Noventi Open / Halle, Germany, ATP 500, 2019

[Moxie]

…..fixed

#slanderoustrash. You're such a weasel.

 

[mrzz]

GSM and others, being a Federer fan, what do you think about Roger's form going into Wimbledon? Are we in for a great Wimbledon with the Big 3 all cracking?

I have seen five or six sets from Federer in this tournament, plus the obvious highlights. With a cooler head, I guess I can give an "A-" grade for his performance. In the end, he won it, was broken only three times the entire tournament, and managed to beat players playing real good tennis. The grass was not particularly fast -- I don't think it was much different from Wimbledon, which is good (in a warm up sense). Those are the facts on the ground.

Now, the bad parts: He was not able to sustain a good level of play in most of his matches. On the plus side, he did not panic, an actually was able to keep the score close even when he was playing quite bad. He raised his level when he needed to and the guy on the other side of the net could not do the same (or even keep his), which is fine.

His serve was good enough -- being broken three times in five matches is not a bad number. First serve seemed to desert him at times, but the old clutch serve to get out of jail was still there. Second serve is ok, but his "safe" kick serve to the opponents back hand was not working that well, specially on the add court. He adjusted that to some extent on the final match.

RoS is strangest thing in the universe -- and it must be madding to play against him. At some stretches, he returns like sh!t, the guy on the other side could use lazy underarm serves and he still would miss the return. The odd thing is that he misses a good deal of them just trying to put the ball back in court. Then all of a sudden he connects some absurd returns, plays a perfect return game, and breaks. On this particular tournament, though, the "bad" stretches returning serve seemed to last forever.

Net game is still head and shoulders above the rest of the field. He does on aggressive charges what other players do on opportunistic approaches. At times it seems that he charges just to much, but the numbers show it is paying off. Besides, it puts a lot of pressure on the adversary and induces a lot of errors.

Translating this to Wimbledon, it is easy to see him stumble. However, when playing well, I don't see anyone not even close (on grass at the moment). The problem is that he cannot keep the high level for much more than a set. I think he needs a good draw in Wimbledon to have a chance, and by "good" and don't mean "easy". I think the best thing that could happen to him is to be tested at R3 or R4, and of course, manage to stay as little as possible in court. In other words, he can still beat anyone on grass -- but it seems the opposite is also true.

 

[Federberg]

I have seen five or six sets from Federer in this tournament, plus the obvious highlights. With a cooler head, I guess I can give an "A-" grade for his performance. In the end, he won it, was broken only three times the entire tournament, and managed to beat players playing real good tennis. The grass was not particularly fast -- I don't think it was much different from Wimbledon, which is good (in a warm up sense). Those are the facts on the ground.

Now, the bad parts: He was not able to sustain a good level of play in most of his matches. On the plus side, he did not panic, an actually was able to keep the score close even when he was playing quite bad. He raised his level when he needed to and the guy on the other side of the net could not do the same (or even keep his), which is fine.

His serve was good enough -- being broken three times in five matches is not a bad number. First serve seemed to desert him at times, but the old clutch serve to get out of jail was still there. Second serve is ok, but his "safe" kick serve to the opponents back hand was not working that well, specially on the add court. He adjusted that to some extent on the final match.

RoS is strangest thing in the universe -- and it must be madding to play against him. At some stretches, he returns like sh!t, the guy on the other side could use lazy underarm serves and he still would miss the return. The odd thing is that he misses a good deal of them just trying to put the ball back in court. Then all of a sudden he connects some absurd returns, plays a perfect return game, and breaks. On this particular tournament, though, the "bad" stretches returning serve seemed to last forever.

Net game is still head and shoulders above the rest of the field. He does on aggressive charges what other players do on opportunistic approaches. At times it seems that he charges just to much, but the numbers show it is paying off. Besides, it puts a lot of pressure on the adversary and induces a lot of errors.

Translating this to Wimbledon, it is easy to see him stumble. However, when playing well, I don't see anyone not even close (on grass at the moment). The problem is that he cannot keep the high level for much more than a set. I think he needs a good draw in Wimbledon to have a chance, and by "good" and don't mean "easy". I think the best thing that could happen to him is to be tested at R3 or R4, and of course, manage to stay as little as possible in court. In other words, he can still beat anyone on grass -- but it seems the opposite is also true.

I would just add they need to play the man early on No. 1 Court early this time. Let's get that nonsense out of the way so that in the 2nd week he'll know he's playing in his office all the way thru...

 

[brokenshoelace]

Wait, is someone seriously arguing that defense has been the main key to Roger's success?

Serious question, how can you watch tennis for literally 30 years and still be an idiot about it?

 

[Federberg]

Wait, is someone seriously arguing that defense has been the main key to Roger's success?

Serious question, how can you watch tennis for literally 30 years and still be an idiot about it?

I'm so relieved someone actually pointed that out! I didn't want to be the one to do it as I know the poster would have accused me of specifically going after them. We've all seen dumb comments on this forum, this surely has to be in the top 10

 

[GameSetAndMath]

I'm so relieved someone actually pointed that out! I didn't want to be the one to do it as I know the poster would have accused me of specifically going after them. We've all seen dumb comments on this forum, this surely has to be in the top 1

fixed.

 

[Federberg]

fixed.

 

[monfed]

Wait, is someone seriously arguing that defense has been the main key to Roger's success?

Serious question, how can you watch tennis for literally 30 years and still be an idiot about it?

It's not the main key but it is an underrated part of his game. Prime Fed's defense was second only to Nadal's.

Remember his Wim 08 BH DTL to save championship point in the breaker? How many players can pull that off with so much on the line? You don't have to grunt and grind to be a good defensive player. A good offensive player can play good defence when the situation calls for it.

 

[brokenshoelace]

It's not the main key but it is an underrated part of his game. Prime Fed's defense was second only to Nadal's.

Remember his Wim 08 BH DTL to save championship point in the breaker? How many players can pull that off with so much on the line? You don't have to grunt and grind to be a good defensive player. A good offensive player can play defence when the situation calls for it.

It's a very important aspect of his game and it's also part of what made him such a nightmare match-up to guys like Safin, Davydenko, Blake, etc... from his own generation. It's not JUST that he can match them and outplay them blow for blow, he could also counter-punch, turn rallies around, hit passing shots, etc... Roger's defensive lobs are probably the most underrated aspect of his game.

But to claim his defense is the reason he's won 20 majors is ludicrous.

 

[mrzz]

But to claim his defense is the reason he's won 20 majors is ludicrous.

Of course it is. Everyone knows is Myrka's yelling in the box.

 

[don_fabio]

Just writing this to brag a little how I nailed that Halle draw challenge Only 6 incorrect picks, 25 correct, 80.6% score made me first in our group, but only 45th overall (3rd highest in the amount of correct picks), because I screwed up the bottom half QF and SF. Some of those guys are insanely good in predicting or just lucky or a bit of both. Don't know, but most of them got correct Berrettini over Khachanov, and then Goffin all the way to the final.

On the other hand I completely sucked at with Queens draw, backing up that Kyrgios looney Btw he got a 14 000 $ fine for his unsportsman like behaviour in Queens.