Is the notion, that Federer is a great human being, overrated?

 

If you are not a lunatic crackhead, like McEnroe, would your behavior be any different, if you were in Federer’s shoes?

Isn’t it easy to be all pretty, nice, gracious, majestic etc. when everything is so beautiful and going your way? He is a great player, and that is where his personality emanates from. Not vice versa.

If you doubt it, just observe what happens to his ‘model’ personality, every freaking time he looses. He called Nadal ‘one dimensional’ player, after he broke his invincibility shield. If you have been following the drama, you know there are scores of such instances, after his losses.

Contrast that to Nadal’s demeanor, when he looses, even to Djokovic, who has done enough to rile a turtle. Nadal’s personality has no such mood swings, signifying, what we see is unadulterated. He is neither delirious in win, or vindictive in defeat. Isn’t that the model person?

Maybe Nadal does not have that much to defend, or not as much at stake as Federer, but is that a pass to berate your competitor publicly, at worst, or make long mean faces at award ceremonies, at best?

That can mean only one thing: When he is winning, he is a model citizen, but when he looses, he dips below even the regulars on the tour. His tennis dictates what kind of person we will see in public, whereas Nadal’s personality governs how he behaves, whether it is a win or a loss.

Any even that ‘great’ player status, is not without a long shadow of doubt, from none other than the previous greats of the game. ‘Current competition lacks depth’ is the greatest knock on his stellar career. Except Nadal, there is no other worthy contender for the ’Hall of Fame’ spot, during his reign.

Former greats from Emerson to Sampras have openly voiced the miserable lack of depth in today’s field.

So what we are left to conclude is this: We will see this ideal person in Federer, only if he wins. There is more than enough evidence now, to substantiate that claim. He is just a loss away from turning into a whiny, ungracious and poor loser.

Although he appears to have cleaned up his act, lately, but that track record, makes the current behavior even more fake and rehearsed.

What’s truly inside you, will find a way out, in many ways. Human eye can detect it, instantly.

Like I always say ‘You can fool all the people, some of the time, or you can fool all the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time’. Truth will find a way, sooner or later.

Some Halloween posters for motorrow.

The 13 Characteristics of Successful People.

 

Do you have any?

Click here.

For lunatics, just rolling out their carcasses, from under that rock, this is how the tennis schedule works. From Gracie. Thanks.

Gracie |
The four Grand Slam events and the nine Masters Cup tournaments are essentially mandatory for all players, unless they are injured. Backing out for other reasons will usually draw a big fine. As Jenny said, all the tournaments are worth points to the players, and the overall ranking points are pulled from the results of these 13 tournaments plus 5 other International Series events, which the players can select from a list of many. The ranking points are calculated on a rolling 52 week cycle. So as of today, Federer’s Basel result from 2006 would be dropped and the new result added in.

The Nine Masters events are held on hard and clay courts, but the surfaces aren’t always exactly the same, and conditions vary from place to place, so basically, it comes down to a test of skill, will and endurance.

The Masters Cup is the year end championship event, in which the eight guys with the most points get to compete in a round robin format. They’re split into two groups, and each player in a given group has to play all the other ones in their group at least once. That’s the easy part… Calculating who wins in a group is done by percent of matches won, sets won, and even games figure in, I think…. I can follow it when I’m actually watching, but I’m not sure if I can explain that part exactly (Anand_101…anyone, can you?). It boils down to who gets to play the semifinals and final, though. And it’s a big deal to win the year end championship.

Federer fined for ‘lack of effort’. From cms. Thanks.

 

cms | 

Here’s an interesting bit on the subject…

http://www.sportinglife.com/fanzine/story_get.dor?STORY_NAME=tennis/07/10/30/TENNIS_Column.html

“However, whilst investigations are still ongoing, for now Davydenko ought to console himself that the stigma of a “not trying” barb need not necessarily hamper the remainder of his career.

After all, the same thing happened to a young and hot-headed Roger Federer after he blew a match against the Swiss number 11 Armando Brunold in a satellite tournament in Kublis.

Federer lost 7-6 6-2 and tournament referee Claudio Grether recalled in the book, ‘The Roger Federer Story’: “He simply stood unmotivated and nonchalantly on the court and double faulted twice each game.”

Federer was fined the mandatory USD100 for the offence, meaning that with prize money from the tournament of a mere USD87, he actually exited with USD13 less than he had actually arrived.

Federer took some time to get over his embarrassment. That was not the case for Marat Safin, who became the first player fined for the offence in a Grand Slam tournament at the Australian Open in 2000

Sampras at ESPN.

Whose ass is this?

‘The Hungry’ and ‘The Complacent’ players at year end.

Complacent

 

Nadal: Last glimmer of hope, for the year-end ranking, snuffed out at Basel, he may not be the most motivated player on the tour right now. With his body letting him down for the second straight year, he must already be thinking of next year.

He has his work cut out for him next season. Forget about getting to No. 1, his No. 2 rank is in serious jeopardy. Djokovic will probably finish him off by March, if not earlier. Unless of course, Nadal not only mends his body in a hurry, but also learns to win on surfaces not called clay. Not likely to happen, on current track record.

Nadal would have liked to have seen the season end right after the US Open. Anything after that is only adding to his misery. He is not so bad physically, to officially skip the events, on the one hand, while his mind wants to compete and wrest back what he has lost, on the other.

Djokovic: He has five titles. Reached the semifinals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, with a final at USO. Beat the top three players back to back, including Federer – for the first time. Maybe the big stage at USO, got to him, to lose in straight sets. Reached career high No. 3 rank in the world.

That is a massive year, by most standards. Having played 20 tournaments already, he is not in the best of shape, physically and mentally. With his history of physical exhaustion well documented, this is not going to be his favorite time of the year.

It appears he has achieved more than he set out for, already. With a lot fresher players in the hunt, Djokovic may have resigned himself to feast on what he has on the table.

Roddick: He has got to be feeling it. As if the rest of the season was not enough torture for him, Santoro may have hammered the last nail in his coffin, by taking him out in the first round at Lyon, France, just a week ago.

With just two insignificant titles this year, this has got to be one of his most disappointed years, considering the circumstances. Connors probably got him closer to winning a major title, as much as he could, this year. But Roddick failed to execute, and he has to take full responsibility for it.

He is not winning at TMC. He is out of Paris already. That leaves him groping for answers to what he is up against next year, when the weather is only going to get rough for Andy. This could be the last year of his being considered ‘in the mix’. It’s all downhill for him now.

Hungry.

Murray: He can still salvage a lost season to injuries, by putting up a good show at Paris and the TMC. He is motivated to prove to himself, and the fans, that he is worthy of the top 10, and maybe the top 5 rank in the world.

Fresh from his title at Russia, he should be just rearing to go. Besides, he has fresh legs. Everyone else is at the end of the long season. He is just starting out. What he may lack in ‘match-play’, he can more than compensate for it with his strong and rested legs.

That injury time out, may prove to be a blessing in disguise for him, if he can generate valuable momentum, with these two year-end events, and carry it over next year, with another break, before the next season starts.

Ferrer: His game revolves around his tight defense. If he can muster enough fuel in his tank to run around this late in the year, he can be trouble for the big guns. That’s the last thing anyone wants, at this time: a defensive nightmare.

He has had a great year, with three titles, already. He reached the semifinals at the USO, and quarterfinals at four Masters Series events. He has great momentum, and should be looking to further add to his basket, considering the big dogs may not be in the best of shape right now.

Qualification at the TMC should be a big boost to pump his adrenaline to reach even higher before the year ends.

Karlovic: He should be feeling impatient and encouraged, both at the same time. He has been able to take the best of them to the limit: Tie-break. If only he can get past that one hurdle, he could be in elite company.

He is at career high 24 ATP rank. He has won three career titles, all this year, in his seven years as a pro. He is going to get very close to the all-time aces record, before the season is over. He is already at No. 2 all-time. You think, that would motivate someone?

He is not going to TMC. This is his final shot, and Federer is next. Is that good or bad?

Federer tricked.