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Congrats Nadal!
Now maybe he and Federer both can retire so that mens tennis is not so dammed predictable. Those 2 can be penciled in for every tournament. It's getting a bit boring.
I miss the days of Tennis truly being great. Watching Connors, McEnroe, Becker, Lendel, Borg, Wilander, Nastase, Gueralitis, Edberg, Cash. So much compe ion. Different styles of play. Players with great personalities. Todays tennis is pathetic compared to the game I grew up on.
Congrats Nadal!
oh wow
props to nadal but I really wanted Federer to come back!
Roger Federer era is officially OVER...and in his own words, "This one hurt"
Why is it over, he is not retiring tomorrow. He has won 4 US open les in a row heading into this years open where Nadal has never fared very well. He'll be back, an epic back and forth 5 set match that could have gone either way, is the hardly the end of an era.
Roger Federer era is officially OVER...and in his own words, "This one hurt"
You just watched one of the greatest finals in the history of tennis and you're whining about the olden days?
Now maybe he and Federer both can retire so that mens tennis is not so dammed predictable. Those 2 can be penciled in for every tournament. It's getting a bit boring.
I miss the days of Tennis truly being great. Watching Connors, McEnroe, Becker, Lendel, Borg, Wilander, Nastase, Gueralitis, Edberg, Cash. So much compe ion. Different styles of play. Players with great personalities. Todays tennis is pathetic compared to the game I grew up on.
I'm just glad we've left the desert of Roger Federer's invincibility and have a compelling rivalry now.
Meaning his era of complete dominance is over. His whatever amt of weeks as #1 will now be over soon with this loss. Do you realize until this year the guy lost on average 8 tournaments a year? This year, he already has that much. Not to mention, he's now either failed to reach or lost in the last three grand slams (Aussie Open, French Open, and now Wimbledon).
Don't get me wrong, I do still believe that he's going to catch Sampras's record of 14. I also still believe that Men's tennis is still basically a 3 way game between Djokovic, Federer, and Nadal. That being said, I think the problem we saw is that Federer has peaked, he can't exactly get any better than he is at now. Meanwhile, he's two closest compe ors have gotten a lot better over the last year or so.
Grass is Federer's by far strongest court, yet Nadal came in here and knocked him out and that was against Federer's best.
I will say this, I think it's high time Federer hired a coach. What do you guys think?
Wow incredible match. I've been watching tennis a long time and that has to be 1 of the best I've ever seen. Congrats Rafa, he never gave up. I'm very happy he wonI was sick of Rog winning every year. I missed the end b/c of the stupid rain(the new roof can't come soon enough for me) and I had to work but they're reshowing it on ESPNclassic tomorrow night so hopefully I can catch the end. It's been a great week for Spain.
I think the Federer era might be over also. I'm not saying he won't anymore majors but Rafa knows he can beat him and the momentum has swung. It remind me a lot of the Borg-McEnroe rivalry. Borg knew in his heart that his domination had ended so he walked away. Federer won't but I seriously doubt he will ever win the French now and his best chance will be the USOpen.
They both played so well though it's a shame someone has to lose. I loved the fact that Rafa even went out to sign autographs after the match when he must have been exhausted. I said Rafa and Venus would win and I'm not right very often so I'll enjoy it.
Well watching this match today i knew that if Roger won the media would all say, "The best ever pulled it out again what a performance" and if he lost they would say "It is the end of his era". I really think Roger is fine. Yes you are right about this season not being as great as his others however he started the year sick with Mono and i think if he was healthy he would have won the Aussie Open again. He probably won't win the French although i think it is a stretch to think Nadal will win 3 or 4 more in a row there, he is going to get beat eventually. Nadal played about as well as he could play in that match and Roger for the first 2 sets really didn't. He could have won that in 4 sets today, he blew that 2nd set big time and he had tons of chances to finish off Nadal in that 5th set. I really feel he will win the US open as he will be insanely motivated to do so and end his year on a high note. Nadal as great as he is still has a lot to prove on the hard courts where his game i feel does not translate well. I also don't see him having a long career because of his physical style of play, he already at age 22 is having knee problems. I think with a little coaching and a few changes Roger can get back to dominating the majors next year. He's only 26, Pete won his last one at age 31.
Yes he really needs a full time coach now and there are plenty of great candidates out there for him to hire. Maybe he should talk to Brad Gilbert or even Pete Sampras old coach Paul Annacone. He needs someone with him full time, i think he should concede to that as it should be beneficial.
Yea, I definitely feel like he's getting a little too stubborn and set in his ways to adjust to other players he's facing.
Though I just think Nadal is just a bad matchup for him, period. His superior athleticism, strength, and quickness is not something a lot of other players in Men's tennis have. Federer's game is based more on finess and smoothness. I couldn't tell you how many forehand corner winners I saw from Federer today that against ANYONE else would have been winners, but against a guy as quick and strong as Nadal, they ended up as another shot in a volley. Nadal was just all over the court today. Crazy!
Well, I think it's going to be hard for him to go back to dominating the majors. You know that as long as Nadal is healthy for the French, that's one major Federer almost has no chance of winning. Also, you have to wonder about the mental affects not just this Wimbledon loss, but the embarassing French Open loss has on Federer.
I will say that I absolutely loved Federer's sportsmanship and Nadal's humility that they showed after the match for eachother. Novak could learn a little something from them.
i was a little confused about Federer not serving and volleying more, kinda played into Nadal's strength. Either way, with Federer serving that poorly it was just a matter of time. Looked like he just ran out of gas.
Great match! I think Roger is in decline now which is a good thing for me. I have a tennis ball autographed by Andre Agassi and it wouldn't be worth as much if Roger were to win the French.
Uh....
Federer hired Jose Higueras earlier this year I believe.
Yes but it was just for the French i think. He seems to be stubborn about his game and probably does not love taking advice on how to attack his opponents Can't really blame him he has 12 GS les. I think he needs to make some changes and a full time coach that he trusts should be one of them. A fresh perspective may be needed.
I also think that Federer may need a coach. The amount of unforced errors he was hitting was staggering. I will also say one other thing....
Not to rain on Nadal's parade, as his forehand winners were a thing of beauty, but considering he only got broken ONCE the entire match, it's pretty remarkable on Federer's behalf to push the game for as long as he did. I can see why people feel that Federer is in decline, but let's not forget that he had a brutal stomach virus prior to the Australian open, and that like 1Parker1 said back on page 1, Nadal is arguably the greatest clay court player this sport has ever seen. Of the last 17 Grand Slams, Roger has never done worse than the semi-finals. Meaning, he's almost ALWAYS going to be there in the end.
Mark my words, Federer will win the US Open. I think Nadal has narrowed the gap tremendously after today's epic win (some would say he's overtaken Roger, but I'll see after the US Open), but I would still take Federer on any surface that isn't clay.
It took Nadal the performance of his lifetime to beat Federer who had his worst non-clay finals appearance....yet he still took it to 5 sets and pushed the final set to 9 games. I hope this loss haunts Federer for a long time to come. Maybe he got too bored/relaxed dominating the sport so thoroughly. Now that Nadal has gotten the #1 ranking, Federer should come back guns blazing in the next grand slam.
Really? I actually thought Federer's serve was what ended up keeping him in the game for so long. I just was very surprised by how excellent Nadal's service game was today...I definitely didn't expect that and I think that's a big reason why he was able to win. The service game was supposed to be one of the things that gave Federer the edge of Nadal on grass, but Nadal ended up pretty much matching him on % points there.
Federer's inability to break Nadal's serve is what cost him, plus I think Nadal's sheer strength and athletic advantage over Federer. Also his backhand was shaky at best at certain points, and he seemed to hesitate on going around and hitting a forehand or just slicing it with his backhand at some points and that cost him some points early on in the 1st and 2nd sets.
Fun match to watch, even if you're like me and don't really follow tennis.
I don't think Nadal is a better athlete than Roger. He is bigger but he doesn't strike the ball harder, Roger has the bigger forehand and Nadal has the bigger backhand. Roger consistantly strikes the ball harder and gets it in much more consistant than Nadal on serve. His serve is also more versatile, he can hit the lines on the slice out wide or right up the middle more consistantly. From what i have seen Roger has better hand eye coordination. They both move like cats out there, running down countless balls it is insane. Nadal is more physical the way he likes to grind points out but Roger has a feel for the game like nobody i have ever seen. That is one of the reasons Nadal is not as of yet a great hard court player, winning US Opens. Grinding pts out on the hard stuff really takes it's toll in a best of 5 set grand slam at the end of the season. On the Clay, he gives Roger so much trouble because he has that big time Western forehand grip and he goes after the Roger backhand over and over again and it bounces so high, Roger finds himself in too many defensive positions. The grass, he does not have the edge as much as the ball stays far lower, but it still skids off the surface a lot, and Nadal has learned how to play a more consistant game at the baseline on the grass, going for less, picking and choosing his spots to attack. When he attacks, the only one that can handle it and beat him 3 sets is Roger. Nobody else has the stamina or shotmaking ability to do it right now. Nadal also is starting to go for more on his serve. However Roger's game is still better suited for grass dominance. He serves bigger and is just as great a shotmaker as Nadal. Maybe not on the dead run, but in a normal paced rally he is as good or better at finding the angles and putting shots away or getting his man on the defensive. He also is much better at net, something he needed to use more of today. I feel like Roger let this get away, he should have had the 2nd set, and he did not cash in on countless break pt chances. I don't think Nadal is better than him on grass, i feel if given the chance to play again next year, Roger will avenge this loss.
What has happened to Federer? He was really dominate until this year now its all Nadal.
Nothing really has happened to him, he lost a match today that he easily could have won. The French Open, Nadal is probably the best of all time on clay, so that was expected he would lose there. Roger is still the best hard court player in the world, 4 times in a row US open champ. He will win the US open and get back on track, he still has a lot left. I still think Federer can win 17 or 18 GS les.
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