Roger is getting real surly and detached from reality in his pressers

You know I generally have a lot of respect for Roger, his accomplishments, his charity work, and his game. Yet, I don't find him as likeable and flawless as the general consensus of the media and fans have presented him. He actually has been quite nasty to some of the younger players who have come to try to usurp his throne. After losing in a Master's series to Andy he was asked if he was impressed with Andy's game and he replied, "not really". Then there is the occasion that federer yelled at Djokovic's mother and box telling them to "shut up" in one particular match. Of course Mrs. Djokovic did make a rude comment about the king being dead after AO 2008, but yelling at a guy's mother because you believe she is cheering too loud in public is a bit much. Unfairly, the media took Federer's side, eventhough I watched that match and all Novak's box did was cheer in between points, they weren't yelling at Roger or screaming out during points. Nothing they did was illegal or deserved that kind of reaction.

And then there is the infamous "you are bouncing the ball too much" in the change over, where he practically again yelled at Novak like he was a schoolboy at the 2011 AO. Again the media sided with Roger because Novak sarcastically stated, "Sorry". And promptly took him apart without a second thought. Many fans and media talked about how immature Novak was. But actually, it was Roger who seriously breached etiquette by raising his voice at his opponent in the change over and not directing his comments at the official.

And now we have this quote about Juergen Melzer's victory in Monte Carlo:""Either he shanks them and they stay in play, or he hits the line. All those things accumulate to something quite frustrating. That's what made it hard," Federer said. (http://www.thenational.ae/sport/tennis/roger-federers-fall-from-the-top-gathers-pace) What Roger, your a living legend, but Melzer beat you fair and square and overpowered you from the baseline, he didn't get lucky. You don't lose the match because he kept shanking the ball and they went in. You lost the match because your opponent out hit you, out fought you, and played the big points better.

Well socal I admire your courage in being so outspoken about "he who walks on water".. (thank goodness this isn´t 606) though I will, if you dont mind, put my head down behind the parapet after this It promises to be a very contentious article.
The jury will probably be out on this one.

I have always acknowledged his talent and achievements.. that goes without saying. But my admiration for him has always been marred by his unforgiveable arrogance at times. And before anyone tells me he has the right to be arrogant I will argue that NOBODY has a God given right to be arrogant about anything. First and foremost he is a human being before he is a tennis player and others have a right to expect mutal respect.
On a final note Melzer deserved his win against Federer because he played well.. however Federer was total rubbish and he cannot bring himself to admit that he is not (and in my view will not be) the player he was.
And as for shanking !!!!!!!! he should know.

socal1976

Roger was fine as long as he was winning but laterly he hasn't and it sometimes takes him all his time to shake his victors hand.

You can understand that someone who has had all his own way for a number of years would take bad to starting the downward spiral but hey that's life and nobody can remain at the top or go on forever.

Personally if I were him I would start the wind down now and probably call it a day next year.

Having said that he may surprise us all and still pick up a couple os slams this year, however I wont be putting money on that happening.

Yes, but then he goes on to say this...

""I don't think I played terrible," he said after losing to Melzer for the first time. "I thought it was OK. It was still the first week of clay, so I don't expect myself to play my very best."
He added: "Even in the wind, I had all my chances to come back into the match. He did well. I think he played aggressive, was able to mix it up. Obviously, I wasted way too many breakpoint chances, which was unfortunate."

I think its dangerous to quote any player from an interview when the whole transcription is not available. The papers have a bad habit of selective quoting as we all know.

Jubbahey, I would agree with you if it was the first time Fed has tried to take the credit away from his opponent. But really it isn't, Murray beat him 2 straight times in master's events and when asked are you impressed with his game he said,"not really". How exactly is that 2 word quote taken out of context? I mean it isn't like he is a mass murdering dictator or someone repugnant. I think he is genuinely a nice person and a legend of the game. But he really does have an arrogant and nasty streak. He is human, and this can be overlooked certainly. But what bothers me more is less Federer's arrogance as the fan club he has attained in the media, who constantly whitewash this stuff and don't stand up and say something. Or take his side when he is the one who breaks the rules of the game by yelling at his opponent during a service change over. I swear if Roger got up and punched Novak in the nose the media would be outraged at how Novak rammed his nose into Roger's precious knuckles.

Really, I am not a Rafa lover, but when it comes to a Rafa or Roger debate; I always take Rafa's side. Because Rafa truely is a great sportsman, and you can tell he is a very nice human being with out an arrogant bone in his body.

I have never been a Roger fan. I admire what he has done in the game, although I've rarely watched his matches as he really doesn't interest me. I was courtside on Thursday and Melzer did play well, not making any mistakes and got his reward.

Roger was just not in the match, he really looked at a loss at times as if he didn't know which shot to select, and oh boy did he shank a few!

It's the natural way of things, Roger is 30 this year, old by Tennis players standards and maybe is not as sharp as he once was. He seemed half a step slower, and his shots lacked any real penetration. Clay has never been his best surface but a couple of years ago he would have beaten Melzer.

If...and I say if this is the start of the Federer decline, then I hope he handles it graciously, possibly a little more graciously than he has handled himself in the past.

Hi denzi

I agree with you re Roger. He has a certain *air* about
his manner, the culmination of which was that AWFUL jacket
he wore at Wimby!

I STILL expect him to say *U e Huh - Thank you very much*

OR

Federer has left the building


:run2:

I do agree with the point you are making about Rogers lack of grace sometimes. I saw the Melzer match and Roger was outplayed. I don't think he could've picked holes in his game or his opponents for that matter. Sometimes the guy across the net just plays a better match on the day.

He can be a bit ungraceful, but to be honest I doubt any of them are particularly graceful in defeat. Even the almighty Blake has blamed something other than himself for defeat before, once upon a time.

Most other players seem to discover 'injuries' when they lose, so I think to single out Federer as the sole player to consistently harp on about other factors instead of accepting the inevitable truth is a bit harsh. The others just keep it consistent, that's all. Remember also that to expect even gracefulness immediately after defeat, particularly in the case of professionals, is a big ask. A main part of the winning mentality is the hatred of losing, and to expect players to go 'yeah he was great, well done to him' when he's in all likliehood on the verge of rage is therefore also a big ask. I find it hard to really criticise players in these circumstances if i'm honest.

Another note to make, i'm not having a go here, just raising a point, is that from what I've heard on 606 and other forums is that we are fast developing a reputation for being 'Anti-Federer' in general. I can't blame others for thinking this; most negative articles relate to Federer and i'm the last person to comment on the pub thread; I made that post when I first joined. Perhaps if we focus on the more positive sides to Federer; and believe me there are many positives to him, most of which relate to tennis, then we can dispel this little myth.

yummymummy wrote:Hi denzi

I agree with you re Roger. He has a certain *air* about
his manner, the culmination of which was that AWFUL jacket
he wore at Wimby!

I STILL expect him to say *U e Huh - Thank you very much*

OR

Federer has left the building


:run2:

Oh boy, that darned jacket. It's not like he had a big 15 written on it, the size of a football one and started dancing in front of Roddick, all he had was a tiny 15 written on the jacket, I'm pretty sure if any of us broke a record we would react in a much more enthusiastic manner, rather than just have a small number on our attire. Besides the presenters throught it was a nice touch to have that.

Stealth - with regard to the points you made on your post. There's also views on 606v2 such as its a poor gathering of Rafafans and not much else, a point I've seen a few times which I consider very harsh - derogatory even - as we keep general chat about Rafa within the "pub thread" element and don't flood the main tennis forum in the same vein. And if people got over their natural prejudices with that regard they may see something different and appreciate v2 for the tennis forum it is. (By the way, it doesn't stop The Pre Rafa Lites from having 1000s of views, does it? )

At the end of the day, people will think what they want to think about 606v2 and really, the vast majority of Federer fans moved to other forums a long time ago, is what I think. If they want to take up the debate here, then that would be fine. But those active on this forum have their view and express it ... I suppose that's what a forum is all about and its up to others to counter it if they wish.

For me anyway, I think this forum has got the balance right. A place for fans to go and keep that sort of posting in the correct forum, but equally I do feel that this is a valid tennis forum, where people come along and raise topical articles that members can discuss and debate points and its not just a series of games or chat threads and the like.

We shouldn't temper our views because of what other people might say, although I think all of us on here so far would like to see the forum grow. The excellent Fake Points Spy Thingy is a great asset to the forum, as are Green's excellent Match Day threads. We're a fledgling forum and I do get what you've been saying ... but so far, so good. Sorry to crash this thread.

Stealth, is right that we should always be balanced both with criticism and with praise. Believe I don't want to kick sand in Roger's face or the face of his fans. The man has a lot of wonderful characteristics, both as a human being and a tennis champion.

And on Roger's cream suit at wimbeldon. I thought it looked nice, and Roger has always had a great sense of style. I have bought some of his Nike attire myself.

But really stealth I think most of the players are quite graceful in defeat. I haven't ran into a single instance of another player in a post game press conference stating that one of the reasons he lost the match was that his opponent shanked a lot of balls that went in. That to me is really ridiculous behavior and if anyone else had made a comment like that he would be lambasted by the media for it.

Stealth, the almighty Blake has never had any type of equivalent commentary during or after a match. One thing you can say about James is that he is a gracious gentlemen. And certainly deserves a great deal of credit for that.

http://www.tennischannel.com/news/NewsDetails.aspx?newsid=8840

A very intereting article about Roger

A very interseting read indeed, very balanced with some amusing analogies. In away although not a fan, I do feel for Fed. We are all mortal and ageing graceful in the brutally cut-throat winner takes it all world of Men's tennis isn't a possibility. It is interesting to witness this new stage in his career, the tennis isn't as enjoyable as what he displayed between 2004-07 but the human story is more compelling. I hope that he shows a bit more grace than what we have seen the last couple years with the above incidents we have seen.

If this article had been posted on 606, I would rate is anti-Federer wum article and give it one star.
I mean, "detached from reality", "nasty"?!
Federer has always been slightly arrogant and always will be, that's nothing new, and one would expect people to get used to it already. I don't understand why do you feel the need to repeat same things over and over again?

He answered a reporter's question whether he was "impressed" with Murray's game and said he wasn't - how is that "nasty"? Why would he need to be "impressed"? I imagine it's very hard for a tennis player to "impress" Roger Federer and probably only few have managed to do that (Nadal, Sampras...?)

He told Novak's parents to shut up... Novak yells at them to shut up all the time, must be because they do shout when they are not supposed to? Anyway, that was years ago. I'd tell them to shut up, too.

I don't think what he said about Melzer was disrespectful in any way. So he gave one reason why he lost, so what? He didn't even say that he himself played badly, which was the case, but said he played well and was still beaten. How can that be described as "surly"?

"You know I generally have a lot of respect for Roger..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Are you sure about that?

Haddie-Nuff: "Well socal I admire your courage in being so outspoken about "he who walks on water".. "
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Not sure that posting such article is particularly courageous,as you called it, on a forum that hardly has any Federer fans. It's, of course, nobody's fault here that they are not a Fed fan, but this tennis forum really needs more of them.

Stealth Maestro Agro Love wrote:... and i'm the last person to comment on the pub thread; I made that post when I first joined. Perhaps if we focus on the more positive sides to Federer; and believe me there are many positives to him, most of which relate to tennis, then we can dispel this little myth.

That Federer pub thread should never have been started, cause nobody asked for it. And to start such thread with this comment made it even more pointless... That joke is on this forum, not Federer, who probably has more fans than any other tennis player today.

Green
As you rightly say it is nobody´s fault that there are few Fed fans on this forum. But as has been pointed out I think they are attracted to other forums not least of all MTL where the so called "tennis purists" reside. But I was trying to lighten the mood .. just goes to show that Im not the only one that can misinterpret what is said... just a little joke

socal1976 wrote:Stealth, the almighty Blake has never had any type of equivalent commentary during or after a match. One thing you can say about James is that he is a gracious gentlemen. And certainly deserves a great deal of credit for that.

You think I don't know that? It's one of the reasons he is my big favourite!!!!

He's had his moments though, which is my point; OK, Blake's 'moments' were very rare in the past and pretty much non-existant these days, but not every defeat he's had has been blamed on his own racquet, or been credited to the superior player on the day.

But yeah, overall he's the humblest, most gracious guy you could wish to come across.

Green wrote:
That Federer pub thread should never have been started, cause nobody asked for it. And to start such thread with this comment made it even more pointless... That joke is on this forum, not Federer, who probably has more fans than any other tennis player today.

Hi Green

Maybe we should have waited till any Fed fans requested a pub thread but at the time we started it the forum was still fairly quiet.

We were hoping a Fed pub thread would encourage Fed fans to join and start posting.

The comment in your link wasn't the post with which I started the thread with btw, and it was never meant as a joke about Fed or his fans, I'm very sorry if it was seen in this way.

Maybe we'll delete the Fed pub thread and let any Fed fans start their own from the beginning if they so wish : )

Solerina

Green, really it is ok for Roger to tell another players mother to shut up because she had the audacity to cheer for her son between points? You really think that is appropriate behavior?

As for the Murray comment, that is where you need to be judicious and not denigrate your opponent when he has scored a big victory over you.

For the Melzer comment, if you watched the match and so how Melzer took it to Fed, how he beat him with a combination of big groundstrokes and volleys; then it certainly would be "detached from reality" to claim that one of the reasons he lost was because his opponent "shanked a lot of balls that went in". No the reality is Roger you got out played from start to finish, and your opponents shanking had nothing to do with why you lost.

I stand by my commentary on federer I tried to make it very balanced. And no I don't repeat the same things over and over again. I have started two threads on Federer; neither of them positive well because there hasn't been a lot of positives in Fed's game or his post match commentary for the last couple of months. When he plays great I say so, when he gives a delusional and arrogant answer in press conference, I will say so.

Maybe we'll delete the Fed pub thread and let any Fed fans start their own from the beginning if they so wish

Solerina

Personally, I don't think that thread is serving any purpose any more, so it may just as well be deleted. And so long as the facility remains for any Federer fans who wish to post in a "pub style" on v2, then I'm sure they will just start their own as the fans of the other players have.

socal1976 wrote:Jubbahey, I would agree with you if it was the first time Fed has tried to take the credit away from his opponent. But really it isn't, Murray beat him 2 straight times in master's events and when asked are you impressed with his game he said,"not really". How exactly is that 2 word quote taken out of context? I mean it isn't like he is a mass murdering dictator or someone repugnant. I think he is genuinely a nice person and a legend of the game. But he really does have an arrogant and nasty streak. He is human, and this can be overlooked certainly. But what bothers me more is less Federer's arrogance as the fan club he has attained in the media, who constantly whitewash this stuff and don't stand up and say something. Or take his side when he is the one who breaks the rules of the game by yelling at his opponent during a service change over. I swear if Roger got up and punched Novak in the nose the media would be outraged at how Novak rammed his nose into Roger's precious knuckles.

Really, I am not a Rafa lover, but when it comes to a Rafa or Roger debate; I always take Rafa's side. Because Rafa truely is a great sportsman, and you can tell he is a very nice human being with out an arrogant bone in his body.

I've got to be honest with you, if I'd just lost a match and then first thing the reporters ask is "what do you think of Murray ? do you think he'll win a slam, do you think he'll be better than you ?" bla bla bla. I'd get a little arrogant with the reporters too. thats not to say that is exactly how federer feels about Murray or anyone he makes comments about, and he does get an endless stream of inconsequential questions about parts of someone else's game.

I'm not defending him per se, but we should give these guys a break and some room to breath sometimes and not take everything they say as the bible.

The Media in Relation to anything Murray does is usually dreadful, especially before or after a match when asking the top players about him and the slams.

I take it Andy gives most of it a wide birth and would cringe if he saw half of it

As for the deletion of the Federer thread (Fed Head ???), I have just looked in and there isnt any single dedicated Federer fan on there, so it doesn't really hold any water to keep it going.

Asked the Admins and they agree.

Goodbye Feds thread, hello any budding dedicated Federer fan who wants to start a Fed pub thread, sign up here.......

See Jubbahuey, I can't say that I agree with you. Giving interviews to the media win or lose is part of the sport. It is part of selling and marketing the game to a wider audience. And in all the interviews and quotes from interviews I have read over the years, I have never, ever heard anybody state that one of the reasons I lost the match was because my opponent shanked a lot of shots that went in. I mean somehow every other tennis player on tour manages to find a way not say something that prepostrous.

If Roger gets a dumb question he doesn't like, I have seen him say he doesn't like it and not answer it, every athlete gets dumb questions asked of him. This is the part that doesn't reflect well on Roger, that when things are going great and everyone just lavishes praise on him, he is the model of sportsmanship. Now that the wins are getting harder he starts to show a bit of a nasty streak.

Anyway, the next time I write about Roger I will try to make it a positive thread. Because i really don't have a grudge against the guy. Honestly, if my favority player (novak) made this quote in a press conference I would take him to task for it. The quote is really bad sportsmanship, and frankly delusional.


The Melzer quote is really odd,

Jubbahey wrote:As for the deletion of the Federer thread (Fed Head ???), I have just looked in and there isnt any single dedicated Federer fan on there, so it doesn't really hold any water to keep it going.

Asked the Admins and they agree.

Goodbye Feds thread, hello any budding dedicated Federer fan who wants to start a Fed pub thread, sign up here.......

I think we should have a shrine thread dedicated to the most awesome, coolest and nicest guy on the tour to replace it.

Graf, I disagree with you about Novak he displays very good sportsmanship both in the press commentary and when he plays he cheers his opponents good shots. On clay he will give a lot of shots to his opponents overruling bad line calls himself without even letting the umpire get out of his seat. But yes he is more animated in some respects then other players. His parents were a little too hands on and his mother made some unfortunate comments in the press, but since he has reigned them in. And he has put away the impresonations as well once he saw that it rubbed certain players the wrong way. So the guy I feel has matured and made an effort at being a good sport.

As for Fed, to me it is really quite amazing that he won so many Edberg awards for sportsmanship, certainly his analysis of the Melzer loss was preposterous. I have never heard any player state that one of the reasons he lost was because his opponent shanked a lot of balls that went in. I tend to take Fed with a grain of salt and cut him a lot of slack because overral he has been a good citizen and great champion. But that doesn't stop me from seeing that he isn't the Mr. perfect that his fan club in the media portrays. Now that he is losing more they are all ready circling and trying to tear down their idol.

denzilsmom wrote:I have never been a Roger fan. I admire what he has done in the game, although I've rarely watched his matches as he really doesn't interest me. I was courtside on Thursday and Melzer did play well, not making any mistakes and got his reward.

Roger was just not in the match, he really looked at a loss at times as if he didn't know which shot to select, and oh boy did he shank a few!

It's the natural way of things, Roger is 30 this year, old by Tennis players standards and maybe is not as sharp as he once was. He seemed half a step slower, and his shots lacked any real penetration. Clay has never been his best surface but a couple of years ago he would have beaten Melzer.

If...and I say if this is the start of the Federer decline, then I hope he handles it graciously, possibly a little more graciously than he has handled himself in the past.

The thing is, as a Federer fan, the age argument can only be taken so far. Melzer, after all, is 29 and turns 30 on the 22nd of May, according to the ATP website, http://www.atpworldtour.com/Tennis/Players/Top-Players/Jurgen-Melzer.aspx. Even with that, he has been playing some pretty good tennis. I think Roger's decline can be more attributed to the fact that he becoming more mentally than physically fatigued from the grind of being on the tour for a little over a decade. I also think he appears to either unwilling or incapable of making adjustments to his game in order to remain at the top of tennis. To be brutally honest, other players have sussed him out, and he does not seem willing to even acknowledge this, hence the indifferent form.

I think with Roger, it's always been a case of two psychological extremes. He has either had too much confidence, bordering on arrogance, or he has seemed to lack confidence, especially against Nadal. In retrospect, the whole Borg-like ice cool demeanour was contrived and I always suspected that when put to the sword by other players, his mentally would be revealed as being a bit suspect. He really should ask Sampras for tips on how to hang tough in matches when everything is not going his way.

Having said all this, there is no other player I would rather watch when he or she is in full flow than Roger. I honestly don't know if I can continue watching tennis after he retires.

Graf is the greatest everyone has their own taste when it comes to a player I like them to have a bit of personality and not be too calm and monotone with their personality. I was never a fan of Sampras, I found his game and his personality exceedingly dull. For me being animated is great its fine, I do think there is a line where you go from being excited to being cocky or disrespectful to the game or your oppponent. As I said above I think Djokovic doesn't cross that line, and he has been very popular with the other players so I don't think they feel he is showing them up.

Kemet, I agree that to a large extent Roger's stubborness has hurt him. He has refused to make adjustments and grow as a player the last few years. And on the AtP tour when you stop growing and getting better, no matter how good you are you find that the pack will hunt you down sooner or later. Federer is very watchable in full flow but he so rarely finds that gear nowadays. Tennis though is bigger than any champion, and I would hope that you would give other up and coming players the chance to win your appreciation.

It's a laugh when people moan about Federer saying this stuff. Let's examine some of this from the other pov;

* His criticism of Murray at the time became mainstream as Andy fell short at the big events time after time. Federer was just the first to it, and straightforward about it.
* His shout at Djokovics parents was because they were shouting about calls, not cheering their boy. Get it right.
* His complete absence of gamesmanship on court is overlooked by the OP; Nole DOES bounce the ball too much, JMDP DID take too long making challenges in 2009; Nadal does basically ignore the time rules with impunity. Federer clearly shouldn't have spoken directly to his opponent, but it's not gamesmanship.

Federer is a sour type when he's peeved, but so what?

graf_the_greatest wrote:[color=darkblue]Yes, Djokovic has cut down his immature antics but not enough for me to like him. Federer's sour demeanour following loses only reinforces what I already thought about him. Nadal has by far the best manner on & off court. He plays into the sort of player I like; consistent, focussed & humble.

Yeah. Flouting the rules routinely is exemplary behaviour isn't it?

And when does humble become bull? "I play #522 next, maybe if I try really hard I have chance, No?"

I have no problem really with Nadal, but trying to build him up into a paragon is a bit lame.

graf_the_greatest wrote:It seems the modern way is to be arrogant. Subtlety, humility and good old-fashioned manners don't seem to be in vogue, at least with most people/sports people.

Marathon runners and Triathletes seem to be fairly humble. Croquet and Horse Polo players also.

Nore Staat wrote:

graf_the_greatest wrote:It seems the modern way is to be arrogant. Subtlety, humility and good old-fashioned manners don't seem to be in vogue, at least with most people/sports people.

Marathon runners and Triathletes seem to be fairly humble. Croquet and Horse Polo players also.

Surprised about the Croquet guys. I heard they mostly racist, mass murdering lethal animals with no regard for human life.

Wrong Bogbrush, I watched that match, even if they were complaining at calls, his publically berating them in the player's box is way out of line; beyond the pale quite frankly. And I watched that match i didn't see them complaining about the calls. So what if they were, they were doing it in between points they weren't yelling out at him while he is serving or while he was hitting a shot. They didn't run onto the court and abuse the officials or linespeople, basically they were behaving like any other normal fan, completely within the rules.

As for Djoko bouncing the ball, Federer is completely totally and 100 wrong and quite frankly a bit of an arrogrant jerk for not directing his comments at the official. When have you ever seen a player in the last 10 years yell at his opponent in the change over. Its up to the official to enforce the time requirements. Fed can simply make his complaint to the official. And if in the alloted time Novak Djokovic wants to shave or eat a ham sandwhich then that is completely legal and it isn't up to Roger to tell him what to do during his service games. The thing that made it so satisfying for me was when Novak yelled back Sorry at him sarcastically and promptly kicked his backside.

I can't believe I didn't know the incindent at AO and "bouncing the ball too much"....that's low....

Federer has said and done worse actually, but I'd rather have him speaking his mind than all the off the peg cliche answers some other players give.

He obviously hasn't done himself any favours that way, but without trying to be chauvinistic, having lived in Switzerland for some time I can safely conclude it doesn't surprise me he is like that.
I'll stop at that

noleisthebest wrote:I can't believe I didn't know the incindent at AO and "bouncing the ball too much"....that's low....

Federer has said and done worse actually, but I'd rather have him speaking his mind than all the off the peg cliche answers some other players give.

He obviously hasn't done himself any favours that way, but without trying to be chauvinistic, having lived in Switzerland for some time I can safely conclude it doesn't surprise me he is like that.
I'll stop at that

So don't you think that the excessive ball bouncing is annoying? I honestly don't understand how every player can stand that amount of ball bouncing. It really ticks me off and I'm just watching the match. And what other ''worse'' things has Federer done? Most of the time I feel he is entirely justified in the things he says. ie the infamous US open 2009 final incident.

Iamawesome it is a fundamental rule of tournament tennis (or at least a rule of etiquette)that if you have a problem with anything your opponent is doing you direct your comments at the official. You don't yell at the guy in the change over. If Djokovic wants to bounce the ball 68 times in between points, as long as he does it in the alloted time he is allowed to. And if he is taking longer than it should to serve, Roger complains to the umpire and the umpire warns Djokovic. Thats it, you aren't allowed to yell at him or punch him in the change over. Maybe Roger should be excused from the rule's of ettiquette that every tournament player from the juniors on up is expected to follow.


Or how about his ridiculous presser after the Melzer loss where he claimed that one of the reasons he lost was because his opponent shanked a lot of balls that went in. What? I saw that match that wasn't the reason you lost Melzer blasted you off the baseline fair and square. That was maybe one of the most disrespectful comments of your opponent after a loss I ever remember hearing.

All in all Roger is a good guy and an excellent player with an enduring legacy, nobody is perfect. I am not saying the guy is evil. But its stuff like this that has made me lose a little bit of my affection for Fed. Especially, since he never acted this way when he was winning everything.