Australian Open thread

[ace3g]

Roger just couldn't serve the entire match, I've never seen that from him before usually it is his forehand or backhand that gives him trouble, I think the attempt to get that 14th is really getting to him, it seemed like he might of had a speech ready and that is why he was disappointed at the stand, because he has to wait now atleast one more final...

[Purple & Gold]

Wow I've never seen a break down like that. And I'm not even talking about him crying. I understand how emotional this is for him and this could be possibly devastating for him. That last game was one of the worst I've seen. Roger basically gave away 2 sets. And big props to Rafa for letting Roger speak. He's a great champion and proved me wrong. I still thinks he needs to work on his serve a bit, but damn does he mentally break down players though. Two truly great Champions with all the class in the World. I hope this isn't the last we see of Federer cause this loss can be the types that end careers.

Again big props to Rafa for a great and gracious victory

[Purple & Gold]

Roger just couldn't serve the entire match, I've never seen that from him before usually it is his forehand or backhand that gives him trouble, I think the attempt to get that 14th is really getting to him, it seemed like he might of had a speech ready and that is why he was disappointed at the stand, because he has to wait now atleast one more final...

Yeah I've never seen a break down like that ever. He gave away the last set. That last game he couldn't get his first serve over not even once. Huge mental breakdown. Very uncharacteristic.

[carina_gino20]

Awesome match. Congrats to Rafa.

[ace3g]

I don't think this is the end of his career, I mean he started to struggle the end of last season and ended up winning the US Open. The thing Federer needs to learn to do is to adjust his game depending on the pace of the match, something he rarely does even when he was dominant.

Like the commentators said, in his prime he would play the same way and would win even if he fell down a set or two.

Now that Nadal seems to have his number, Federer needs to adjust his game and work his backhand, which doesn't seem to work well against left handed players and their spins, because his backhand as far as I knew (when he would dominate players) was one of his strong points.

Another thing is that Nadal has shown at his prime age (right now) that he can be beaten or almost beaten : Murray at the US Open and Verdasco at the Aussie Open as a few examples that Nadal might not be as dominant as Federer was in his prime, mostly due to now there are even more great players ranked 3rd - 6th

But the key is for Federer to modify his backhand for left handed players, hire a coach like the Spurs have Chip England; and to learn to make in match adjustments

[Purple & Gold]

I agree he needs to hire a coach and gameplan against Rafa and other lefties. Rafa can still be had on the hardcourt like you said. But Federer is getting older and the new guys are only getting better. Mental loses like these can be devastating. I don't think it will affect him as much because of the type of player he is, but you never know. It's not the first time were a loss like this ended a career. But I think he'll pass Sampras with just longevity. He only needs 2 more and he is relatively young.

[DAF86]

Not after that pitiful 5th set.

Agreed

[ace3g]

I also felt bad for Federer because a few times during the 5th set, some fans would call "out or in" and interrupt his shot, granted he was still down 2-5 in the set but still, that messed up his concentration as well

[DAF86]

Congrats to Rafa, but Roger lost this one IMO, he should've won it 5/7 6/3 6/4 6/3.

He will be thinking about that 0-40 untill he wins another slam.

[ace3g]

Agreed

couldn't agree more, plus this sort of thing happened during the Nadal Verdasco match

the commentators started saying how Verdasco had a problem of double faulting on his serves, and of course right after that , he double faults and Nadal wins the match, it ruined that match for me

[1Parker1]

OUCHHHHHHHHHHHHH, WTF was that Roger in the 3rd set? Double faulting to give Nadal the set?

I was really rooting for Federer. This is gonna take him a miraculously turn around to beat Nadal now. Nadal up 2 sets, we're in the 4th set now.

[Warlord23]

OUCHHHHHHHHHHHHH, WTF was that Roger in the 3rd set? Double faulting to give Nadal the set?

I was really rooting for Federer. This is gonna take him a miraculously turn around to beat Nadal now. Nadal up 2 sets, we're in the 4th set now.

WTF? You watching a rerun or something?

[ManuTim_best of Fwiendz]

Why's that?

I respect both of them, cuz they're both humble guys, but Roger has an easy opening to win up to 18 les.
Rafa, even though he's 22, fights more for these, and it's too early to know if he can even have as many as Roger does now. He's had One great year while Roger's accomplished three.

With this win now Rafa can possibly put together two great years.

Also the media hype around Roger lately has been annoying me, every time Rafa wins they look at it as Roger's "loss" they need to check themselves. The commentators were practically crying along with Roger, they should appreciate Nadal better.

[sonic21]

so who thinks rafa can win 4 gran slams in 1 season ?
i think he's the favourite to win rolland and wimbledon, but there's 4 or 5 players who can beat him on hard.

[DAF86]

so who thinks rafa can win 4 gran slams in 1 season ?
i think he's the favourite to win rolland and wimbledon, but there's 4 or 5 players who can beat him on hard.

Rafa will win RG, but I think he will not get to the final in Wimbledon, so I have Fed winning that, and the Spaniard never gets in good shape to the US Open.

[TheProfessor]

Rafa will win RG, but I think he will not get to the final in Wimbledon, so I have Fed winning that, and the Spaniard never gets in good shape to the US Open.

After watching Nadal come back from that 5-setter against Verdasco to beat Federer, I think he's got a chance. Depends how he holds up going to the US Open, I just don't think it's physically possible to play at that level through the entire season. But it's no longer about the surface.

[DAF86]

After watching Nadal come back from that 5-setter against Verdasco to beat Federer, I think he's got a chance. Depends how he holds up going to the US Open, I just don't think it's physically possible to play at that level through the entire season. But it's no longer about the surface.

I agree, it's no longer about the surface, it's about his body.

[dbreiden83080]

Roger's career is really at a crossroads here. I can't believe he lost that match to Nadal when, Rafa came in so beat up from that 5 setter. I still think he is better than Rafa on Hard-courts, but he choked hard in that 5th set.. Roger is 27 years old, he only has a few years left to emerge as the best ever and if he doesn't figure out how to beat Nadal in some big spots and i mean soon, he's not going down as the best ever. We know the French is likely out for him so he better get it together for Wimbledon and the US Open, that's for sure...

[DAF86]

Roger's career is really at a crossroads here. I can't believe he lost that match to Nadal when, Rafa came in so beat up from that 5 setter. I still think he is better than Rafa on Hard-courts, but he choked hard in that 5th set.. Roger is 27 years old, he only has a few years left to emerge as the best ever and if he doesn't figure out how to beat Nadal in some big spots and i mean soon, he's not going down as the best ever. We know the French is likely out for him so he better get it together for Wimbledon and the US Open, that's for sure...

To me Roger is already the best ever, I'm just waiting for number 14 to make it official. Without Nadal, Federer would have 19 Slams (including 2 or 4 years of winning the 4 in the same season).