I am not too sad with Fed's semi final loss. RG was never fed's favourite surface. And this will keep him fresh for Wimby. Last year Nadull got lucky with Djoko's loss but this year at least we will be able to see if nadull can beat Nole.

Well if you look at the match, Federer was leading in the first 2 sets, convincingly despite his many UEs. If he had been able to serve and move like he usually does, he would have probably been a very different story. But it is fair to say that Djoko played very poorly in that second set to to find himself a few points from 5/2 down so we have to factor that in as well. At the end an average performance, certainly nothing outstanding from Djoko, was enough to tame Fed in 3 relatively easy sets.

Listening to his interview Federer says he has been struggling the last 2 weeks as we could certainly see.

In the IW semi versus v Nadal he plays really well despite teh wind and Nadal spinny shots which are much more difficult to handle for Fed than Djoko's.

Yesterday 46UEs in 3 sets is really well over his typical form.

Though I agree watching Federer win is great, watching Federer lose tamely can be more annoying than his wins can be enjoyable. When he is not 100% watching Nadal making him look like a walking albatros (like he did in that 2008 final) is simply too ugly watch.

In that respect I want Djoko to try to give Nadal a match on Sunday, and possibly a very long 5 setter I won't be watching as I have a lunch outside.

I always feel that if Fed had lost that close match in Rome 2006 semis to Nalbandian and thereby avoided that heart breaking loss to Nadal in the finals, perhaps he would have won RG in that year itself. Nadal's losses to other players than Fed definitely worked in Nadal's favor in the long run when facing Fed. So in that regard, I too hope it was for the better.

The last thing I wanted was a complete broken game fallen totally apart like that in 2008 RG finals.

So my question is: Are you happy as a fed-fan that Federer lost yesterday
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What a ridiculous question.

The were moments in the first two sets where Federer was playing purely on instinct and had the upper hand. Whenever it got to crunch moments, particularly the end of the second, he tightened just a bit and gave away the lead. It seemed that whenever those moments came that required something of an overview of the match or a strategy, he lost the spontaneity that allowed him to out-manoeuvre Novak with inspired shot-making.
Some might call that choking or bottling it, but really, I don't think Roger looked in great condition. He looked as though he might be on the verge of going the way of Nalbandian in terms of fitness. Let's hope he doesn't look as though he'll be giving birth to the next Federer baby rather than Mirka by Wimbledon.

Jonty you are starting to become a wum. Do better that this please.

raiders, does sum stand for 'person who points out other people asking ridiculous questions'?

Seriously, was your question genuine or designed to wind someone up?

I mean seriously, what answer do you expect Fed fans to give you if you ask them are they happy that he lost?

Come on, what answer do you expect?

My conversation is closed with with you jonty.

Great, gives me a chance to focus on more important things.

Told you rotla he was wum.

Using words such as "lying" cause Federer might be keeping his physical problems to himself is simply wumming.

Besides you won't learn anything from him. He still thinks tennis is a mind game at the top....despite the 4th successive final between the 2 fittest players on tour!

tenez can i ask you something?

in the future how will players be able to overcome nadal and novak?
will teenagers now be attempting to match or better them physically, making the game even more physical?
will they start recruiting basketball players who have power, height (obvs) and speed to outhit them?

Do you think they will eventually speed up the courts?

will future players be better and more talented than the likes of feds, dolgo, nalby etc and be able to paint the lines with more frequency and less UE's? surely not right.

Tenez, Jonty is not a wum. He has not understood the post (maybe).
Jonty, I am a fedfan and I am not too unhappy with his RG loss as I wanted him to lose in the semi so Djoko can have a go at Nadull. I hope this explains your query.

Fed hasn't started playing last year for fans not to be happy with his performance. yesterday was a silly loss but I did not expect Fed to win RG, only wished he could get to the Final and keep his points.

He looked as though he might be on the verge of going the way of Nalbandian in terms of fitness. Let's hope he doesn't look as though he'll be giving birth to the next Federer baby rather than Mirka by Wimbledon.
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It's bizarre that after a long run of great tennis from USO11 (included) to IW12 (6 months) his tennis can reach such lows.

He was playing well in Madrid but he did not have to move much. Like yesterday he could pull winners with a stroke as no-one was going to run for those shots in that slippery surface. So it might not be a good indication of his Madrid form. There it was difficult to assess mouvement cause mouvement was difficult. However his tennis was very ordinary yesterday bar the beautiful shots he will always pull.

I just hope the problem he has is due to his 5 weeks rest and the sudden return to brutal tennis, including on a slippery surface, but it might simply be the back problem recurring more and more often with age.

in the future how will players be able to overcome nadal and novak?
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LEEDS - we can see already that whatever the conds of the future, new players will find a way to hit through those players.

Raonic, delpotro, dolgo, Harison and others we don't know yet are already on their way to create upsets. Not all will succeed but they will get there before Djoko and Nadal decline. They will get used to that game and find the weapons to defeat it. When Federer was dominating, I thought he would win 30 GS and noone was going to stop him bar injury...but very quickly we saw that the new gfeneration started to work so hard physically that his winners became retrievable and more so that Nadal was able to send him such a poweful spinny ball that destroyed Fed's crafty play and timing making Fed play badly.

There is always a solution to the dominating player. The youngsters have teh advantage to train their reflexes and game in harder, tougher conditions that the people at the top were and that gives them a clear advantage.

While we will have players like Rao, Delpo Dolgo able to hit through some those current players, otherswill becomes better retireving versions than Djoko and Nadal to also give Rao and his peers a very tough opposition. Tomic can be seen as a possible better retrier than Djoko ever will be.

In short I don't know who will be dominating in 2 years but I know it won't be Nadal and Djokovic, certainly not as much as now. And i maintain that the FO is not a good reflection of the current status with those slow balls, faster conditions might see Nadal and Djoko lose earlier in the remaining slams.

thanks man .
so with the way you seeing tennis going to you is that good or bad? good perhaps if people can hit through the retrievers that may be a good thing.

do you think anyone will be more talented than feds ? say no please

do you think anyone will be more talented than feds ? say no please
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I am certainly hoping some will be more talented than Federer. If anything that's the only thing that will keep me watching tennis the game. I don;t want to see ace machines v retrievers for the rest of my life.

I want to see a varied, complete game with creativity in it. I am sure someone else will come along with that extra special talent again that federer has. I just hope it won't take another 100 years!

haha i guess you are right. i just want someone to explode onto the scene as atm i dont think the current youngsters are good enough but its early days.

I do not see any more talented younger than Roger at this moment. But what is not now ceirtainly will happen.Just thinking how many GS wins would Roger have had if he had played double handed BH? Not easy to answer if this would have helped him to win more GS. Anyway he won nearly all GS except RG with his SHBH.

If Fed had played DHBH, his back will most likely have given way earlier....but I see what you mean.

He would probably have had shorter carier but a little bit more wins. Agassi was in this regard exceptional but he had a break which helped him to longevity.
Tenez, what do you think about match progress for tomorrow?
Do you think that Nole can resist to Nadull physicallity?

@Just thinking how many GS wins would Roger have had if he had played double handed BH?
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Fed once said he is so successful as a player because he has a SHBH. And I agree. DHBH is certainly more stable and better to combat the relentless-attack-to-draw-error game, but that works mainly on slow surfaces. SHBH has such range and variety that on even moderately fast pace surfaces and balls, it can hit winners from anywhere much before a CC DHBH or a lefty's spinny forehand can even get a look.

New racquet and string technology have assisted power play, and SHBH is certainly not as powerful as DHBH. So thats why its getting difficult for SHBH players.

@He would probably have had shorter carier but a little bit more wins.
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Till a DHBH player goes more successful than Fed, I won't believe it.

There is nothing wrong with Roger´s SHBH. Just only imagine his this DH shot on the clay. He could have had a couple more RG wins, probably. I think that Roger was the last who has won RG with SHBH, no chance to win it with this anymore.

@Tenez, what do you think about match progress for tomorrow?
Do you think that Nole can resist to Nadull physicallity?
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If I may try to put some points here paulcz . Djokovic certainly can resist Nadal's physicality and even go a step ahead. He did it in the last 3 slam finals. He atm he looks not what he was last year. He won yesterday but he didn't play anything special, he didn't have to do much, Fed was already on a self destruction mode with those errors. That level certainly won't win against Nadal who doesn't give many errors. He really needs to up his level and play exactly the way he did in AO finals. Play the attrition game, don't try to hit winners, but try to draw errors instead after a long rally. Make aggressive returns to Nadal's feet continuously; Nadal certainly will error out . Make the game as physical as it can get. The longer the match goes, its advantage Djokovic. If this match goes in the the 5th hour, Dj's chances will be huge to win.


Make the media and the RG organizers have a record to talk about "The longest final in RG histroy".