For first time in 5 years I won't be watching a grand slam final

In the past with Federer or Nadal in the final, I always had someone to cheer for. I even watched the two Djokovic-Murray finals, because I was curious whether Murray could break his duck (this was the only reason I watched them till the end, they both are on the list of most boring finals ever). But now their third final, I couldn't care less who wins it. We've had eight of those matches last year, and it's just gonna be the nineth repeat of the same match now. I realised I could maybe watch a 20-minute highlight after the match, will save me four to five hours.

It's a pitty Federer's serve (and probably overall game) has been off now for two grand slams in a row, thanks to his chronic back injury. Lowest speeds on his serve I ever seen, very few aces. It's admirable that despite that he still fight on like a true warrior. I hope he can physical recover (at least for a short period of time, it ain't gonna go away for ever) and still have a good year, hopefully win Wimbledon.

Congrats to Murray though for his third consecutive grand slam final. Appearing in every final will make him well-known to the general public, and he should be, cause he might be number one soon. He's also in a good position to establish himself now as the top player (even if the rankings don't immediately follow) before Nadal returns. Hopefully he will then have enough confidence to avoid any more unneccessary losses against Nadal.

It's been a good tournament though. Seeing Roger put big-mouth Tomic in his place was really fun to watch. Also Djokovic putting Tomics uncle Berdych to the sword was great. But now a tournament without Roger is not the same. And it pains me to see him struggle like that.

Good for you mate. Weather forecast is pretty good for Sunday as well so its all coming together for you!

I bet you will be on here commenting on it though

Me too. It is guaranteed to be a game with more errors than winners and zero highlights. They should stick this final to a bo3 set match and save people from falling asleep.

But if you weren't watching in the first place why would 3 sets be less likely to put you to sleep?

It pains me to watch Roger try to win 2013 Formula 1 driving a 1990s car.

Wimbledon is pretty much Federers home turf so I expect to see him play very well there.

lydian wrote:It pains me to watch Roger try to win 2013 Formula 1 driving a 1990s car.

Fed has a choice of any custom-made racket he wants. Part of successful tennis is making the right decisions both on and off the court.

JuliusHMarx wrote:

lydian wrote:It pains me to watch Roger try to win 2013 Formula 1 driving a 1990s car.

Fed has a choice of any custom-made racket he wants. Part of successful tennis is making the right decisions both on and off the court.

Another part of tennis is having a decent schedule and not being too tired to serve your best.

The degree of fanboyness and hysterically sad sycophancy surrounding Federer and Nadal is ridiculous.

Would hate to be a groundsman at Melbourne having to squeedgy up the moisture in the stadium from the middle aged housewives post match. Yuk.

Josiah Maiestas wrote:

JuliusHMarx wrote:

lydian wrote:It pains me to watch Roger try to win 2013 Formula 1 driving a 1990s car.

Fed has a choice of any custom-made racket he wants. Part of successful tennis is making the right decisions both on and off the court.

Another part of tennis is having a decent schedule and not being too tired to serve your best.

Luckily Fed did have a decent schedule at this AO. If he was too tired - well, some players are just fitter than others. Again, it's all part of the wider picture of tennis.

Riskysports wrote:I bet you will be on here commenting on it though

More often than not I'm not commenting on here. Last few days have been an exception. Don't be surprised if I'm not here Sunday.

Federer was just simply blown off court with the power that Murray can now generate off his first serve and his forehand. That is the crucial difference now in matches between these 2 great players. If Federer had played any other opponent today (apart from perhaps Nadal and Djokovic) he would have won the match easily in 3 or 4 sets but perhaps this 5 set loss is a changing off the guard in men's tennis just as was the case back in 2001 when Federer himself as the younger player beat the older and the then current king of tennis Mr Pete Sampras in a 5 set match at Wimbledon.

I don't particularly enjoy the Murray - Djokovic matchup, but I'll still watch if I can. Only four slam finals a year, after all. I'd prefer Murray to win, I enjoy watching him play slightly more than Novak.

Fed did serve poorly, and the ace count is particularly horrendous, but Murray also returned very well and we shouldn't take anything away from how well he played. Even without his usual effectiveness on serve, Fed is extremely tough to beat (see: USO '09). I wouldn't call losing in five sets to Murray 'struggling', even if he was chasing the game the whole way. Federer was a warrior out there today, if nothing else - and that bodes well for the year ahead. Likewise Murray who was composed, clinical and aggressive.

Chydremion wrote: I realised I could maybe watch a 20-minute highlight after the match, will save me four to five hours.

You could save even more time by not typing announcements of things that you won't be doing.

Djokovic v Murray. Zzzz... Wake me up when it's over.

In fairness Djokovic isn't boring when he plays Federer or Nadal as they bring out the best in him.

hawkeye wrote:Djokovic v Murray. Zzzz... Wake me up when it's over.

Do we have to?

JuliusHMarx wrote:

hawkeye wrote:Djokovic v Murray. Zzzz... Wake me up when it's over.

Do we have to?

Nah. I am sure someone in press will throw a floater out there for her to jump on

I can lend you the sleeping tablets... extra extra strong

I want Murray to win and I'll kind of try to find time to watch the match but if I don't, it's neither here nor there for me.

You wont be watching but does anybody really care.

You will be able to do what HE does and read news papers all day, then you can come up with another meaningless article

I don't know why people are slating the OP here. He's written a fair article and expressed an opinion which is shared by quite a few. Furthermore he hasn't really been derisory to anyone.

sportslover wrote:You wont be watching but does anybody really care.

You will be able to do what HE does and read news papers all day, then you can come up with another meaningless article

Heaven forbid!

There must be life after Roger mustn't there?

break_in_the_fifth wrote:I don't know why people are slating the OP here. He's written a fair article and expressed an opinion which is shared by quite a few. Furthermore he hasn't really been derisory to anyone.

Who has slated him/her?

I guess slating was an exaggeration...

I don't think any offence needs to be taken by anyone on this board by his/her views. After all they are entitled to their views.

I'm glad that Murray won a slam. For all that hard work and previous disappointments he deserved it but he has the most boring game to watch out of the big 4 so it would be nice if he doesn't win any more.

Why do bitter "fans of the sport" constantly make toy out the pram threads? I don't think anyone remotely cares if you are watching or not.

Shame you are not watching it. FGantastic agressive tennis from both

Riskysports wrote:Shame you are not watching it. FGantastic agressive tennis from both

I'd rather watch Ferrer Berdych and that's saying something

dont agree at all but each to their own

For a proposal I would like to see this change: a set that lasts over 1 hour with less than 20 winners should mean the match becomes bo3. Don't bore us with 5 sets of that.

Not sure why people think these guys are not aggressive.

The blow every other player off the court with aggressive tennis.

The only difference is that these two are great at moving arid the court so ones that would be winners against almost everyone e, isn't here.

They to me are the package. Aggressive tennis AND great defensive players

But hey, each to their won.

ATP should start providing SET(Spectator Endurance Training) and Post-match Trauma Counselling.

Ha ha! I don't blame you for running away after saying that...

You did the right thing, Djokovic-Ferrer and Federer - Murray semifinals where way better.