Federer Poised to go undefeated to break Novak's record

Federer all Poised to go undefeated to break Novak's record , this would certainly be the case if he go undefeated in this tournament, for sure he will go all out attack on AO.

The twin tournament wins making him believe he is back at his best, even-though Nadal was no way near his best a bagel was unbelievable , not even many die hard Fed fans would have predicted it coming.

In my view Roger played this year pretty smart, many may not agree to my view from here on, but this is how I see, the wimbledon loss to Tsonga might have been pre-planned [2 USO semi losses to Novak looked the same to me, no discredit to Nole specifically he played great when on match points down], he certainly didn't wanna lose to either Novak or Rafa in his favorite court surface, and Novak progressing to finals meant every chance he would beat Rafa and break his confidence out. If this was the plan no idea why Roger didnt let Novak reach RG finals, coz a loss there to Rafa at Novak's hand would have surely melted him down to zero, but on the other hand Novak would have felt complete invincibility.

Rafa is the only guy consistently capable of beating Roger at his best on his best surface, with him down with confidence the current version of Roger is like Tiger smelled blood.

Novak on the other hand is physically and mentally drained by a huge successful season, for GOD sake beating Rafa 6/6 is an unbelievable feat, even the mighty Fed could only dream off.

We all expected a great 2010 then great 2011, but both failed in living to expectations except for Novak's rise, I for once see 2012 gonna be a disappointment too which might follow similar trends of previous two years and this it could be Federer back to powers.

No way does Federer lose at Wimbledon deliberately. That's inconceivable.

Roger's having a good run but it's far too soon to get crazy about it. He can win another Slam for sure, but beyond that it's a lot to ask of a guy >30.

Well if he's going to get to 20 slams he'd best start winning next season so that would be a good time to break Novak's record.

20 Slams is beyond him. 18 may not be.

I guess I just don't see what the deal is about hitting 30.

Not possible. I mean he could lose today as nothing is certain. I dont think he will ever be able to go on a run like that again. His best days are behind him and there will be pockets of good play followed by bad ones. He needs to put some distance between him and nadal in the slam count as 16 is not impossible to catch up on Nadal is still a contender and the only person who can stop him us djoko. Too much to expect one person to do.

break_in_the_fifth wrote:I guess I just don't see what the deal is about hitting 30.

You get older as the numbers goes up, and history shows us that this process makes it a lot harder to win the top tennis events once that number gets around 30 or even more.

If the slams were played in a best of 3 format he would still be winning slams. 2 weeks of best of 5 matches is obviously too difficult. Perhaps with a little luck he could pick up another 1 or 2

gallery play wrote:If the slams were played in a best of 3 format he would still be winning slams. 2 weeks of best of 5 matches is obviously too difficult. Perhaps with a little luck he could pick up another 1 or 2

Yes, it woudl certainly make it easier for him. But only because Djoko and Nadal have made slams such a physical battle. However, Djoko and Nadal may phsyically suffer a bit more next year if the others start to make them run from earlier rounds. So more competition coudl help Federer too.

Federer has a great chance at the Olympics given its best of 3.

Federer doesn't like the best of 3 TMS formats. He has lost a few TMS finals cause of playing in succession. He likes it here cause he has had a day rest in between, till the semi.

I think Federer prefers the slam format by far, even if best of 5.

break_in_the_fifth wrote:I guess I just don't see what the deal is about hitting 30.

It may not sound like a big deal but history proves it to be so.

Only two guys have won a Slam beyond 30 in the last 20 years ; and today the game is of course more demanding than it has ever been.

BITF is quite right in my view. The physicality of the game has actually made it much harder for the younger players who need more time and beef up to make a mark at the top. Guys like Delpo or Raonic (thouh not there yet) can make it quicker cause they are physically at an advantage naturally.

Federer's results could also have declined seriously after 27 had he not worked so hard to adapt to the new generation. It would have been easy to fade away like many in the past overtaken by new players bringing new style with new technology. However he is a bit of a talent and a very hard worker like Ferrer. This is why he is still there or thereabout at yhe very top. I think he has "some slams" left in him...maybe the FO could become his best chance and Wimbledon if they speed it up a bit.

Talking of age .......

More sloppy chat from Sue Barker in the run-up to this afternoon's SF match. She informed us that Sampras won a Slam in his thirties and then casually added "and McEnroe too of course...."

No, Sue. Not even close.

Mac - great though he was - won his last Slam aged just 25.

As a former Slam champion herself, and doubtless now paid big bucks to be a tennis 'presenter', I have always found her to be remarkably ill-prepared and somewhat lazy when it comes to basic research. For me she adds absolutely zilch to the Beeb's coverage and some of her questions/comments to the studio guests are truly inanane ("he'll surely be wanting to win this first set, won't he Tim ....?")

gallery play wrote:If the slams were played in a best of 3 format he would still be winning slams. 2 weeks of best of 5 matches is obviously too difficult. Perhaps with a little luck he could pick up another 1 or 2

Upcoming AO will be give us a lot of clue on how Fed will perform in 2012. Yea his stamina is still a question mark, he doesnt have the stamina of old but that doesnt mean his game cannot win him slams, he will be dominant the next year and might just call it off.

Now how many of you guys go with this thread after his performance in Abu Dhabi? I still believe he gonna be the front runner for AO.

Had too much Coors coolers?

After Novak & Rafa possibly.

sportslover wrote:Had too much Coors coolers?

After Novak & Rafa possibly.

Budweiser is still my fav thou , well lets see how AO pans out, I still see Federer as the walk away favourite if Nadal is not at his best, Federer knows how to handle Nole, so if Rafa for some reason gets knocked out in the first week, Federer will the FO game against Nole.

Djokovic has got to start favourite here if he plays Federer.
-The only slam he's won twice.
-Slower surface than the US Open. and Wimbledon.
-Beat him in straights sets last year.

Henman Bill wrote:Djokovic has got to start favourite here if he plays Federer.
-The only slam he's won twice.
-Slower surface than the US Open. and Wimbledon.
-Beat him in straights sets last year.

What do you think favours Djoko better HB, the slower the surface or the faster the surface? I guess Faster the surface Djoko is more hard to battle against, Federer is good at both fronts except if he plays Nadal, in that case faster the surface better the chance coz Nadal is king on slow surfaces.

Why does everyone say that the Aus Open is Djoko's best slam? His best slam by far is the US Open. Only in 1 year has he done better in the Aus Open than the US Open, and that was 2008 when he faced a below par Fed in the SF and Tsonga in the final at the Aus Open, but got beaten by Fed in the SF at the US Open. Otherwise in every year he's played his US Open result has been either the equal (2011) or better (2005-2007, 2009-2010) than his Aus Open result. He's been in 3 US Open Finals and 2 SF's to win 1, he's made 2 Aus Open finals and admittedly won them, otherwise he's not been beyond the QF's.

He's been one of the top 2 hard court players in the world for about 4-5 years now, and he's tough on fast or slow surfaces, indoor or out.

@Barry , exactly , if slower surface could be of any help he would have done better at FO than in hardcourts, its pretty obivious he does better when the surface is faster, and AO is not faster than USO by any means.

My basic theory would be that Djokovic is relatively more the defensive player so benefits from a slower surface while Federer is relatively more the agresssor so benefits from the faster surfaces which limit retrieval.

Federer has won 5 US Opens to only 4 Australians.
Djokovic has won 2 Australians to only 1 US Open.
Federer leads 3-2 overall in US Open head to head and the 2 he lost were desperately tight and the 3 he won very easy so should be 4-1 really.
Djokovic leads 2-1 in the Australian Open head to head and only lost in their first slam encounter when he was very young. Since then, he won 6 straight sets.

But the speed of the court shouldn't have been my main argument, really Djokovic has to be favourite now on all surfaces because of results and the simple fact he is mentally tough and he doesn't miss as many as Federer.

If they meet at the Australian Open, I'd only make Djokovic 60/40 favourite though.

@HB m I agree Djoko is favourite on all surfaces now, but Fed is good at some surfaces, If they meet in Wimby Fed certainly will have the edge, if they meet on FO again Fed will have the upper hand even given Djoko's recent form, if they meet in USO its certain Djoko the favourite [Fed played his best in USO last year to lose], in AO its gonna be tricky, if Fed plays his best I would put 60-40 in his favour , the factor people forget his heat, Fed even at 30 has the best physique and game for all surfaces.

So if they both play their best it would be an interesting game, but for some reason I don't beleive Djoko would have the best AO this year indeed 2012 gonna be no way near 2011.

Its 18 in a row now, 26 more to go.

Djokovic and nadal beat him last week! I know it was an exhibition tournament but that takes away from winning run in my opinion. That said you really have to admire federer's longevity at the top of the game, amazing really and almost his most impressive legacy. To be in top 4 for so many years is staggering

slashermcguirk wrote:Djokovic and nadal beat him last week! I know it was an exhibition tournament but that takes away from winning run in my opinion. That said you really have to admire federer's longevity at the top of the game, amazing really and almost his most impressive legacy. To be in top 4 for so many years is staggering

Naa exhibition matches don't count and neither Rafa nor Federer were playing serious. It is 18 in a row officially , If I am right Nole lost an exhibition match at the start of last year too, so it doesn't take away his winning run, exhibitions are like practice matches and practice never count in official figures.

Exhibitions have a soothing effect for desperate fans.

He also lost to Mirka at monopoly over Christmas.

This run has absolutely no credibility now.

djlovesyou wrote:He also lost to Mirka at monopoly over Christmas.

This run has absolutely no credibility now.

Fed no longer has Clue. He needs to get a Life, take a Risk or two, and use his Cranium, before it all goes Ker-Plunk. After all tennis is a serious job, not a Trivial Pursuit.

JuliusHMarx wrote:

djlovesyou wrote:He also lost to Mirka at monopoly over Christmas.

This run has absolutely no credibility now.

Fed no longer has Clue. He needs to get a Life, take a Risk or two, and use his Cranium, before it all goes Ker-Plunk. After all tennis is a serious job, not a Trivial Pursuit.

how long did it take for you to think of that one?

LuvSports! wrote:

JuliusHMarx wrote:

djlovesyou wrote:He also lost to Mirka at monopoly over Christmas.

This run has absolutely no credibility now.

Fed no longer has Clue. He needs to get a Life, take a Risk or two, and use his Cranium, before it all goes Ker-Plunk. After all tennis is a serious job, not a Trivial Pursuit.

how long did it take for you to think of that one?

yeah, I enjoyed it too Julius

JuliusHMarx wrote:

djlovesyou wrote:He also lost to Mirka at monopoly over Christmas.

This run has absolutely no credibility now.

Fed no longer has Clue. He needs to get a Life, take a Risk or two, and use his Cranium, before it all goes Ker-Plunk. After all tennis is a serious job, not a Trivial Pursuit.

@DJ and JM, tats funny

The streak extends to 19 now.

At least wait till he wins AO 2012 before you hand him Novak's record, it's been a long time since he won a slam.

erictheblueuk wrote:At least wait till he wins AO 2012 before you hand him Novak's record, it's been a long time since he won a slam.

I understand, I gave this verdict even before he won WTF, he is motivated I could see the chink in his armour to go that extra mile, whether he do it or not only time will say, but certainly he looked like he gonna get that, anyways its 20 in a row, thats impressive so far, a non-stop win till AO itself is a big thing, yea lets wait ETB.

big difference for me though is the quality of opponents that Djokovic beat throughout his 42 match run. Not only that but it involved winning likes of Australian Open, Davis Cup Final and Masters clay court titles against Nadal in final of Madrid and Rome. He regularly beat the best players on their favourite surfaces to keep the run going which makes it really stand out for me. Beating Berdych / Federer / Murray in a row at Aus Open without losing a set is hard to beat in itself

invisiblecoolers wrote:The streak extends to 19 now.

Seventh time with his win today, Federer has a 20+ match win streak.

laverfan wrote:

invisiblecoolers wrote:The streak extends to 19 now.

Seventh time with his win today, Federer has a 20+ match win streak.

Thats an intersting stats LF, things would get more interesting if he continuous loss less till AO title, the media and fans all will get excited.

Saying all that match against Tsonga is potential streak breaker, Tsonga is playing well, Fed not playing his best for the season start yet, 3 losses in a row for Tsonga means its time he gets one back, so yea 2 tricky matches ahead before anything be said, but the streak are intersting, last year Nole streak got tennis fans excited and now if this streak carry on, it will create a panic among Fed-Haters and celebration among Tennis fans, so any case streak is good for tennis.