Rome Masters 2013 (Internazionali BNL d'Italia)

[Moxie]

Djokovic v. Federer in the final....mark it down as Cali's prediction.

Play the draw challenge, and we won't even have to mark it down.

 

[Front242]

Gonna have to be one hell of a transformation in Fed's play for that to happen, cali. Way he's playing now Tommy Haas or even Dimitrov (unless he cramps up) will mangle him.

 

[herios]

Qualified into the main draw: Berlocq, Gulbis, Montanes, Kuznetsov, Golubev, Hajek

---

Gonna have to be one hell of a transformation in Fed's play for that to happen, cali. Way he's playing now Tommy Haas or even Dimitrov (unless he cramps up) will mangle him.

You have to be more optimistic than that.

---

And Milos just split with coach Blanco and remains coachless for the time being, I am wondering why:huh:

 

[calitennis127]

Gonna have to be one hell of a transformation in Fed's play for that to happen, cali. Way he's playing now Tommy Haas or even Dimitrov (unless he cramps up) will mangle him.

For some players (not many), there is this thing called the switch. Federer is one of them. All he has to do is flip it.

Enjoy the tournament.

 

[tented]

And Milos just split with coach Blanco and remains coachless for the time being, I am wondering why :huh:

That's an odd thing to do right now, in the middle of the clay-court season, with a Spanish coach. He didn't tweet about it, or anything?

 

[brokenshoelace]

Gonna have to be one hell of a transformation in Fed's play for that to happen, cali. Way he's playing now Tommy Haas or even Dimitrov (unless he cramps up) will mangle him.

For some players (not many), there is this thing called the switch. Federer is one of them. All he has to do is flip it.

Enjoy the tournament.

And he willingly hasn't decided to flip it since Cinci of last year. Makes sense.

 

[Front242]

Gonna have to be one hell of a transformation in Fed's play for that to happen, cali. Way he's playing now Tommy Haas or even Dimitrov (unless he cramps up) will mangle him.

For some players (not many), there is this thing called the switch. Federer is one of them. All he has to do is flip it.

Enjoy the tournament.

And he willingly hasn't decided to flip it since Cinci of last year. Makes sense.

LOL yeah, exactly. I mean he loves not defending every tournament he enters just so he can go home to moan to Mirka. Sorry cali but Broken got you there!

 

[calitennis127]

LOL yeah, exactly. I mean he loves not defending every tournament he enters just so he can go home to moan to Mirka. Sorry cali but Broken got you there!

The point here is that if he really wants to make a run to the semis or the final, he can and will do it. That's what I mean by flipping the switch.

---

And he willingly hasn't decided to flip it since Cinci of last year. Makes sense.

If by "flip it" you mean win the tournament, then yes. But losing to Del Potro in a tight 3-set final on a fast hard court or losing to Murray in a 5-setter in the AO semis is not something you do if you're decrepit.

My point is that if he is really motivated, he can make a run to the semis or final of Rome and even possibly win it.

And wouldn't that be something else if this was the year Federer finally won Rome? LOL.

 

[Moxie]

LOL yeah, exactly. I mean he loves not defending every tournament he enters just so he can go home to moan to Mirka. Sorry cali but Broken got you there!

The point here is that if he really wants to make a run to the semis or the final, he can and will do it. That's what I mean by flipping the switch.

---

And he willingly hasn't decided to flip it since Cinci of last year. Makes sense.

If by "flip it" you mean win the tournament, then yes. But losing to Del Potro in a tight 3-set final on a fast hard court or losing to Murray in a 5-setter in the AO semis is not something you do if you're decrepit.

My point is that if he is really motivated, he can make a run to the semis or final of Rome and even possibly win it.

And wouldn't that be something else if this was the year Federer finally won Rome? LOL.

---

In the old days, Roger was like Serena, and able to skip tournaments, then show up and win them. Not so much, anymore. I don't think he can just "flip the switch," these days. Like a lot of his fans, I see the worry that he might not get out of his quarter. Adding Rome, finally to his Masters crowns? That seems a medium-long shot.

 

[brokenshoelace]

LOL yeah, exactly. I mean he loves not defending every tournament he enters just so he can go home to moan to Mirka. Sorry cali but Broken got you there!

The point here is that if he really wants to make a run to the semis or the final, he can and will do it. That's what I mean by flipping the switch.

---

And he willingly hasn't decided to flip it since Cinci of last year. Makes sense.

If by "flip it" you mean win the tournament, then yes. But losing to Del Potro in a tight 3-set final on a fast hard court or losing to Murray in a 5-setter in the AO semis is not something you do if you're decrepit.

My point is that if he is really motivated, he can make a run to the semis or final of Rome and even possibly win it.

And wouldn't that be something else if this was the year Federer finally won Rome? LOL.

---

It's his level in the matches you described, especially the one against Murray in Melbourne that brings the "flipping a switch" argument into question. Federer's level since Cincinnati of last year hasn't been especially good.

 

[Didi]

Speaking of Rome, just found this on youtube, one of the forgotten classics of this era. Nadal vs. Davydenko in the 2007 semi-finals of Rome.
Nadal won 7-6, 6-7 (8-10), 6-4.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRHh_UCm55w

30min of highlights. What a match. Hopefully this upcoming week in Rome delivers another classic.

 

[DarthFed]

LOL yeah, exactly. I mean he loves not defending every tournament he enters just so he can go home to moan to Mirka. Sorry cali but Broken got you there!

The point here is that if he really wants to make a run to the semis or the final, he can and will do it. That's what I mean by flipping the switch.

---

And he willingly hasn't decided to flip it since Cinci of last year. Makes sense.

If by "flip it" you mean win the tournament, then yes. But losing to Del Potro in a tight 3-set final on a fast hard court or losing to Murray in a 5-setter in the AO semis is not something you do if you're decrepit.

My point is that if he is really motivated, he can make a run to the semis or final of Rome and even possibly win it.

And wouldn't that be something else if this was the year Federer finally won Rome? LOL.

---

Losing to DP in an indoor match and Murray in a GS semifinal are not some kind of decent results. And sadly those are his best results aside from a disappointing YEC tournament that saw him lose the final in straight sets.

 

[brokenshoelace]

LOL yeah, exactly. I mean he loves not defending every tournament he enters just so he can go home to moan to Mirka. Sorry cali but Broken got you there!

The point here is that if he really wants to make a run to the semis or the final, he can and will do it. That's what I mean by flipping the switch.

---

And he willingly hasn't decided to flip it since Cinci of last year. Makes sense.

If by "flip it" you mean win the tournament, then yes. But losing to Del Potro in a tight 3-set final on a fast hard court or losing to Murray in a 5-setter in the AO semis is not something you do if you're decrepit.

My point is that if he is really motivated, he can make a run to the semis or final of Rome and even possibly win it.

And wouldn't that be something else if this was the year Federer finally won Rome? LOL.

---

Losing to DP in an indoor match and Murray in a GS semifinal are not some kind of decent results. And sadly those are his best results aside from a disappointing YEC tournament that saw him lose the final in straight sets.

---

Not just that, but the Murray match in particular puts a dent in the "switch" theory as Federer was outplayed throughout the five sets, gassed out at the end, and frankly, he was lucky it went 5. That match was an uphill struggle from the beginning for him. He just wasn't playing well. Tignor's recent article said that Fed showed his age in this match and I agree.

With that said, I wouldn't be surprised if Federer does well in Rome. I must admit that you and other Fed fans acting like he's the underdog against Tommy Haas is a bit of a stretch. Federer may not have a "switch" anymore, but he's hit the practice court hard (by his own admission) and is definitely capable of playing better than he has this year. I expect to start seeing improvement in his game pretty soon.

 

[DarthFed]

LOL yeah, exactly. I mean he loves not defending every tournament he enters just so he can go home to moan to Mirka. Sorry cali but Broken got you there!

The point here is that if he really wants to make a run to the semis or the final, he can and will do it. That's what I mean by flipping the switch.

---

And he willingly hasn't decided to flip it since Cinci of last year. Makes sense.

If by "flip it" you mean win the tournament, then yes. But losing to Del Potro in a tight 3-set final on a fast hard court or losing to Murray in a 5-setter in the AO semis is not something you do if you're decrepit.

My point is that if he is really motivated, he can make a run to the semis or final of Rome and even possibly win it.

And wouldn't that be something else if this was the year Federer finally won Rome? LOL.

---

Losing to DP in an indoor match and Murray in a GS semifinal are not some kind of decent results. And sadly those are his best results aside from a disappointing YEC tournament that saw him lose the final in straight sets.

---

Not just that, but the Murray match in particular puts a dent in the "switch" theory as Federer was outplayed throughout the five sets, gassed out at the end, and frankly, he was lucky it went 5. That match was an uphill struggle from the beginning for him. He just wasn't playing well. Tignor's recent article said that Fed showed his age in this match and I agree.

With that said, I wouldn't be surprised if Federer does well in Rome. I must admit that you and other Fed fans acting like he's the underdog against Tommy Haas is a bit of a stretch. Federer may not have a "switch" anymore, but he's hit the practice court hard (by his own admission) and is definitely capable of playing better than he has this year. I expect to start seeing improvement in his game pretty soon.

---

Just because he said he will practice hard doesn't mean he will, and it also doesn't mean he hadn't been practicing these last 2 months. After such a bad loss last week there was hardly anything else to say.

Saying he would be a favorite vs. Haas right now is to ignore the last few months and to put more stock in older results. People often have trouble separating the name from the current state of the player. Same thing happened with 40 year old Jordan.

Of course Roger is still the better player and will eventually start playing worth a damn but will it be this week on a very slow clay court? I'm not sure but I do know he has played at a considerably lower level than Haas and tons of others since Australia.

 

[herios]

And Milos just split with coach Blanco and remains coachless for the time being, I am wondering why :huh:

That's an odd thing to do right now, in the middle of the clay-court season, with a Spanish coach. He didn't tweet about it, or anything?

No, he didn't. And he has tweeted others stuff, in the mean time. I think something must have gone sour suddenly there, I will try to ind out from his friend I know personally.

 

[Murat B.]

Starchy Potato has beaten Stepanek and has earned the right to play Roger.

 

[herios]

Starcy Potato has beaten Stepanek and has earned the right to play Roger.

When was the last time Roger played such a low ranked player (293)??

 

[Murat B.]

Starcy Potato has beaten Stepanek and has earned the right to play Roger.

When was the last time Roger played such a low ranked player (293)??

After the match , the question will be " When was the last time Roger LOST to such a low ranked player", the way things are going...

 

[herios]

Raonic needs to learn how to play a TB on clay. he is losing them handily to: Nieminen, Verdasco and now Kohli. He is netting the ball casually.

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Raonic needs to learn how to play a TB on clay. he is losing them handily to: Nieminen, Verdasco and now Kohli. He is netting the ball casually.

And Kohli breaks him, which I was expecting. Milos is just looking confident at all.

---

By-bye Milos, see ya next time

 

[huntingyou]

Starcy Potato has beaten Stepanek and has earned the right to play Roger.

When was the last time Roger played such a low ranked player (293)??

After the match , the question will be " When was the last time Roger LOST to such a low ranked player", the way things are going...

If Roger lose this match I will delete my account.