What is the logic of sticking with the format that ‘forces’ a player to tank?

Isn’t the Federer-Murray and Djokovic-Tsonga match enough fodder to scrap this round square robin popping format for good?

Aren’t you forcing a ‘fix’ to defraud the fans who have paid through the nose months in advance to come for a well contested match?

How’s that any different from all the match betting BS you have been crying all year about? OK maybe be the undefeated champion carrot may have worked for Murray, but how many times has that happened in the last hundred years?

If you are going to allow that kind of behavior, shouldn’t you then be rewarding someone who plays on despite illness and injury too?

Federer To Meet Fans Tuesday. From Hola. Thanks.

HOLA

If fed has back, stomach and mono problems why is he doing an exo on Tuesday?

Federer To Meet Fans Tuesday

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 14 (Bernama) — Swiss tennis ace Roger Federer is
scheduled to meet fans at the Petronas Twin Towers here on Tuesday in
conjunction with the Showdown of Champions Kuala Lumpur 2008.

The men’s singles World Number Two has allocated 40 minutes to meet
his fans at the lobby of the Petronas Philharmonic Hall between
11.45am and 12.25pm, said Adlan Zabri, the Chief Executive Officer of
LD Sports Sdn Bhd, the promoters of the event.

“This will be a chance in a lifetime for Malaysian tennis fans to get
this close with Federer. He has agreed to sign autographs for the fans
and this is indeed a rare occasion,” he said.

He said as the turn out would be huge, fans are advised to assemble at
Petronas Philharmonic Hall’s lobby area early and to follow
instructions issued by security personnel at the location to avoid
disappointment.

Federer, together with James Blake, and legends John McEnroe and Bjorn
Borg will be participating in the Showdown of Champions at Putra
Stadium, Bukit Jalil on the same day.

Meanwhile, one lucky fan will be driving home a Proton Satria Neo if
he or she catches a golden ball hit by the players prior to the start
of the second match between Federer and Blake.

Aside from being thrilled by the skills of world class tennis players,
spectators of the Showdown of Champions will also be entertained by
the countrys leading divas like Jaclyn Victor, Ning Baizura and Ella.

– BERNAMA

Federer’s recipe for success next season and beyond.

REST. Duh!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Federer first event of next season SHOULD be Halle. Yes, you got it right. NOTHING before that. Why?

Because that’s enough time to COMPLETELY and THOROUGHLY recuperate from the incessant abuse the body has undergone for the last five freaking years.

All the BS predictions I have spewed out on Federer so far have surprisingly come true. Even though I was just being my own lunatic self, Federer did his part to make everything come true. So emboldened by my luck I am moving forward to lay down the road map for Federer for at least the next year.

What is the cornerstone and basis for this? No. 14.

You have to be out of your freaking mind if you believe any title, rank or whatfreakingever is more important than that number now. And with the way decisions are currently being made at Federer camp, it’s becoming more and more of a distant possibility that the milestone will ever materialise.

No one freaking knows the logic and rationale of so many knucklehead decisions Federer and his advisers have made this year. 15 losses and a ’lucky’ lone major is enough proof of that.

One thing is guaranteed next season. Not only will there be no Grand Slam next year, but those final and semifinal berths Federer reached this year at significant events will move down couple of notches to quarterfinals and beyond.

The most matches Federer could have lost this season were 20, and he ended up with 15 (four titles and one withdrawal at Paris saved him from hitting the ceiling). Also a look at who beat him this year tells the story from another angle:

Djokovic.

Murray – three times.

Fish.

Roddick.

Nadal – four times.

Stepanek.

Simon -two times.

Karlovic.

Blake.

Out of these 15 losses:

-Four were in the finals.

-Three in the semis.

-Three in the quarters.

-One is the penultimate opening round.

-Two in the opening round.

-Two in round robin.

Those four final appearances are most likely to completely vanish if next season is played in full like nothing’s happened. And the two opening round losses will balloon to fill in the open space.

Next season cannot be about being in the top ten in the world or an attempt to avoid fines for pulling out of events or accumulating as many titles as possible or winning Roland Garros. You are at a stone’s throw distance from either sprinkling a shiny sparkle to all what you have achieved so far in your career or putting a damp on each and every one of them.

I don’t know how may different ways I have to explain this ‘open writing on the wall’ secret for some brain dead person to get it. 

Based on last two years data, the most painless, efficient and assured way of getting to No. 14 now is to step back. And prepare for the high percentage shot at hunting down No. 14: And that’s at Wimbledon. By following this MO, you are on the one hand resting your body mind and whatever else needs rest, while on the other going for the layup on grass – the easiest basket you have ever made.

If you think US Open is even close, based on this year’s result, you have got to be out of your freaking mind. You can only base your future plan of action grounded on what has happened in the past to eliminate most, if not all of the probabilities. And since Halle to Wimbledon run was the most impressive smack in the middle of the worst season of your life, shouldn’t that be the ideal hunting ground for No. 14?

But the two solutions have to be combined to make it as foregone a conclusion as you can get. I mean rest and Wimbledon.

Looking at how Federer has decided to move so far this season, it’s hard to imagine he will change much next year for a variety of knucklehead reasons only he is privy to. Who knows he may get lucky again and hit a vein just in time to win another major, but it won’t be the smartest way to get there. It’s like the blind squirrel who occasionally may get an acorn, but that’s a gamble with high probabilities.

Federer interview after losing to Murray.

Click here.

Djokovic vs Davydenko.

Photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Djokovic’s girl friend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now science has proven, what I knew all along, why you cheap freaks won’t give up your TV.

Click here.

Murray pays the price by losing to Davydenko in straights.

Should Murray have pulled back and lost that match to Federer yesterday? On paper it appears a no-brainer kind of decision. But when you look at what’s to gain by winning against the unanimous choice of the best player to ever pick up a racket, as a player it becomes a very easy decision even at the expense of a year-end title.

Besides, when you are as fierce a competitor as Murray is AND you are playing competitive tennis, the moment and the subsequent adrenaline rush knocks out any logic and common sense out the window. Additionally there was no guarantee even with less fatigued legs and a tired Federer back that Murray will win the second meeting the very next day.

It’s like the one in hand to two in the bush deal. Clearly Murray has gained immensely by now having a 3-1 H2H advantage over Federer even if it’s at the expense of losing a title and over a million dollars. History is more likely to recognise that, since there a just a handful of clowns with those bragging rights, than another TMC which every one has.

Although Federer was hampered by back, mono and stomach, he still played some of his best tennis and his movement did not appear to have been compromised. Sure his serve could have been better and that could have made the difference, but the way it played out, it kind of evened the playing field, leaving the better of the two tennis players to win in pure tennis terms.

Translation: Without that questionable ace and high first serve percentage lop sided advantage (both served in the 50′s as someone pointed out), it came down to who played better tennis in it’s purist form. Murray took some of the best from Federer that way and still prevailed. That to Murray is immeasurably superior than winning another title this year.

It’s like a double-edged sword – it boosts Murray while piercing Federer’s shield at the same time.

In many ways it was pretty close to this year’s Wimbledon final without the ace drama. While Murray may be thinking of how hard he had to work to put down even an injured Federer, there was very little evidence ON the court to claim Federer was really hurt.

Federer’s movement, forehand, backhand, drop shots, even aces (11) etc. were all clicking. So there’s a lot for Murray to take away from this win, specially as a building block to go for the top spot next season.

The biggest improvement Murray made at this meeting against Federer was that BS I have talked about earlier: Angle and pace combination to Federer’s backhand. Both were present this time, as close to Nadal as he can get, to deny Federer the luxury to run around the shot for his forehand.

While Federer’s backhand stood that test pretty well, mainly due to the lack of top spin that Nadal’s able to generate, it gave Murray more time (slice and less pace) to get set for his shots resulting in his ability to dictate more often than he ever did in the past.

Overall, it was an evenly fought match, or as close you can possibly get – at least on the court (given Federer’s condition) thereby producing one of the best matches of the season.

Better quality video of Federer’s brilliance vs Murray.

Thoughts on Federer-Murray match. From TuckerP and Adrian. Thanks.

TUCKERP

I’m a Murray Fan. I even won “The Open Book”
http://www.usopenshop.org/product_p/usp8b09.htm
when I put Murray as going to the finals of the US Open in the Tennis Channel Racquet Bracket. But, I am more of a Federer Fan than a Murray Fan. I woke up a little earlier today to try and catch some of the Federer-Murray match before school, and I was full of joy when I watched Federer take the first set. “Everything is gonna be all right,” I said to myself. During school I went to the library to check the score and see how Federer did, but what I saw made my heart sink. “Murray ousts Federer from Masters Cup in 3 sets.” When I came home and saw the pictures, I was even more saddened. Anyway, to my main point…Federer had 5205 ranking points coming into the Masters Cup. Djokovic had 4645. If Djokovic wins the tournament, he will end up with 650 points more-5295. Federer won one match though, so he will have 5305. That is a ten point difference. Imagine if the Djoker had beaten Tsonga? Who would have thought this year that Federer would even have a chance to drop to No. 3 in the world? Everyone talked about how he seemed invincible at the beginning of the year; everyone is now talking about how vulnerable he is. Oh, what a bad year he has had…ending the year as number 2 in the world. What kind of incompetent player ends the year as number 2? His career is over. Psh…give me a break…

ADRIAN

Did Murray just do the stupidest thing of his career so far by defeating Federer in three epic sets? I mean, he was already in the semis, and at some point winning the 2nd set tiebreak and then the match against Federer just became a matter of pride… but given the ridiculousness of the 2 first sets, should he have just given in and moved on to the semis? Or shouldn’t he have taken it easier on the 3rd set at least? I know it’s easy to say these things in retrospect, now that we saw how fatigued he was in his match against Davydenko… but only he knows how exhausting the Federer match was and how taxing it was on his legs… Of course now he has that head-to-head advantage over Federer and we shouldn’t discount that, especially since it could give him that additional mental component in future matches… but he had a huge opportunity to win it all had he been a bit fresher. What do you guys think?