Is there any good news to Fed losing in the 4th round?

[Star1054]

He surely avoided what would have been his worse loss ever to Nadal.

 

[Front242]

No there isn't. No loss could be worse than his RG '08 performance and he actually was likely to play better against Nadal than he would against Robredo. He played his best match of the year in months against him in Cincy.

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

yes..he will move up to a larger racquet for good now..

 

[Asmodeus]

He surely avoided what would have been his worse loss ever to Nadal.

This is silly! You can't make a broad statement that his performance against Tommy would have resulted in an equally bad performance against Nadal when the last three matches he played were actually pretty good.

I think Fed said it right yesterday, not to diminish Tommy's performance, that he beat himself. Once again his ROS and breakpoint conversions were horrible.

So, I doubt it would have been his worse performance against Nadal and I suspect that he could have been Nadal's toughest test so far. However, back to your point, it is hard to speculate on things that never happened.

 

[brokenshoelace]

No there isn't. Listen, the whole "better lose to someone else than to Nadal again" may have been relevant a few years ago, when any loss to Nadal could have really damaged Roger's confidence. At this point though, he's lost to him enough times already that it doesn't matter, especially with Roger being 32 years old. It's not like Federer doesn't know that Nadal is younger and just a flat out better player at this stage in their respective careers.

I would say a loss to Robredo is far more damaging to his confidence, as it's not a case of Federer losing to one of the best players in the world.

 

[Mog]

I would say a loss to Robredo is far more damaging to his confidence, as it's not a case of Federer losing to one of the best players in the world.

True.
I would put it " Roger lost it badly"

 

[shawnbm]

Actually, no--other than he can now take time to devote himself to either a lot more hard training or a larger racquet that he sticks with--or both. I said a few years ago that if Roger got to the point of losing before the quarterfinals to far less accomplished players or ones he used to own, that would--for me--be a sign that he clearly in decline and would likely never scale the mountaintop again. I think we have reached that point. Might he grab another big one? I still say yes, as he could catch fire and burn through a whole lot of top players. Confidence is a funny thing; really, it is everything in top level tennis.

 

[Ricardo]

No, losing to someone he always owned is far worse than losing to one of the best players to ever play the game. All this "Fed lost early so he could avoid Nadal" is nonsense, and frankly this loser attitude is only good for the few losers who buy this sort of crap.

Fed never avoided Nadal, if he did he would've lost early like crazy or not even enter those clay events - which make up the bulk of his losses against Nadal. Just looking into past events, he was there to play almost all of the major clay events even knowing Nadal was likely gonna beat him time and again.

 

[DarthFed]

Not a single good thing comes out of this. He is falling farther and farther back which makes it tough (not impossible) to ever recover good form.

 

[Star1054]

He surely avoided what would have been his worse loss ever to Nadal.

This is silly! You can't make a broad statement that his performance against Tommy would have resulted in an equally bad performance against Nadal when the last three matches he played were actually pretty good.

I think Fed said it right yesterday, not to diminish Tommy's performance, that he beat himself. Once again his ROS and breakpoint conversions were horrible.

So, I doubt it would have been his worse performance against Nadal and I suspect that he could have been Nadal's toughest test so far. However, back to your point, it is hard to speculate on things that never happened.

I was thinking this more so during the 3rd set.....that if fed did come back and win (it would take 5 sets). And what would he have left in the tank for Nadal after that.

 

[August]

yes..he will move up to a larger racquet for good now..

I think he should now give another try for the larger racquet for the rest of the season. If it doesn't still work out, then go back to the old racquet at pre-AO events. (Won't he play Brisbane?)

 

[the AntiPusher]

Nope...Fed is going to have to take a break, switch to the larger frame racket.. reassess his relationship with PA and his training staff.. Fed is rushing his shots when he has been tardy with his footwork. The only thing good is that he gets to spend more time with his family and his outside commitments but for tennis , not a damn good loosing to Tommy R.

 

[Moxie]

Nope...Fed is going to have to take a break, switch to the larger frame racket.. reassess his relationship with PA and his training staff.. Fed is rushing his shots when he has been tardy with his footwork. The only thing good is that he gets to spend more time with his family and his outside commitments but for tennis , not a damn good loosing to Tommy R.

I agree that Roger needs a shake-up in his camp, and a Lendl-like mentor/coach in his camp to get him through this next stage. Annacone seems to willing to just let "Federer be Federer," even when that's not working the way it once did. Roger needs to learn to muck in an get his hands dirty, and he needs someone who can talk him through it. Like everyone, I was shocked by the Robredo win yesterday, but what shocked me most was that Roger couldn't even muster enough fight to win one set. It's not just his tennis...he needs an attitude change. Pretty tennis isn't everything.

 

[Ricardo]

Nope...Fed is going to have to take a break, switch to the larger frame racket.. reassess his relationship with PA and his training staff.. Fed is rushing his shots when he has been tardy with his footwork. The only thing good is that he gets to spend more time with his family and his outside commitments but for tennis , not a damn good loosing to Tommy R.

I agree that Roger needs a shake-up in his camp, and a Lendl-like mentor/coach in his camp to get him through this next stage. Annacone seems to willing to just let "Federer be Federer," even when that's not working the way it once did. Roger needs to learn to muck in an get his hands dirty, and he needs someone who can talk him through it. Like everyone, I was shocked by the Robredo win yesterday, but what shocked me most was that Roger couldn't even muster enough fight to win one set. It's not just his tennis...he needs an attitude change. Pretty tennis isn't everything.

Pretty tennis? wow that's quite insulting (a hint of hatred i can smell), i don't see how any player would even care about 'being pretty' when it's all about winning that counts. Fed said a few weeks ago that his level was too low, at no stage did anyone even think about the 'prettiness' of his tennis.

 

[El Dude]

The good news is that he didn't lose in the 2R. OK, I'm joking.

I agree, there is no good news. Or maybe there will be good news if this makes Roger decide to take a break and go on a spiritual journey or something and come back refreshed in 2014.

Pretty tennis? wow that's quite insulting (a hint of dislike i can smell), i don't see how any player would even care about 'being pretty' when it's all about winning that counts. Fed said a few weeks ago that his level was too low, at no stage did anyone even think about the 'prettiness' of his tennis.

I'm going to have to disagree with you there, ricardo. I was talking to one of my colleagues today who used to coach tennis and play at the collegiate level. We were commiserating about Roger's rapid decline. He said something I found interesting: "He's so beautiful to watch that I hope he sticks around for the young guns to see."

Roger's a living legend. He's the greatest player of the Open Era* and one of the very best players in the history of the game. The "prettiness" of his game is part of his greatness because it expresses his greatness. He's made shots that no one makes, and I mean no one. He moves with a grace that no other player (that I've seen) has equaled. As my colleague said, as much as it pains me to see him fall so far and quickly, he's still a wonder to behold.

 

[Moxie]

^ In fairness to ricardo, Dude, I think he's in favor of the beauty of it and was only reacting to what he felt was me sneering at it. I don't, actually, sneer at it. When it's on, it is a sight to behold. I was just saying that maybe it's time to stop being so sure of his "A-game," which seems to be failing him too often, and learn to get into the trenches and scrap a bit more.