US Open 2013

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Anyone for a Tuesday final?

They've even kept doubles scheduled for today ahead of Vika/Ana and the Bryans who will get to play are a round ahead of everyone anyway so cancelling them wouldn't have put them at a disadvantage. Every year the US Open surprises me with their stupidity.

John.Icy

Well...there goes my Fed/Nadal hopes, it seems.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

I thought Wimbledon was crazy but the US Open has topped it. It'll still end up with two of the usual suspects in the men's final and Vika/Serena in the women's so really all this other stuff is pointless.

yerwanthere123

Federer just simply being outplayed. Robredo came out gunning for him tonight. Obviously it's not over yet though

MisterAnarchy

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Federer just simply being outplayed. Robredo came out gunning for him tonight. Obviously it's not over yet though

He isnt being outplayed he just isnt taking his chances.
He had 5 break points in that second set and squandered them all.
Robredo had one and took it,Federer choked in his fourth service game ,he had only given up 1 point to serve in the 3 previous games.

yerwanthere123

Robredo is playing some pretty inspired tennis though

John.Icy

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Robredo is playing some pretty inspired tennis though

Some stunning passing shots by Robredo.

John.Icy

That felt like a last chance. Can see it being over now.

John.Icy

Man...this is hard to watch as a long time Federer fan.

John.Icy

And he's out. Took it like an absolute gent aswell.

I swear if Robredo does a Tsonga and bends over backwards in the next round...TV out the window.

smurfs5

I've never been the biggest Federer fan but obviously have an incredible amount of respect and admiration for him- he has been a joy to watch over the years. It is sad that he is finding it increasingly difficult to win matches that he would ordinarily expect to win. He is the greatest player ever but this year, he has only made one GS semi-final and has only won one title (at Halle and even then, the only players of note who he had to beat were Haas and Youzhny). It's a shame he can't compete at the level which he is capable of but we are undoubtedly seeing the beginning of the decline of Federer.

He was a shadow of his great self in that match tonight. It's a shame we won't have a Nadal/Federer match-up at this year's US Open but I have to say that I think Robredo will give Rafa a better match than Roger would have.

yerwanthere123

John.Icy wrote: »

And he's out. Took it like an absolute gent aswell.

I swear if Robredo does a Tsonga and bends over backwards in the next round...TV out the window.

Ah yes, humble Roger and all that

yerwanthere123

I actually felt sorry for Federer out there though, he looked pretty pathetic in that last set.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

I do wonder if he's carrying an injury this season. He's said tonight that he felt fine and his back is fine but it's a huge drop in quality from him this year. It's not your normal gradual decline. Last year he lost matches but to much better players, now he's losing to everyone.

yerwanthere123

Good to see Kohlschreiber giving Nadal a match, I thought this would be three quick sets.

Rjd2

Gasquet's backhand is great for youtube compilations, but it always breaks down at crucial moments in matches, about to go 2-1 down against Milos.

Depressingly Tipsy refusing to lose to Ferrer as well:(:mad:

grohlisagod

Kohlschreiber playing some exciting stuff.

MisterAnarchy

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

I do wonder if he's carrying an injury this season. He's said tonight that he felt fine and his back is fine but it's a huge drop in quality from him this year. It's not your normal gradual decline. Last year he lost matches but to much better players, now he's losing to everyone.

He is definitely carrying a back injury and has been for well over a year.
Its obviously playing on his mind but he doesnt want to make a big issue about it.

He looked wrecked out there tonight , I have never seen him sweat as much .
Federer played alot of serve and volley ,he wanted to shorten the points to conserve energy .

Robredo played out of his skin but if Federer had taken half of his break points he would have won the match.

Federer cannot seem to take his break points anymore ,he seems to get nervous ,something he never did in his prime .
He only won 2/16 break points tonight ,two games he had double break points and one game triple game points and he blew them.

He seems to follow these games where he has alot of break points with an atrocious service game.
He also never lost tie breaks ,he loses most of them now.

Gasquet's backhand is great for youtube compilations, but it always breaks down at crucial moments in matches, about to go 2-1 down against Milos.

Alot of single handed backhands in action tonight,Federer,Robredo,Gasquet,Kohlshreiber ,nice to see them ,they are a thing of beauty in this age of the two handed backhand.

Rjd2

2-1 down Mr Gasquet, he is done and dusted.


Tipsy out?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GwjfUFyY6M

Rjd2

Credit to Gasquet he is hanging in their, now in a fifth, good match indeed. Still think Milos will come through however.

MisterAnarchy

Robredo took as many sets off Federer tonight as he had in their 10 prior matches combined ,says it all about Federer's drop in standard.
He is losing now to guys like Robredo and Berdych,guys he used to flog in his heyday.

He still is good to watch though ,makes a nice change from the boring grinders like Nadal and Murray with their 1 dimensional games.

"I'm delighted. Today the difference is I won the break points and he did not," said 31-year-old Robredo.

Rjd2

Well done Gasquet, would love for him to beat Ferrer but he has a brutal record against him so won't expect to much.

Thirty percent

smurfs5 wrote: »

I've never been the biggest Federer fan but obviously have an incredible amount of respect and admiration for him- he has been a joy to watch over the years. It is sad that he is finding it increasingly difficult to win matches that he would ordinarily expect to win. He is the greatest player ever but this year, he has only made one GS semi-final and has only won one title (at Halle and even then, the only players of note who he had to beat were Haas and Youzhny). It's a shame he can't compete at the level which he is capable of but we are undoubtedly seeing the beginning of the decline of Federer.

He was a shadow of his great self in that match tonight. It's a shame we won't have a Nadal/Federer match-up at this year's US Open but I have to say that I think Robredo will give Rafa a better match than Roger would have.

The beginning of the decline was 2008, I hate when people don't realise this and forget how good he was in 2004-2007.

Gerry91

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

Robredo took as many sets off Federer tonight as he had in their 10 prior matches combined ,says it all about Federer's drop in standard.
He is losing now to guys like Robredo and Berdych,guys he used to flog in his heyday.

He still is good to watch though ,makes a nice change from the boring grinders like Nadal and Murray with their 1 dimensional games.

"I'm delighted. Today the difference is I won the break points and he did not," said 31-year-old Robredo.

??

Murray has a brilliant all-round game

I'm no Rafa fan but he's had to alter his game, before injury, to win the USO, and is playing sublime stuff again this week

Not as gifted as Fed, not one dimensional though.

Boring to watch perhaps

yerwanthere123

Vika being completely outplayed by Ana right now

WaterLily.

I don't think you could call either Rafa's or Andy's game one dimensional in the slightest!?

Yes neither of them have the same finesse or effortless look to their game like Federer does, but it just means they have a different style of game. But you can't win grand slams on different surfaces, especially the amount Nadal has won, with a one dimensional game. I don't think either of them are at all boring to watch either, just my opinion though.

Saw the Robredo/Federer match last night and it was painful to watch ... especially the last set and a half. Federer just went to pieces at all the crucial moments. Robredo played fantastically though and I was so happy for him at the end (he'll also give Nadal a much better match than Federer would have, had he scraped through only to continue playing badly), but although I'm not a die-hard Federer fan it was quite sad to see him play like that, he just didn't seem to have any drive or determination left. I agree with what someone else said that maybe he needs a break for a few months so that he could come back fresher and have a clean sheet for the start of 2014 and just try to put this year behind him.

MisterAnarchy

WaterLily. wrote: »

I don't think you could call either Rafa's or Andy's game one dimensional in the slightest!?

Perhaps I phrased it incorrectly .
Their games are not 1 dimensional but they are boring .
Rafa seems to be getting more and more boring .

Saw the Robredo/Federer match last night and it was painful to watch ... especially the last set and a half. Federer just went to pieces at all the crucial moments. Robredo played fantastically though and I was so happy for him at the end (he'll also give Nadal a much better match than Federer would have, had he scraped through only to continue playing badly), but although I'm not a die-hard Federer fan it was quite sad to see him play like that, he just didn't seem to have any drive or determination left.

Federer didnt play that badly to be honest ,its just that he made a complete hash of the big points something that has creeped into his game over the last few years.

He was very solid on his serve and only gave up 7 break points.

He only took 2/16 break points ,and blew three games in which he held a 0-40 lead.
He had his chances ,loads of them,but by his own admission he self destructed .

Its a mental issue ,the same as his good friend Tiger Woods has.
They often look the same, even brilliant, but when it comes to that big point, that crucial putt, the mind is playing tricks -- particularly at the major events.
Tiger's three-footer curls out. Federer's forehand put-away sails five feet long. And the foundation of mystique comes crashing down.

walshb

Thirty percent wrote: »

The beginning of the decline was 2008, I hate when people don't realise this and forget how good he was in 2004-2007.

One could argue that 2009 was Federer's peak. He was phenomenal. He may not have won as much, but that version of him was off the charts. Made 4 slam finals, winning two. In the earlier years he didn't have the same level of competition, which may have led some to believe that he was better. In 2009 he had to contend with real stiff opposition. The big 3 almost at their peaks.

yerwanthere123

Oh Ana. What an opportunity to waste.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Oh Ana. What an opportunity to waste.

She played better than I've seen her play for years but only for parts of the match. Vika had very little to do with that outcome, it was like she was just standing there waiting for the inevitable. Ana lost it.

Youzhny making a mess of this match. Has just about managed to hang in the 4th at the moment but Hewitt should never have got a set off him.