too? 🙂
Roger made the final of the US Open last year after six years. Before his loss to Seppi last year, Roger had made the semifinals 10 straight years. I don’t care what the circumstances are for Roger or any other play, you never go into a tournament with low expectations or saying “I have no chance or a slim chance”. I also don’t care who is the favorite. I will be rooting for Roger. A real fan never deserts their favorite player for who might win. Murray hasn’t won the AO because he has lost to the better player. He doesn’t deserve a title because it’s his most consistent slam.
Surely making the semifinals 10 years in a row means that expecting him to do it this year is just me siding with probability 😉
None of us speak of deserting Roger. But can you really accuse me of not being a fan if I do not believe he’s gonna win every tournament he enters? Because that rationale means you probably don’t think any player that DOESN’T win all the time deserves any fans.
And re: Murray, I never said he deserved to win it, but he should have done by now. Twice he’s come pretty close in finals vs Djokovic but run out of steam (the level was there). No one can really argue he put up a fight in 2010 or 2011, where he got destroyed.
I disagree. Fed only made the 3rd round last year so he should focus on defending his points and then take it from there. He has a 0 chance against Novak or Nadal in Melborne so getting a win over Murray would be an excellent way to start the slams this year.
0? 😉
Yeah I still go in with the mentality that “last year was a blip”. I base my expectations around his performances in the years preceding that. IMO points are less of a thing now. It’s hard to imagine Roger returning to no 1 at this stage, and anything below is just a matter of course.
But of course I see your point 🙂
Well, so indifferent about this one.
Onward to AO, and Mike, away with the negativity , the year is just beginning. See the cup as half full and not half empty 🙂
I Will watch the highlights , renew my subscription so I can watch the AO fully and yes, I’m counting on Federer to win the AO 🙂
Now, trick question is in whose quarter will Nadal end up? I still see Fed meeting Djoker in the finals and not the semis as so many people think.
What subscription?
It seems for the interview that he was in the final phase of a nasty cold (probably an above average rhinovirus), in my medical experience it was the phase where tiredness due to poor deep sleep due to cough is worse. In any case I still think he made some adjustments to his game (specially the baseline game) that didn’t bode well against Dimitrov and Raonic.
Overall I think it was a good tournament considering the illness but I’m a little concerned about reduction in the net game. I hope we have the Wimbledon SF Federer or the Cincinnati Federer back during the AO Final! I also would be glad to have the 2007 AO SF JesusFed during the AO.
His net stats were surprisingly poor compared with Milos’ – that much is certain. Come to think of it, most of his stats were, first set especially. I mean, less than 50% FS?! He’d pulled that rate up in the second set just before I left this morning, so I was hoping he might manage to turn things around, but clearly not. Milos out-statted him in every respect, I think, so I guess he deserves the win. I don’t think I’ll waste my broadband allowance on watching the highlights, though, from what Jonathan has said.
Maybe it was tough to come in against the opponents he faced, he did chip charge a bit. Although I thin the slice was not effective on that court in Brisbane, seemed to sit up, Raonic handled them easy.
Nothing went right for Roger today, it just wasn’t him – inconsistent, horror shots, not taking opportunities no intensity etc. It was worth watching as he did play some nice shots inc a couple of good backhands – the slice Jon mentioned and huge loopy one landing right on the baseline
Like others here I wasn’t too disappointed with the loss and in fact was pleased for Raonic at the end. He played well (imo better than given credit for) apart from predictable lapses as in the double fault game. He seems like a nice guy and lets hope he takes this forward and starts winning more matches that count ie against Djok and Nadal. I have a feeling Roger thinks that too – the missing generation have let him down. Also I think Raonic was just a bit awkward in the acceptance just forgetting to mention Roger – he hasnt done it 90 times.
I think it would have been different in a match which really counted flu or no flu and I still have high hopes for him next week. Besides obvious difficulties with Djok I think he would still struggle v Nadal so I hope those two meet in quarters. He stands a good chance in matches with Stan and Murray unless Stan blows him off court so I agree with John’s assessment semi would be a good result anything better would be great
If Raonic’s winner’s speech is any indication, he’s following in Djoker’s footsteps personality wise. Not a road you want to go down.
I actually don’t mind djokovic’s personality? What precisely bothers you?
(I mean, we can all agree on the boring attritional game and we’re obviously gonna dislike him when he just wins all the time and were fed fans.)
Djokotronic has a personality? Now, how about that? 😀
Can’t stand the antics/try hard comedian aspects. I respect the hell out of his achievements and think he’s come a long way since when he first came on tour but he overcompenates for not being popular even though he’s no.1.
Yeah I agree with Alsyha, tries too hard to be liked. Never really works that well.
I prefer his US Open locker room imitation days, they were good.
That’s fair enough. I agree he tries too hard, but strip that away and he’s a fairly likeable dude, off court. It’s on court where my issues with him start. And agree with the respect thing. We all argue back and forth, but the fact that Djokovic at his best is a contender for the highest level reached ever (I personally think Roger 2006 is better), considering he spent large chunks of his breakthrough years in the shadow of two true greats, is impressive to anyone.
Roger was happy yesterday because of his convincing win of the semis and the sickness not so evident, to have time with his family before the final. I didn’t watch it, and only slightly disappointed – thinking he had finally fun with family to make up for anything!
As a Canadian, good win for tennis in this country. More exposure equals more courts, programs, tv time, etc.
Raonic has worked very hard to get where he is. I know Fed has mentioned that in the past, the respect he has for Raonic’s professionalism. Not my kind of player but happy for him.
I don’t feel he failed to mention Fed in his speech on purpose. He hasn’t done quite as many as Fed has.
I agree that last years final was a better match but when Fed mentioned that, one could interpret it as a dig to Raonic or as a fact. Either way, don’t think that should have been said.
As far as Fed goes, a poor match. We will probably never know the extent of his illness. Muscle fatigue, fever, who knows. Amazing that Roger has never pulled out of a match in his whole career. Is he the only one? Did the four days play in a row do him in at the end?
Note to self….only stay up all night again if it’s the AO final against Seppi.
Roger never said that last’s year final was better in speech. He said he enjoyed the tournament despite being sick including playing Raonic last year and this year. Roger never said anything in speech that should be considered “shade”. Also we do know the extend of his illness when asked to delay his match until Thursday, not practicing, muscle fatigue and rubbing leg during change over while playing Grigor. Only having enough energy for maybe a set and half. Being late on shots or footwork. Roger playing consecutive days in row with a illness did him in which showed in his body language, shotmaking and being able to cover the court. Roger has played and beaten Seppi since last year’s AO. While Roger was disappointed by the lose, he moved on, so should Fed fans.
Karen, I see you love to argue about most comments here. You sound like an over protective mother.
The people on this blog are chill and all LOVE Fed and his game.
I suggest you take it down a notch and also learn when people are using humor and sarcasm.
Check out Jonathan comments at 1:02 and 4:40.
Really, you love Fed by accusing him of something he didn’t do? I am not old enough to be Roger’s mother (sarcasm).
But what about 2014 WTF finals? Wasn’t that pulling out by Fed? Or is there another term for it that I do not know.
Any loss in any final is disappointing for me, as I always hope that Fed will win everything in sight….
Just wish that he is less crotchety and more gracious in his speeches when he loses (his victory speeches are way better). He sometimes focusses a wee bit too much on himself…..
Nadal, on the other hand (although I always root against him) seems more generous in praising his vanquisher.
Anyway, hope Fed recovers fully before the AO.
2014 WTF finals, really? He could not play because he hurt his back which has had trouble with. Switzerland needed him for Davis Cup. That statement about Roger being less crotchety and more gracious in his speeches when loses is BS. He doesn’t need to over praise his opponent to be viewed as gracious. People are just jealous because Roger is well supported and develope an inferiority complex. I hope Nadal enjoyed that beat down from Djoke. Roger would never over praise him because he doesn’t want people to think he likes beat downs.
Roger has never pulled out of a match in progress – his attitude seems to be that if you show up ready to play you stick it out there, short of breaking a major bone or something. He wasn’t remotely fit to play at WTF 2014.
Ask Mirka about Federer’s pulling out record. She’ll set the record straight.
“That statement about Roger being less crotchety and more gracious in his speeches when loses is BS. He doesn’t need to over praise his opponent to be viewed as gracious. People are just jealous because Roger is well supported and develope an inferiority complex.”
I agree, all this nicey nicey shit is superficial unt vacuous.
I think there’s a certain level of niceness necessary just to not cause any big ripples, but as long as you don’t offend or insult your opponent, you should say what you want when you’re bang on adrenaline and emotion. If you wanna be well supported, win that on court, as far as I’m concerned.
There’s a difference between the human being and the tennis player, and support for the tennis player should be separate to support for the human being.
Eh, too bad he couldn’t win the title but it means little in the grand scheme of things. He’ll have a week to prepare for Melbourne and will do his due diligence to work out all the kinks and get as close to 100% match fitness as he can.
Yeah hardly the worst loss in the world. Losing record in Brisbane finals now though 😆
If anything, I would like Rog to break the habit of playing great except in the finals. Agree that this really doesn’t mean much for AO. Really liked to see his match against Dimitrov who I think looked better than ever. He even seemed to show some mental strength against Chardy. This week was a good prep for Rog.
As Roger gets older, his play will depend on how he feels that day or that tournament. He can’t recover like he use to and Fed fans demand too much of a man his age and mileage.
Thanks Karen I like most of your comments. But Please – imo the poor fellow is not that old and weak, though 🙂
The flu got him for some reason, which doesn’t has to be age?
I meant from match to match and from tournament to tournament, not the flu. He was affect by the flu because he’s human.
Fed got lucky that Dimitrov is still a basket case mentally. Raonic didn’t make the same mistake.
No, Raonic showed a crack but Roger lacked the energy to compete properly. Dimitrov may be a basket case mentally, but credit Roger for not caving because he was having conditioning issues.
He hit 3 double faults in one game, I’d hardly call him a rock mentally 😆 he was there for the taking actually in that second set but Fed couldn’t take advantage.
Roger, I’ll happily take a rain check on that birthday present. Three weeks from now would do very nicely 🙂
Again Alison happy birthday (10 minutes left though) 🙂
Thanks, Katyani 🙂
Not the best way to start 2016 but also not the worst. As you said, the warm up tournaments don’t really paint the whole picture for what’s to come at slams and Fed is surely aware that there’s still a lot he can build on. Just wasn’t good enough in every department in this match. He was hitting ball way too short in the court so I was wondering why he wasn’t mixing it up with the slice more often to give Milos something different to work with. Speaking of, Fed may have made him look a little better than he probably was but he’s definitely become more than a 1-2 punch, except WTF was with that “love everybody” speech?
Excitement is starting now as Melbourne approaches, I’ll be attending up until the QF so hoping Fed’s flu and niggles are long gone by the time the first ball is in the play.
Cool – tickets for every day?
Alysha, you must be excited. Will we get a fan report from you?
Just wanted to say one more thing. I know Raonic is being made fun of here and on twitter about his Miss America speech…. but…. I actually liked it 🙂 It was so weird and unexpected from him… I liked it.
But I agree with Alysha, he needs to be carefull that he doesn’t go with it the Satan way where it becomes vomiting 🙂
Very risky talking about love at a tennis tournament.
We all should love each other here, the peRFect Tennis community would become much better blog 😆
Thanks Milos.
Jesus, I am hearing a lot of excuses here. If a player shows up on court he is fit enough to play. Period. If he plays badly and loses then he was beaten by the better player. From almost every perspective – including the ugly ball-bashing way Raonic plays – it was a disappointing match. Producing excuses for Roger doesn’t make it any better.
It’s true, Roger was sick. “including the ugly ball-bashing way Raonic plays”, I would never thought of this excuse. Thanks Richard.
I wasn’t offering it as an excuse – that’s a rather strange reading – but you’re welcome if you think it’s an excuse. You’ve thought of every other.
I was joking. I saw the whole match. I have to laugh at something.
Agree with Richard. Tons of other players have had the flu before, and we never point it out when Roger crushes them. It’s just less exposed because they are less exposed. You walk onto a court, you are doing so with the resolve to win or lose. There’s no little star next to either that says “well, if he hadn’t been this or that…”. It’s just tennis and life, and illness and injury can happen to anyone, anytime. It’s just unlucky, but you play the hand you’re dealt. (Granted, players like nadal increase their odds of injury)
IMO whether or not flu was an excuse for Roger, it discredits raonic to put it down to Roger’s game alone.
Ljudicrous! CLjuless Fed, Ljuses his head, and comes ungLjued. Needs to go gLjuten free right away, or the rest of the year looks pretty gLjumy.
Should I continue? 😐
The backhand shanks were spectacular and could have embarrassed a club player. There was not a passing shot to be made -even when it was begging. But what is even more concerning – and is more noticeable now – is the relative absence of power, especially on that once-feared forehand. Raonic suffered only from his own errors – not because Roger was able to boss him off the ground (or off his serve). Roger certainly had an off-day but unless he regains some penetration on his shots the rest of the year will not be pretty.
YES, please 😆
Step slow is the reason for loss of power. Late for the bus on a lot of shots.
No, that’s ok Sid.
I see that along with reports of Roger’s unfortunate final there have been claims in the media that Djokovic’s demolition of Nadal in Doha is the best tennis that has ever been played. People have short memories – including Nadal, who described Djokovic’s play as “perfect”. Maybe, but this is a Nadal in clear decline. What about Roger’s straight-set demolition of Nadal at the WTF in 2007 – when both players were in their prime? Or, again, Roger’s crushing of Nadal at the 2010 WTF – coming off Nadal’s best year – or, for that matter, an ageing Roger disposing of a peak Djokovic in straight-sets at Shanghai 2014? And then there’s the complete drubbing of Andy Murray – a double grand slam champion – for the loss of only one game at the 2014 WTF. Beating Nadal no longer counts as the victory it once was – enough players ranked a 100 or so in the world have now done it – while the Djokovic pr machine talks their man up, who at last count still has quite a few slams to go to catch the coat-tails of the greatest player of all time.
Yep, I’ll second that Richard. Don’t know where Nadal’s coming from really – but, maybe he had to say ND played perfectly, otherwise it would be more obvious that Nadal’s slump/decline is possibly permanent?
I watched some of that match and yes, ND was hitting all the lines; couldn’t put a foot wrong, but it was also the case that Nadal balls were landing short (as they were all of last year) enabling *any* player, not just Djokovic, to feast on them at will. Plus, it is very clear that ND and his team have analysed his game minutely. Djokovic knows EXACTLY where to hit the ball, and is ready and waiting for the returns. Nadal is completely helpless/hapless in the face of it. Rather sad actually.slamdunk
The major difference between Djerkotronic and Nothingal in the Qatar final was that ND figured out how to put RN into trouble, that was make him stretch wide to his forehand, where his whippy fh is harmless. Of course, that works if (and it’s a big IF) ball placement and depth are consistent.
On the other side of the court, RN showed here and there (set #2, especially) that he *also knew* how to upset ND, that was putting more variation in the shots to disrupt ND’s metronomic play, like slices and short balls. The point is: RN cannot do that consistently. He never could. All this is to say that I would not call it a “demolition”. At least it was not demolishing a 10 store building; was more like shaking a shack made of loose planks to a pile of rubble
Haha I like it Rui.
Oh, I need a poem by Murli or Wanda or some other to encourage the heart. Sid – and Jon- comes pretty near, but – Come on, give us a smile, someone, PLEASE!
🙂 There you go muser. Plenty to smile about – the sunshine slam starts in 7 days time, by which time Feds should be fully recovered and we get to see some magic on the court again. Allez!
Come on Muser, we want a poem from you for a change 😆
Yea right ;-D will think about it – have to get inspired…
Jokes and sarcasm
Excuses and criticism
All is welcome
All is doing the same
Coping the dark night
Looking to the morning light
If see his smile
Tomorrow will fall
Here for you, muser. Sue, well-said. We all loves his game. We all comes to this blog, more so after Fed’s loss for the reason. Lucky to have this great place. And Jonathan and Sid, their sarcastic best, love it.
WANDA – THANKS! 😀
We loves, we comes?? What the hell your brain’s doing Wanda? 😆
How about this for a laugh 😆
http://tennisinsideout.com/interpreting-the-federer-raonic-trophy-ceremony-in-brisbane/
Thanks Wanda! – for the poem, and the ceremony ‘interpretation’ – really made me chuckle. 😆
THANKS ;-D WANDA – ONE MORE…. (I havn’t dared to watch the match – now I MIGHT enter the replay…)
That is sooo funny. Just what the doctor ordered.
I especially like the “recalculating” and the mention of “peach shirt and leggings”.
Remember to go on Page 2 anyone who missed it. Typical pageview economy trick.
Had a really good laugh at that – just what I needed. Thanks 🙂 Particularly liked the “annotated” photos with Raonic, Laver and Fed 🙂
I agree that this was not a good match, both guys playing below par. But 1 stat did stand out – Raonic had 20 of 25 points at the net (compared to 7 of 10 for Fed). Milos has played well at the net throughout this tourney, and it has become an important aspect of his game. If he continues playing the type of attacking tennis he used this past week, I think he will have an excellent season.
I just finished rereading a book on the 2013 tennis season. It reminded me of all the dire predictions experts, fans, etc., were making about Federer that year. So great that they were wrong!
Look at the easy passes Federer missed though, that stat flatters to deceive.
The big stat was 2nd serve points won I think, first set 60%. Never breaking with that number.
Yeah, I read that book a few weeks ago – the Guardian guy, wasn’t it? Very :facepalm:-worthy in retrospect – “Fed’s finished, Andy’s only going to get better, changing of the guard…” Not to mention, wasn’t that the book I found 5 obvious errors in, including Fed’s 8 Wimby titles? (Yes, I know, we all wish …)
That is the sad story of our civilization. No matter how many scientific accomplishments we amass, no matter how facts always prevail, there will always be audience and market for fortune tellers, wizards, conspiracy maniacs and all types of crooks.
I wonder where these prophets get their enlightment: reading frogs’ entrails?…
I’ve had a few tennis books sent through to me, most of them terrible. I never bother reading them.
Which book and who is the author?
Did you never read that book by Skidelsky, Jon?