Wimbledon Draw 2016: Federer In Top Half with Djokovic
The Wimbledon 2016 draw is out and Roger has landed in the same half as Djokovic which means he will kick off his campaign on Monday You can see his projected opponents below:
Federer’s Projected Opponents
- Round 1: Guido Pella
- Round 2: Ricardas Berankis
- Round 3: Alexandr Dolgopolov
- Round 4: Gilles Simon
- Quarter Finals: Kei Nishikori / Marin Cilic
- Semi Finals: Novak Djokvoci
- Final: Andy Murray
Thoughts on the Draw
First up is Argentine Guido Pella who has only played 2 matches on grass at ATP / Slam level losing both. He should be easy pickings and if Roger is close to what we’ve seen on grass at Wimbledon over the last 2 seasons then it’s tough to see him winning over 8 games.
The second round is then seeded to be against Ricardas Berankis, he was hyped a few years ago and took Cilic to 5 sets at SW19 last year but you’d have to pick Fed in straight sets for this one. Berankis isn’t the tallest guy so his serve isn’t a threat which makes things much easier for Fed seen as though his return game looks to be his big weakness post comeback.
Into the third round and Dolgopolov who has only played one tournament since the Rome Master. That was the Aegon Open in Nottingham losing to Gilles Muller in straight sets so he’s not going in with much preparation. The Ukrainian’s game translates pretty well to grass though but you have to say Roger is better in every area which is why he leads the H2H 3-0. If the match up happens I’m sure Dolgopolov will produce some flashy winners but over best of 5 Federer is odds on to prevail.
Round 4 sees the start of the second week and the seeded opponent is Gilles Simon. Simon had huge problems with his serve at Queens with basically the yips so who knows what to expect from him. Roger crushed him last year so I’d expect the same again. On form Steve Johnson is the guy who could come through as he’s had a decent start to the grass court season making the Quarter Finals at Queens and is playing in the Semi Finals at Nottingham today. Monfils is in there too but he’s severely undertennised so I think Fed comes through regardless of opponent in this section.
Men’s quarter final day would see Roger potentially meet Nishikori or Cilic. Roger has been practising with Cilic this week and the 2014 USO winner has performed consistently well on grass. He has Ivanesevic in his corner too so he’s bound to be a tricky opponent and if Roger were a step slow like we saw in Halle last week then Cilic is going to cause problems with his power baseline game. The same applies for Nishikori too should he make the Quarters, he’s got injured at the Gerry Weber Open though so tough to say whether he’s fully fit. But he moves well and takes the ball very early which means Roger would have to be skipping nicely around to play on his terms.
Semi’s is then of course Djoker who has a pretty good draw himself with no real problems up until the Quarter Finals where he could meet Raonic. Impossible to predict this one but Djokovic is the heavy favourite should they meet. The top seed from the other half is Murray who is coming in off the back of a Queen’s Win and is favourite to make the final.
Interesting First Round Matches
- Kohlschreiber vs. Herbert
- Sock vs. Gulbis
- Monfils vs. Chardy
- Coric vs. Karlovic
- Thiem vs. Mayer
- Verdasco vs. Tomic
- Fritz vs. Wawrinka
- Gasquet vs. Bedene
- Isner vs. Baghdatis
- Kyrgios vs. Stepanek
So expectations for Roger? Quarter Finals for me then anything can happen. There’s a lot of question marks post Stuttgart / Halle so I guess we’ll know more about what sort of level he can hit once he has (hopefully) played his first 2 or 3 matches. See you guys Monday. Allez!
Only a few days remain before this year’s Wimbledon starts and the questions most of us ask are: will Roger get past the first round this time? The first week? Will he defend his points? Will he gift us this long awaited 8th Wimbledon title?
As far as he is concerned, never has a season been so uncertain. Not even 2013. And especially not on grass.
But this year is like no other. We must face the fact that our man is aging and that no matter how bad the heart and the mind want it, if the body doesn’t follow, there is not much to be done.
But if there is something I have learnt in the few years I have been following tennis and Roger, it is that no match or tournament is over until the last point is played. And the biggest mistake is to write someone off even before the first ball has been tossed to the air.
So as much realistic as I want to be, I can’t deny that I have hope. Hope that we will see the Federer magic sparkle through the lawns of the All England Tennis Club one more time. Hope that despite everything he has been through this year, the great champion that he is can show the world who is the Boss. I have even hope that he can do so by beating the one who denied him history the last two years.
You can call me silly, but I know that many are the ones who share my silly hopes. And I might not be as good as Murli, but God, this Wimbledon is making me rhyme ( I hope you enjoy it and I most importantly hope that we will have a great Wimbledon this year 😉
On a land without magic
In a kingdom of great tradition
The most prestigious competition
Revealed this man to the world…
With an aura so majestic
He stood, his head held high
To what’s impossible… He gave a try
His talent never growing old…
Through victories and battles so epic
He made us laugh and made us cry
He took us with him to his seventh sky
And made us witness his magic unfold
And now, even in these times of panic
Let’s have faith and keep our ambition
Let’s bel18ve and dream of another edition
Of the greatest legend ever to be told
Great post Alex!!!
I surely have hopes for a great tournament!
#GoRoger
Nicely rhymed!
Yay! Love yr post! I too always Hv hopes and this draw is actually good for Rog to play himself back into consistency and rhythm! No huge servers nor huge hitters in first week….
Hoping to go Monday… Will keep you posted!
Love it Alex!
Wow Alex, the new Murli, beautifully done!
But hello, where is the master?
Perhaps we have just witnessed the dethroning of the current world number 1 poet in Murli on the grass of SW19. Will Djoker suffer the same fate in the next 2 weeks? 😀
Thanks Alex – you’ve articulated my thoughts and feelings exactly. I liked the poem too – look out Murli…:)
Love, Love, Love Alex.
What a first comment! Alex
Talk about coïncidence! I was about to post that on the outfit post when I found the draw one 😀
Now back to the draw, I don’t have much expectations, only hope. But I do wonder, how does Djokovic do to get away with easy draws every tournament?!
The Thiem-Mayer rematch looks interesting. Also the possible 2R between Stan and Del Potro…
He is the number 1 player so that might have something to do with it 😛 But Novak got a HUGE chip on his shoulder, he’ll be hearing the words “grand slam” about every 5 minutes.
I can’t remember the last time a first comment was longer than 1 or 2 words 😉
Thiem – Mayer should be a good one. Mayer should be feeling good after Halle so Thiem won’t have it easy.
You were just WAITING to cut & paste, weren’t you Alex? 😉 Well done
Not really. That was really a coincidence 🙂
Damn that’s an impressive win
Damn it, 4th. I think I need Becker or someone to help me. Not winning these contests lately.
Well ,it is better to lose than to have becker in your team.Right now,mcenroe is the best man.Go Raonic ?
Yeah, that is maybe where we can pin our hopes.
No faith in Ljubicic huh?
Congrats Alex and lets hope your timely and fine post is matched by the same luck and excellent performance from RF.
Not even close this time. I just hope Roger plays injury free and with no pain. He needs to take it one match at a time! And so do we!
#GoRoger
Wrong R4
R4 – Simon / Monfils
QF – Nishikori / Cilic
Bad combo for a R4 and QF. Not sure how Roger scrapes through this one.
Thanks, updated.
Simon and Monfils aren’t tough Round 4 Opponents. I doubt Monfils will make it, his last tweet was about MMORPG games 😆 so has he been working hard?
Agreed.
On second thought, none of those 4 are experts on grass courts. It’s Roger’s form that worries me more than his opponents. Sounds like the end of times and reminds me of 2013.
Hope is there though.
To be honest I think roger has a fairly good draw.Roger’s return game has not been up to the mark, so not having big hitters in his first three rounds is a big advantage. Round 4 can be tricky and then everything will depend on his fitness and confidence.
I just don’t want to see Roger go in the first 3 rounds and looking at the draw ,it is surely not going to happen.Then afterwards roger can pick up form and sail through if all goes well.
I don’t have any high expectations but it all changes when roger steps on the court.
Djokovic does have a difficult draw,he has if I am not wrong Bellucci or rosol in round 3,Ferrer in round 4 and Raonic in quarters.
Cilic is the dark horse so would love to see him lose.
Let’s hope it turns out a great tournament for roger.I expect semifinals and nothing more,but still I have made roger the champion on tiger mobiles tennis challenge .
A slight chance but nonetheless a chance for roger to win his 8th wimbledon.I know I am dreaming ……
That’s your idea of a “difficult” draw for Novak?!
Compared to his draws in previous grandslams,this I think is a demanding draw.He has rosol/belucci/querry in round 3,ferrer or kohli in r4 if somehow milos falters we still have goffin or anderchoke in qf so it is not like he can stroll through quite comfortably like he did with his precious draws where there were inspired opponents but they lacked the skill to get past him.
I remember Djoker playing Gasquet and Cilic in Wimbledon and US open semi respectively last year while our Fed played Murray and wawrinka,this guy is just really lucky that he gets easy draws,he even had to play thiem in semis of french open while Murray and wawrinka battled it out.So compared to his previous draws ,I am more than happy to see he gets some good players before qf stage.
I agree about Fed’s draw being good. But can’t have too many expectations. Although I’m sure if he wins his first match at a canter we will all be cancelling plans for 2 weeks on Sunday 😆
Djoker’s draw is fairly easy. Bellucci and Querrey don’t stand a chance. Rosol at least has the tools to win.
Yes, and Djoker put out Kohli in straights in the first round last year, didn’t he?
“I don’t have any high expectations but it all changes when roger steps on the court.”
Encapsulates life as a Fed fan right now perfectly.
Yes, what Alysha said here.
Alex, what a lovely poem. On to the great unknown.
I want to beli8ve, but I wanted to beli8ve the last 4 slams he’s gotten close and the same cold nole-bot mechanics keep short circuiting my heart.
What more could you ask for than how he played last year? A year younger than today, injury free, with hero Edberg on his team. SW19 2015 was beautiful. It was a master class. It was ballet and shoot to kill precision; crushing Murray in a sadly climatic masterpiece like he was a junior player. It was a time machine.
And it all collapsed in a mind disease heap in the final to a guy who had had a clearly inferior run. In GS’s Nole-bot just makes Roger’s body ask his brain too many questions and self doubt creeps in. And that’s a healthy, younger Roger.
If Nole somehow gets kicked out before the semis and Roger reaches that far, then I will allow myself some hope. Until then, I just don’t want to waste my heart with predictable boring play Nole-bot in the room.
I will however enjoy watching the only GOAT in the room dance on the lawn for as long as I can.
Love love love that last sentence!
Yeah I just want him to play well and see what happens. Should make second week but to stand a shot of winning he’d have to be 100% fit and do something different. Lost 3 slams now all in very similar fashion. Time to mix it up a bit.
At this point “something different” seems to be NOT having to play Djokovic :-).
Clearly Roger was busy playing against his own mind Wimb 2015 and USO 15. He just could not keep focus on important points.
I hope this time Roger eases up a bit and not put too much pressure on himself.
I am just hoping for R4 this year. Pulling for Raonic to beat Djoko. Will be in Europe so ironically won’t even really watch–too busy.
Are you over at Turnberry for a round of golf?
haha! No, Paris and Amsterdam.
Def a good easing in draw… But taking it one match at a time! Hoping Raonic takes out Djoker but that means he cld take out Rog too so not looking that far.. Cld not bear another Muzz/Novak final…. Killing tennis slowly and surely from the baseline… Like Alex, happy to see Fed dancing for as long as poss!!
“Killing tennis … From the baseline”
Perfect.
A another pong final would be a joke. Nobody wants that.
Actually, Jon, when I read your prediction I had a bit of a not-too-good feeling about it – just like a few others recently when you’ve predicted it to be a doddle and it wasn’t. I hope I’m wrong.
Which match? The Pella one?
The draw – I like it’. It is as if its asking Roger to play himself into form from R1 to R4 and grow in confidence for the QF , I understand Rog might not be at a level that he was last year and the odds might be against him even more, but where there not instances where played himself into form and made good results (the Us open ’08, French Open ’09 and even Wimbledon 2012 comes to my mind) and yes we know djokovic gets into his mind these days , but what Roger really has to loose?
Tennis is a funny sport,moreover Federer certainly not being the favourite suddenly plays a semifinal (not a final mind you) against a Red hot player whose expected to win Golden whatever slam + maintain finals’ streak at big occasions (the least people expect him).
Its Djokovic tournament to lose. I am not saying Federer can certainly beat him now, but Novak’s match wins at slams has created an additional opponent when coming into these big matches – thats Novak himself.
Not in my wildest dreams i thought that serena will lose that semi against vinci ,not to take anything away from her she played great but lets face it serena created huge pressure for herself.
Lets not get ahead of us , yes one match at a time is realistic. But Federer has nothing to lose at SW19 , his long term absence from the tour may work as an alibi for him, since when did he beat djokovic the last time in a slam?
It was a slam semi final , wasn’t it.
Hoping Federer to deliver a deep run and stay healthy because tennis slams these days have become a little soporific to be honest.
USO 2008 the only one that compares I guess. Had mono, lost 2 slam finals back to back, dumped out early in Toronto and Cincy, Blake beat him in Beijing. So went into that with no form at all and won it. Can he replicate that here? Very difficult.
This is the first time in a long time Wimbledon feels so uncertain but still another year getting to see Roger play at this special tournament is something that makes my stomach do backflips!
Pretty good projected first week for Fed to build up some more form and confidence I guess. It’s pretty crazy how many fans still have so many expectations because this is Wimbledon and this is his best chance but can’t ignore the facts. I would be incredibly happy if he made the second week and as you said anything could happen from there. At least we won’t be losing to Novak in the final again huh 😛
I’d like to see Murray get the title just because he’s been working pretty hard the whole season and lost two slam finals to Djoker and as we all know that’s not fun. Maybe even Stan will make a run here like he usually does at least once a year. Or maybe even a whole new winner, that would be very cool. Either way, I do hope Roger will play the best he can and that there’s some good tennis on display for the entirety. In triumph and disaster, let us not forget to treat those two imposters just the same.
You can’t want Murray to win just because he’s been working hard 😆 What have the other guys on tour been doing??
I am hoping for a new winner if Fed can’t bag it. Stan sucked at Queens but should do better here, let’s see if Krajicek has improved his net game.
BTW not sure this was already discussed on the blog when it happened but what are our thoughts about what happened to Sharapova and everything regarding her whole case?
Jon wertheim has some thoughtful comments over at sitennis.com
Tbh I haven’t read anything about it or know any details to give much of a comment.
I’m happy Fed may play Djokovic in the semis rather than the finals. Less pressure, plus he knows historically Wimbledon semifinals have always brought out the best in him. Overall the draw looks good and here’s hoping he gets in some good form the first few matches and can peak in the semis.
What happened in Aus? 😆
I would prefer if he didn’t face Djokovic at all. Raonic would be better.
Well obviously Raonic would be better.
Fed has had a rough history in AO semis in recent years. 08, 11, 12, 13, 14…. at Wimbledon, the semis are his haven. In 03, 05, 06, 08, 09, 12, 14, 15 he was on another level ….
Honestly don’t think it’s so much the matter of level. It’s not like fed really plays badly, or even only well in AO semis generally. He’s just more beatable on the surface, and his good performances don’t function on those courts like on grass
First short videos I saw, I thought he looked REALLY stiff, but… Already it seems like he’s loosening up a bit. And Mirka is there. I feel… Cautiously optimistic, and simultaneously like maybe that’s foolhardy.
Not a bad draw for a Slam, opportunities here I think. Here’s hoping, I guess, that he really is moving more fluidly, and maybe even watching some old tennis matches on these very courts to put his mind in some of those old grooves.
I saw a jerky practice vid. Hard to tell. Will know more once he has to hit on the run of either wing how the body is feeling.
Draw seems not much difficult, but we very well know that means nothing really…..If he is healthy and playing decent, then SF is manageable result I think….It would be crazy if Clic plays better in QF considering how bad he was last year…
Cilic has the type of game that can catch fire though, on grass it’s a dangerous combo.
Agreed, and I didn’t deny that also we seen that in 2014 USO…Its more ref. to how weak on last year’s QF against Novak…so if he reaches QF, It would be nice if he only plays that level..
Can’t tbe Brits make up their bloody minds? 🙂 Now, Brexit voters want to vote against it?
Ok, I’m for leave but let me put it this way. When the difference between the yes and no sides is so small, for an issue so critical, it only makes sense to get a 60% Leave vote for it to really happen. But why now? There were no rules before the votes were cast? You’ve gotta follow rules or it will be a mockery of democracy. And what makes you believe that those signing the petition are indeed leave voters, and not remain voters?
I’d say own up to what you did and carry through on your vote. You’re better off independent in the long run. 44% of your biggest city is ethnic minority. If you don’t do something about it, at least rename London to Landi Kotal.
That petition won’t result in anything. In fact only 33% of those who signed it are from the UK 😆 so it’s already proven to be a joke. I imagine a good chunk of that 33% are from London as well.
Leave is the smart choice. The EU is a giant ponzi scheme which will eventually break up as they can’t keep it afloat forever. To keep a ponzi going you have to find new members, they’ve already admitted all the med countries which should never be in it so they only really have Turkey left. It’s a shambles.
The only people who are all for it it either benefit hugely from it or don’t understand it. I benefit from it but I know full well the whole thing is a disaster so leave wins the day for me as if the exit is negotiated well then it will be better for the vast majority of people which is what I want to see.
I’m yet to hear one credible argument for staying (i.e. a benefit that relies on political union) and I’ve been looking for ages. I can’t be doing with these tits who keep quoting “experts” and put forward articles that are so inaccurate. As usual the knowledge gap is so huge.
Sounds like London was the only region that voted stay, and overwhelmingly, 60% I think. I’m not surprised. That also explains how they elected that mayor. Now, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. For all you know he might be a decent chap. It shows however, how out of hand this immigration issue has gone.
My verdict is anyone with common sense voted leave. Anyone with an overly simplistic view of things who buys into ideals set out by Cameron and his cronies voted remain.
I thought remain was going to win the day tbh, guess I underestimated how much mistrust there is of politicians now and how badly many generations have been screwed. The Scottish referendum and the last General Election were completely pointless so good to finally get some change, guess this is somewhat of a mini uprising.
The only ones complaining about it now are the ‘millennials’ who seem to think their future has been jeopardised. I think we can safely say 90% of people Under 20 don’t know their arse from their elbow when it comes to stuff like this so their point of view is pretty much redundant.
And the anyone over that age but still a classed as a millennia’ has to be incredibly naive and brainwashed to buy into this “we’re all in this together” narrative when their parents, grandparents etc. have seen their pensions fall to pieces, wages go down and society divide more than ever between rich and poor. If you have seen that happen why would you think your future is going to be any better in a failing European Union? 😆
To just out and make the verdict that 48 percent of voters were idiots is a little presumptuous. Even if all your arguments are completely fine, is there a law that states your vote need be motivated by the economy? Or a law that states it need be motivated by political forces?
To be quite honest, disagree with me if you like, there are plenty of “reasons” people make decisions. I don’t think it’s fair to go around judging those decisions as stupid, because of rational reasons. If you had voted stay, because of your own personal benefitting from the EU, would you expect that you’d be an idiot then? No, you’d just be more selfish.
I don’t really care for the EU. I think it’s a shame Scotland are going to go now, after that long referendum process from a while ago, and I also think it’s a shame many of my closer friends are planning to leave the country now (I assume they want to “jump,ship”). I feel bad for the traders who lost their money and (in some cases) their jobs for the gambling they did with the pound. But none of that is relevant.
I don’t really want to offend anyone, and I respect your opinion, Jon. But I think it’s silly to paint an entire group with one brush in such a complex situation.
Am wondering where to go from here, mainly because nothing is really going to change for a while, so none of the questions that were asked will actually be answered until a long time down the line. No tangible effect will even be proven until a chunk of the voters are dead. Pound is already coming back up, and one day of instability seems to be all we’ve got.
Yeah I agree I was part trolling part serious. I don’t think 48% are complete idiots, I’m just painting with a general brush. Same way I don’t think the other 52% are geniuses, I’m sure there are plenty people who voted leave cos imigrents! But generally I see it as common sense trumping naive ideals.
I wouldn’t worry about your closer friends planning on leaving. From my experience if they’re talking about it, chances are they won’t be going anywhere. I know someone who has been handing his notice in at a supermarket for 10 years, still not got around to it 😆
What do you mean by wondering where to go? As in personally?
Do you all really think Scottish independence is a done deal?
That makes me sad and I’m tempted to feel it’s shortsighted and too early emotionally driven after the long drawn out referendum, but I say all that from across the Atlantic – not really having a good grasp.
Haha no as in the conversation ? I was bored with Brexit talk about a month before the referendum, and now it feels like it should die down but there’s this new stand off between remain and stay that people keep talking about
Alb…I don’t know. The thing about it is that a fairly large chunk of the previous referendum was probably predicated on the idea that Scotland want to get into Europe. It was the primary driving forced AFTER they theoretically would have left, and we figured that they had the common sense to stay overall. But now it’s revealed Scotland were overwhelmingly for Europe, even as a complete non Scot, I still see that previous referendum as expired. A large part of the stay vote in that ref would have been predicated on us already being in Europe. Now there’s no longer truth.
Fight Roger! Fight!
Although it will be very tough. I just don’t want to give up.. Just think positive.God only knows what will happen.. 🙂
Lets fight with him!! 🙂
All this talk about Brexit makes me thing we should have a #Fedexit vote. Cast your votes, good people: –
Referendum on Roger Federer’s participation in tennis after Rio 2016.
Should Roger Federer continue playing professional tennis after Rio 2016, regardless of the results?
[ ] Remain a professional tennis player.
[ ] Leave tennis for good. Admit that Djokovic is the better player.
Haha awesome. I’ve put it on Twitter. https://twitter.com/peRFectTennisUK/status/746742878022606848
I wonder if people will vote leave but then say they made a mistake? I am thinking the majority will say remain, but residents of Nova Djokia will say leave.
Definitely in camp stay. He’s probably only gonna play three matches from now until Rio ?
Remain.
Hahaha! I see “Remain” has 87% of the vote. No need for a Regrexit. 🙂
Why did you shut down voting though?
Closer than I thought on my other poll – https://twitter.com/peRFectTennisUK/status/746712353987780608
So your great leave-leader Nigel Farage said, before the vote, that if remain prevailed 52-48 that there should be another vote as that was not a clear indication of what the people wanted. So for some idiotic reason the leavers prevailed, by the very same vote, and that doesn’t warrant another vote? Great logic. This vote was all about immigration and the insane fear that idiots like Farage and LePen in France and other lunatic fringe around Europe have been spreading like a cancer for decades now. Drumpf here in the US is an offshoot of that. Again, phrases like “that mayor” are clear what they stand for. Take back our country is another one. Shameful.
Who cares what Farage said? He wouldn’t have got a second referendum in a million years. Ultimately the people have spoken and leave won.
I don’t think you understand the issues or the problems facing Europe at all. Drumpf as you call him is much more switched on.
Alan, what’s wrong with “Take back our country”? It’s way better than “Change we can believe in”. Sure, like the change we can believe in 10 years for social security. Kiss that SS tax goodbye. Keep diminishing the dollar value by printing more. Reduce the wages and living standards of hard working people by passing executive orders to protect freeloaders.
This country needs to be taken back. Not that it’s going to happen, not with those Clit licking millionaires splurging cash. Get ready for a BOTUS! (and you know exactly what that means).
Superb Alex, an inspiring poem. ( Just read it as had not logged in earlier )
Loved the line “his talent never growing old” Iconic. Says so much in so few words. The man may grow old but his talent does not.
Loved the last line too. Totally power-packed, ‘The greatest legend ever to be told’. You bet Alex.
I sincerely hope some one shows it to Fed. He will surely be inspired.
From my side, going to take one match at a time and thus have not looked at the draw.
For the first time since 2003, Fed will be playing against himself rather than the guy across the net.
Hope springs eternal.
I gotta say when this site gets political it is a real turn-off. Suggesting people take that talk elsewhere…Otherwise many of us will go elsewhere…
Emily, don’t look at the comments in an emotional way. We all need a sense of humour in this world. Think of the crap people have said about Roger throughout the years and I’m sure he has read a lot of it. He’s not trying to get anyone to like him. He remains positive and funny amidst the garbage.
That’s one of the reasons we love him.
I quite agree.
Getting rather concerned about the speculation about Roger’s back … 🙁
What speculation. Was he not watching the Swiss play soccer instead of practice?
I actually like when it goes off topic sometimes. It’s a useful filler when there’s little to discuss about Roger, such as during his injury, and it also shows how much of a community we are.
Pella no push over in the 1st set so far.
And a pretty rusty Rog.
And I noticed for the first time: Roger kind of has big feet.
Heading to a 1st set TB against Pella!!
1st set to Fed 76(5)
Holy crap.
too close for comfort.
Flashes of Sergy gving me heart palpatations.
NO ACES from Fed in a 7-6 set!!
Something is up!
Rog has forgotten how to break – yet again – hasn’t he.
Fed’s serve is starting to warm up. Nice to see.
Yes, and he’s getting better and better in wasting break points. Way to go, dude!
yeah – ZERO for EIGHT!!
Ok – looks like ONE for NINE for the win.
Pella did not play poor at all though. He was inspired. 23 and 11/ winners to errors.
It’s 1:30 AM here and that’s one crazy 1 st round match I have seen from Sir FED. 3 set was brilliant. Pure Class. Some passing shots and forehands superb. Good work except for the BP conversion