Vamos Murray!!!

wow, amazing stuff early

federer is in the grame only because of his incredible shot making. murray owns him in the rallies. just keep the ball deep. must get more first serves in only. i am not worried. Go Murray!

Murray is winning the rallies because he is just dinking the ball in play

Federer is winning the POINTS because he is finishing them off before they become rallies.

yeah now federer is on fire, dictating, and murray seems to have lost it

murray is back in the game again but good hold for federer to 4-2.

Murray better not lose this in straights....

That was a "good" hold for Murray. And by good, I mean "strategically placed errors from Federer". Federer is all over him - I'm surprised he let that insurance break slip away.

Federer has been so impressive. Murray's starting to hang his head.

that second set was Federer all the way. Come on Murray!

The fed...... 6-3 6-4 ..... very close to ma prediction..... i hope fed wins this 6-3..... rofl !!!!

Alerrrrrrr........Roger !!!!! :P

Where is the excitement, where is the electricity, where is the edge of your seat stuff, where are the Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrhs and Oooooooooooooohs - in Manacor, Mallorca, Spain


Get Well Soon Rafa. Tennis badly needs you!
Vamos

i will actually be gutted if murray doesn't take at least one set. and i'm not even a murray fan. i just want this to be competitive. we had great finals in every grand slam last year (even though french open was 3 sets. it was the result and what it meant that was so great). don't want this year to start off with a straight sets beatdown

carrie - I have to agree with you on that score. Without Rafa, the electricity is missing.

croc: admire your optimism, I have none left! Just want Andy to retain some pride and get a set!
If this were anyone else would be loving Fed's perfect game!

i agree with carrie and chery. this is why we need rafa (ok, i know delpo has also beaten federer in a grand slam final. and a-rod nearly did. but... i'm a rafa fan, haha :P). he's very, very noticeable by his absence

I was going to drive my husband to the airport this morning but he felt very guilty that I would miss the match so he decided to get a taxi, and it cost £60 - for this!! £60 for a damp squib of a final.



Get Well Soon Rafa. Tennis badly needs you!
Vamos

that should read *cheryl. obviously, haha

and for those watching on eurosport... anyone know what music is played in the federer rolex ads? hate the ads, but i love the music

If u ppl wanna see Rafa playing finale against Fed... n need electrifying envo..... let him reach Finales first ..... ha ha ha ha ha

Roger Fed-The Name Substitutes Consistency.

Alerrrrrrr.........Roger !!!!!! :P

Fed is letting him back in the match

Roger's level of play significantly dropped. That's not good.

Consistency without electricity = boring!! Boring for the spectators, boring for the viewers.

So Rafa please has a speedy recovery and come back and gives us the 'electricity' that is so badly missed!

unfortunately i agree with luckystar

the match proves that this sport needs the following 2 players to be healthy: Nadal and Delpo

Federer 2 sets to love and 5:4 in the 3rd - match over.

It's not consistency without electricity lucky, it's about one who's playing really well and executes his game plan perfectly, and the other is not. That's what amazes in fed nadal matches. Both of them executes their game plan to perfection and the best on the day wins.

if its not 6-4 i am afraid andy will lose in 3 sets.

if its not 6-4 i am afraid andy will lose in 3 sets.

Why does Federer turn his back to the umpire and bark out 'challenge' instead doing it in a polite way?

Rafa, missing you already!

LOL @Carrie. May be I should concentrate more when he says it to see his status.

unfortunately i agree with luckystar

the match proves that this sport needs the following 2 players to be healthy: Nadal and Delpo
RickyDimon , 1/31/10 11:48 AM

absolutely. i also reckon nole would do better than this

Even when Rafa is losing, there is a buzz around the place.



Get Well Soon Rafa. Tennis badly needs you!
Vamos

dreadful stuff from both at the moment

wow. This tiebreak is....pretty bad. nice shank misses from both.

is the net actually too high?

Federer wins in 3.

Of course we won't see any tears today.

well that was... crap

John Lloyd has just said the tennis was incredible, which match was he watching?

16 slams for Rogi. WWWWOOOOOWWWWW

carrie: think he was watching last years final? :P

awww that was boring
this match hardly missed the rafa factor :(

just a dreadful tennis match (tiebreaker was entertaining, but not high quality)

This is boring. How can a man win so much. Come on Rafa mend your knees fast. You cant let any1 else win the FO.
Murray disappointed bigtime. No one apart from Rafa has the mental strength to beat Fed.

So its not meant to be. Sorry for Murray, try harder next time! Congrats to Fed. Fed played well overall, though I think his level dropped a bit in the third set. Its a pity that Murray didn't capitalize on the break he got in the third set, and allowed Fed back into the game again.

I feel that Murray played better against Rafa, being more aggressive. In the final, he allowed Fed to dominate all the way; he hardly S & V or do anything special that could surprise Fed. It seemed that he couldn't up his game when he needed it most. I'm quite disappointed that he couldn't even get a set. Sorry for alex and deuce.

Both the BBC and British Eurosport think that we prefer to listen to Becker, Henman and Mats than watch the presentation ceremony. I'm dying to hear what the MC has to say this year compared to the way Rafa was treated last year, and to see if Murray cries!

deuce and alex, I was rooting for Murray - big disappointment.

Sumthn burning....... rofllll

Congrats Roger -The King....... :)

oh what a lame creature murray is
play well instead of sobbing

Murray is cracking up, but at least it's because he's just missed winning his first GS. Murray says he can cry like Roger but he can't play like him, and he burst into tears and had to stop.

one pharase ...

C'MON !!

:)

Did anyone hear what Murray muttered when Federer turned to him and said 'you played a great match'

...... another title which poor errrrr.....injured.... Rafa could not defend...... hahaha

m sooooo happy..... feeling lyk flying w/o wings......eh.... 16th GS.... 10 more den his closet competitor n closets rival..... rofl..... Insane...the record says it all....... buh !!!!!

jka\bcjkbkdjb....... klakQHKDJ....... sry these r not slang....... just fingers shivering in excitement...... no na happiness...... aha..... it was amazing ... The Fed rules............:D

I think Mandy let nerves get to him for the first two sets. But it was INCREDIBLE play at 1-2 down in the first set to break back. If he had continue playing like that, he would've more than a shot at the title.

Am ecstatic for Federer, of course, but am agreeing with the majority that it does somehow lack the ooomph of a Fed/Rafa final. All credit to Murray for putting up a credible fight, especially with pushing Fed physically and mentally in the tiebreaker.

Australian Open 2010 is over, and I'm so happy I got to experience some of it in the arena. :) Great play by everyone, get well soon Rafa!

Onward to French Open....4 months down the road? Can't wait.

why cant people be sportsmanlike? Roger doesnt turn his back to the empire. Why do you have to have a go at him. So petty,childish,churlish,low,pathetically feeble.

Ricky, I thought was a great match. just because rafa isnt in the final, doesnt mean that this final wasnt great to watch. it was. The tie break was gripping. it was disappointing for murray, but he played well, some great shots and it's great that men show emotion. andy is the player for the future. roger is still very much in the present and still the one to beat. well done roger. federer still moves on and is just crazily brilliant.
dreadful stuff from both at the moment
RickyDimon , 1/31/10 12:02 PM

what match were you watching ricky? certainly not the fed one. I suppose it would have been a brilliant match if murray won?

so i guess because murray cries, thats okay?

To the murray fans: you guy played well. be proud. this was a great match. i dont care what anyone else says. i enjoyed it along with many other fans. poor losers some of you here. (not murray fans), but rafa fans.

maxi,

what match were you watching? LOL. Tiebreaker was fun. Quality for a Grand Slam final was sub-par.

muzza kind of choked in the 3rd set..had the set on his rackets atleast 3 times ! especially that volley. but federer was toooo hot for muzza to handle in the first two sets, the way murray played the 3rd sets was the way he needed to play from the start;hitting hard forehands ! federer is a monster in these finals,,,only rafa can topple him in these finals,,its almost unbelievable how consitent he is at this level !


NOW ITS TIME TO ANNOUNE THE WINNER OF THE TT PREDICTING COMPETITION WINNER! WE HAVE A TIE BETWEEN VINCENT AND RICKY,so the tiebreak results will be posted on the blog federer vs muzza expert pick....in abt 10 mins ! stay tuned folks !

I think Muzza challenged Fed more than Rafa could have challenged him if Rafa made it to the final this year.

1st set- Muzza was trying to frustrate Fed with long rallies
2nd set-Muzza started making unforced errors
3rd set- Muzza turned into aggresive mode and I believe that Muzza can be like Federer if he is used to playing aggresive. Some of Muzza's shot was fantastic.

AM sorry for Muzza, He'll be GS champ soon enuff. Wimby will be where he gets his 1st Slam. maybe this year. And he'll have to beat Fed again... :)

Ricky, you must be the "only" "sport-er" who said this was an "awful" match. some "awful shots", yes, but on the whole a great match. may not have lived up to the hype in your eyes, because again, you got your prediction wrong - 4 sets did you say? could have gone that way, but it didnt.

Federer showed his deep,deep, mental strength,on championship point (3rd), plus murray showed his nerves on the 5 set points. my word, how could this ever be described as an awful match. No way.

This is where the experience comes out,dont you think? Murray kept it close all the way through and that is a huge plus sign for him for next tournaments. he has done so well. so well. and comparing the scores to the USO 2008 final, murray was still beaten in straight sets but they were much closer this time. That is why this match (one of the reasons) why this match was great. More experience from murray. that's all. and i just wish that people could be a little nicer on this forum but i spose that's too much to ask for.

And, where is ATR? didnt he say he would leave this site as federer would never win a slam again? looks like he has gone.

AWFUL!?!??!?!?! the mere thought is comical.

It was far from awful. It was also FAR from great.

And anyway who cares? Why are we discussing the QUALITY of the match!?!?!? Get over it. There are more important things to discuss.

it was awful if great is nadal v/s federer or nadal v/s verdasco last year
you expect to see this match amongst the best of 2010? just shoot me

maxi, your comments about rafa fans being poor losers is a bit too much. I know you are in cloud nine now, but you shouldn't pass remarks like this.

This match is really missing something. Murray is doing more of defending than attacking. If you've watched the match between Murray and Rafa, you'll see that Murray did play much more aggressively than today. You enjoyed the match because Fed was the one doing all the attacking and he played beautifully, and winning at the same time; naturally you would feel the match was of high quality. Looking from Murray's perspective, he did not play well today, preferred to stay back and do all the running. How many times did you see him come to the net and attack? His serve wasn't great too. He can't even get a set from Fed, despite having all the chances, esp in the third set. Overall high quality from Fed and not so high quality from Murray, maybe Fed didn't allow Murray to play his game.

Many of us felt that the match was boring because both players could not play well at the same time; unlike last year's final where both Fed and Rafa played well, at least during set 2 to set 4.

luckystar. the problem is that this match had nothing to do with rafa. past is past.the final was between federer and murray and i thought it was a great match. i just couldnt believe that ricky said it was an awful match. now that he has changed his remark from awful to "It was far from awful. It was also FAR from great". put a different slant on it.

there were some great shots in the match from murray. said so by BBC/Eurosports and for then someone to say match was awful is just wrong. Please dont tell me not to pass remarks like that. this is federer's day and we are just pleased for him and send condolences to murray who played great too, just not his day today. but dont say the match was bad. it wasnt.
And anyway who cares? Why are we discussing the QUALITY of the match!?!?!? Get over it.

thanks for the advice ricky.you know best.

Everyone please refer to the blog expert picks Federer vs Murray..i have the results and I am preparing a post,it will be published in a few minutes.

bang on Maxi !!!! :)

Er..maxi, you mean you can pass remarks like 'rafa fans being poor losers' and expect us to keep quiet and accept such unfair remark?

You thought it was a great match, that's fine, you are entitled to your own opinion. Many of us thought the match is so-so only because it was almost a one sided affair during the first set, and Murray didn't play well to capitalize on the lead in the third set. Again, looking from Murray's perspective, it is not a good match, even though there are some good shot-making from him too. We just expect a bit more from Murray since this is a final, the shot making during the match with Rafa and the match with Cilic were so much better than this final. Naturally we are disappointed as we expect more than this from Murray. Fed did play very well though, there is no denying about that.

sory for interuppting your discussions folks but i wanted to tell that the final results of the TT predicting competition have been posted so please have a look and comments will be appreciated :)

Roger Federer again proved his class today

Rafans has always come up with this thing even when Rafa's not there. When Fed played Roddick, they say the same thing.

All becoz there is no Rafa. Ricky is definitely a Rafa fan. How else did he came up with the analysis that this match was not great. The rallies were long. The shots were amazing.

Just becoz it's str8 sets, you guys think Muzza didnt play well. Like Tsonga said, when Fed is playing like this, nobody can beat him, including Rafa.

luckystar, this is federer's day. i would like to enjoy it not enter into irrelevancies.hey dont matter.go see some of the comments made by rafa fans and then the picture becomes clearer.probably luckstar (i dont mean to be rude), you say it was so-so because rafa wasnt in it.i wish rafa the best.i look forward to rafa/roger rivalries.but right now, this isnt going to happen.sorry for rafa.

The match was one sided alright. When a guy loses in straight sets you have to say the match was not upto a GS final. The USO 09 was great inspite of no rafa and FO 08 was not great inspite of Rafa. So its not abt Rafa but the quality of a GS match
And I dont know why Maxi says Rafans are sore losers. Fed outplayed Murray. Good on him.

when u say 'when federer is playing like this,nobody can beat him,imcluding rafa' .torres actually the problem is that rafa never allows federer to play with such rhythm! he destroys fed's rhythm quite often and rafa is the only player who induces fear and severe tension in roger's mind and body..so its diff...for the match today i think there were good pnts .ppl are very disappointed that murray didnt win the 3rd set which was on his racket a few times, otherwise fed was brilliant and we had good moments but after watching the finals of the last 2 slams we were expecting more so when a match like this fails to live up to the expectations ,comments like these do appear . cheers :)

Just becoz it's str8 sets, you guys think Muzza didnt play well. Like Tsonga said, when Fed is playing like this, nobody can beat him, including Rafa.
torres9 , 1/31/10 1:42 PM

I think this is the point torres.but i am going to celebrate now with some friends.

maxi, I think you are insulting me when you assume that I'll say any match without Rafa is so-so. If that is the mentality that I have, then why would I waste time and watch a so-so match? It's precisely the opposite, ie I expect the match to be interesting that's why I watch it and felt disappointed about how one of the player (Murray) played. DON'T QUESTION MY INTEREST IN A TENNIS MATCH!!

vmk1 puts it very well. It's not all about Rafa, I certainly DO NOT enjoy the FO 08 final match as that is a straight beat down and it is never a nice thing to watch a beat down. In fact I hate a beat down, and that's why during this AO final, I'm so worried for Murray that he'll suffer a humiliation at the hands of Fed. I have nothing against Fed and I have already stated that he played very well!

he destroys fed's rhythm quite often and rafa is the only player who induces fear and severe tension in roger's mind and body

Unfortunately Rafa cant even destroy Muzza's rhythm in QF, so if Muzza can beat Rafa in str8s, it's ill-advised that he meet Fed when Fed is in this kind of form.

And now that Fed has no less pressure to break 14 or get a Career Slam, expect him to be even deadlier.

FEDERITES ...game , set , match , championship !!!!!

Who really gives a crap what quality the match was , what shots were made and etc . All Muzza or Fed fans want was thier man to win ...i really dont give a crap if Fed never hit a forehand and just aced his way through. At this stage it not about putting up a show , its about winning the last damn match . Those of you who are not fans of either Muzza or Fed really have no right to bitch and cry about the quality of the match since its most likely that either Fed or Muzza took your man out on the way to the final . Stop bickering Federites ... meet me in cloud 9 !

Oh yeah ...for those of you who keep saying that Muzza attacked less in this match ...well true ...but thats simply because he is facing a player thats ALL OUT attack ..you can counter attack with attack ...you have to defend then counter attack ( if you can !) . All other Muzza match he could attack simply because the opponent was more defensive than he is ...anyways ...like i said ...dun give a crap ...la la la ...

C'MON !!!
AO10...we've just lifted one more down under

The ladies' final had more fizz. I feel it was such an anti-climax for a men's GS final that I am going to watch the Rafa/ Khol match to get my tennis fix for today.


Get Well Soon Rafa. Tennis badly needs you!
Vamos

fedexfan, you get the gist of it. To the Fed or Murray fans, quality of the match is not important but the win is. To the non-fans, we just want to see a good quality match. So what's wrong with the comments about the quality? Ain't we free to voice our opinions? Are we not supposed to say anything just because we are non fans? Anyway, whatever we said, it will not take anything away from Fed. Fed fans should go celebrating instead of be bothered with the comments by non fans. Just leave us to discuss about the quality, OK?

torres...i think u are missing the point ,federer really gets into uncomfortable zones when playing nadal ,muzza with his worldclass two hander does much better handling rafa's forehand especially on hard courts.plus one thing i dont get abt muzza is that when playing rafa I have noticed that he just goes for his shots TOO much ..takes alot of risks and plays so much aggressive as if there is no alternate ,thats the way to do it .against roger he tries to apply his traditional counterpunching style and when things go very bleak he hits the accelerator but its too little too late...the forehands he was hitting in the 3rd set were very much needed in the 1-2 sets.Nadal played fine tennis..somehow needs calm and confidence back to play big pnts better 2/15 brk pnts won is so not rafa-like and feels odd..I can only pray adn hope he gets his mental edge back :)

Who really gives a crap what quality the match was , what shots were made and etc .

fedexfan , 1/31/10 2:26 PM



Obviously, a lot of people do, that's why we are writing about it.



Get Well Soon Rafa. Tennis badly needs you!
Vamos

I cant believe all this Rafans trying to flood this thread with Rafa stuff when he's not even playing.

OH MY GOD!! Talk about denial.

Even if Rafa played, I think it'll still be a boring match coz Fed at this form would have won in str8 sets anyway...

SWEET 16!!!

vamosrafa,
following on with your point, all players tend to play very aggresive against Rafa, they all come on court all psyched up and pumping, something they don't seem to do with any other player.

torres, Rafa does not do boring! When Rafa walks onto the courts, the lights come on.


Get Well Soon Rafa. Tennis badly needs you!
Vamos

luckystar ...there was nothin wrong with the quality . Look at the winner count . It was an all out attack game . Fed did not win simply because of the errors murray committed. He hit some great winners also . Just because Fed was too good and ended it in 3 is not a sign that the match was not good . Its just a sign that Fed was too good .
What really puzzles me is that you would sit and watch a dude just keep scrambling and returning balls to the middle of the court waiting for errors , but when someone actually takes the bull by the horns and goes for it you find it boring ? seriously ? to me waiting for the error is the ultimate sin in tennis .
you might as well ask your opponent how he feels in the beginning and if he says i feel great im gona attack then just retire ...cos you are basically handing the decision of winning or loosing to him .
ANYWAYSSS....im celebrating ...why dont u watch the murray -nadal AO10 match again since you want a high quality beatdown :)

bottom line , the match had a positive Winner to UE ratio. Good number of rallies . Drama in the 3rd and deciding (for FeD) set ...heck he battle from a break down to take in deep in the breaker . Just cos you cant get your head around the fact the FedExpress just wont loose in GS's dont start complaining about the match .

and yes ...i agree with you on one count ...FEDFANS should go celebrate ....everywhere including right here .....

C'MON !!

vamosrafa and carrie .....

RAFA is a defensive player ....he defends and defends and defends ....an amateur can attack against RAFA with ease ( not that an amateur would win , but he can attack ) . Fed is all out attack ......attack attack attack .....and murray cant attack and attacker .....you have to defend against the fed !
You rely on Fed making those errors . Murray said this in his press conference ...he could attack easily against nadal ...but with Fed he cant cos there is no time to hit a winning shot cos he is coming at you . He also INDIRECTLY said nadals serve was crap and he got a lot of chances there ...go read it .

MORE IMPORTANTLY ....lets NOT discuss nadal here ....this is SOOOO not the page for it . There is Fed , and there is Muzza . These are the 2 names that deserve to be on the page for the blog of the AO10 finals .

C'MON !!

It's pathetic that some Rafans pretended to support Murray and then when Muzza doesnt win, they say he's not as good as Rafa.

NEWSFLASH: MUZZA WAS THE ONE WHO KNOCKED OUT RAFA!!!

fedexfan, u r spot on. This is not the time for Rafa.

THIS IS FED's time!!! SWEET 16!

fedexfan, I find your post rather offensive. Why are you assuming that I can't get round the fact that Fed continues to win in slam?

It is exactly the scrumbling and waiting for errors that Murray was doing during the first set that's why we question the quality. If you think Murray played well today, so be it; but I've seen him played better and more aggressive than this. Credit to Fed, for I think he did not allow Murray to be aggressive from the very start of the match.

I do not need you to tell me how I should feel and what I should do. IT PAYS TO SHOW SOME RESPECT TO YOUR FELLOW POSTERS HERE! Can't we non fans be left alone to discuss the match while fans of the winner go celebrating?

PS. If you think Rafa is on defend, defend and defend only, then you clearly have not watched his recent matches. His serve was sub-par this tournament, we know about that, and we have been discussing that to death already, we do not need you to tell us about that.

Fedexfan,

Fed's attacking doesn't hurt Rafa much because Rafa has given him a beatdown 13 out of 20 times, huh!


Get Well Soon Rafa. Tennis badly needs you!
Vamos

torres, I haven't seen anything here where anyone has said that Murray is not as good as Rafa, we are talking about the buzz, fizz, electricity, excitement that Rafa brings onto the court with his personality and style of play.



Get Well Soon Rafa. Tennis badly needs you!
Vamos

hahahahhahah torres and fedexfan are the same - don't care about quality, don't care about gamsmanship, as long as fed wins at ANY cost. looks like it's torres who's only been watching toilet breaks and not tennis.

the best part was fed's pathetic atempt to comfort andy which was the same with roddick last year - cold, sad and dismissive "...so don't worry". i'm surprised he didn't wear a 16 jacket in andy's face. nike didn't deliver this time!

that said, i'll give it to fed for his consistency. i'm not in denial like some people here. feel sorry for muzz and his fans but that's what happens when you don't take it to fed. you miss your chances, you pay. very sorry for alex and deuce.

carrie and other rafa fans. I think we confine ourselves to discussing the final match and stop anything about rafa, as it will become never ending. I hope the bickering will stop then.

I think all these starts when we compare the finals of this and last year and it happens that Rafa was in that match. Somebody mentioned about no electricity in the match during the first set (which I agree considering how lack lustre Murray played in that first set) and naturally we started talking about Fed vs Rafa and how Rafa is missed at this moment as he would certainly provide the electricity needed.

As it turn out, the match was not that competitive, saved for the third set and we started commenting on the quality as a whole. I think Fed's fans feel offended as they think it is a high quality match. I agree as far as Fed's performance is concerned, no doubt about that. We question Murray's performance as we had seen him played better. I now understand why the Fed fans feel offended, as they think we are saying Fed wins only because Murray doesn't play well. I for one didn't mean that, I'm just disappointed about how Murray played today; to me he seems rather defensive. This may be because Fed is very aggressive and didn't allow Murray to be aggressive and hence he is reduced to only defending. I don't know why we bring in Rafa, maybe we think Rafa can fare better than Murray against Fed, and all these bickering start.

Credit where credit is due, Fed is superb today, no question about that. I think even if Murray can win the third set, there is no way that he can win the match, unless Fed's level dropped drastically.

I hope fedexfan and the other Fed fans read these and understand where we, or at least where I'm coming from. I'm definitely not doubting Fed's ability and not jealous of what he's achieved.

carrie is out of shape. She needed 8 posts directly involving rafa in a match he is not involved to provoke another fed-rafa bash. She keeps talking about rafa on a fed-murray match but she gets annoyed when the same is done to rafa. Several other posts insulting fed and murray aswell. Relentless pursuit to pick a fight. Women...

I think both players have been brilliant in first two sets. I dont agree with Ricky's comment that Murray was just dinking the ball in. He kept dinking to fed's backhand to break down and frustrate him but the backhand worked perfect today. Third set was rather disappointing. Congrats to fed, Murray's crying comment was hilarious!

I honestly think this is the best match I've ever seen Roger play, that said the match was not very exciting.

luckystar, muzz came out a bit flat today except for the 3rd set. i couldn't tell if he was nervous but he might have been. have you listened to courier? he picks up on a lot of little things the players do. he picked up on some hypocracy from kholi, the intensity between muzz and nadal, and the mind games started by fed after he beat tsonga. courier mentioned that altho small, muzz would have been watching and fed mentioning 150,000 yrs would play on the person. fed also said to the press before the match "he missed the 1st chance and i will stop him in his 2nd chance and it'll get harder for him after that". courier was a player so i'll take that from him. that said, if muzz took the 4th set, i still think fed would have won. muzz missed his chances in the 1st and set sets. you can't wait for mistakes from fed in a gs final. i was expecting/hoping the same muzz who played rafa would come out but it wasn't. he was not aggressive enough. he had many chances to volley but he didn't. he seemed a bit tight so maybe the occassion got to him. i feel sorry for him, his fans and team. delpo reached his 1st slam final and took it. the depth of mens tennis now is incredible. it's hard enough to get to a gs final and muzz has missed 2 chances now. he moves to no. 3 so i hope he keeps up his motivation like roddick incredibly seems to be doing.

homos, I think its a combination of a few factors that affect Murray's play today. It may be his nerve, the pressure of winning his first slam (and his country's first slam since Fred Perry's time), and also Fed's aggressive play.

He didn't play his S&V game, his serve wasn't great today and he didn't come to the net frequently. He was a bit tentative, stayed at the baseline and kept hitting to Fed's backhand and expected a breakdown but the breakdown didn't come today as Fed's backhand was rock solid today. He allowed Fed to dictate play and we saw what happened. Fed was quick today, hitting so many winners that Murray couldn't even know what to expect, ie couldn't expect where the winners were coming from. Fed could attack using both backhand and forehand and his forehand was firing so well today, hitting winners at 150+ kph, sometimes blowing Murray off the court. There were a few backhand down the line shots too that were impressive.

All said, you cannot stay defensive when playing Fed and expect to win. When Rafa beat Fed, he always played aggressively. Defensive players are just not good enough to do the job. Even when Simon beat Fed at smaller events, Simon also took his chances and attacked when he saw an opening. I just feel that Murray did not attack enough today, probably because Fed didn't allow him to do so.

calm down guys..take it easy. we all should show flexibility patience, its federer's moment so his fans have every right to rejoice, we are not angels so we all have the habbit of triggering off these debates so its okay...please pray rafa gets healthy soon,I am hopeful he wil be a monster come the clay season :)

I thought Muzza did the right thing in trying to frustrate Fed by playing long rallies in the beginning.

Any player who watch videos of Fed's losses is when he gets impatience and started making errors with his FH and BH.

Rafa does this all the time. Serving and hitting at Fed's BH. Difference is Fed has less pressure now and is more patient. And he didnt mind staying in rallies. We saw that against Rafa in Madrid. When counterpunchers rally, what Fed do now is beat them at their own game. Just stay in the rally and give suprise shots like drop shots and short slice.

Difference of Fed now is he is playing with less pressure of fulfilling his GS quest.

Now he's won 2 GS more than anyone else in history, the pressure lessen and lessen.

And I believe he'll stay no.1 until Wimby becoz he scored so low in Miami and Indian Wells. So even less pressure. In his quest now is just adding titles.

What's more to achieve? Calendar Slam? That'll be too ambitious.

Spot on torres9.
Fed's backhand was solid today and he didn't give it away with backhand UEs like against Nadal in the past. It's too bad they haven't played since Madrid because the h2h would be a lot closer now that he's figured him out.

As for the Nadal supporters who thought the match was boring, I bet they didn't think that at FO'08 when it was an easy straight sets win for their boy.

As for Murray, he surprised me in the ceremony by breaking down a little. Good to see that he wants it badly.

On a side note, Djoker backed his way into the #2 spot after today. I don't think he has much to celebrate about though.

Finally, sweet 16 is going to be tough for anybody to beat. Oh, and we're still counting.

torres9, if Murray really think and play like what you mentioned, then I see no improvement in him. Didn't he learn his lessons from Cincy and the WTF? He had lost twice to Fed, certainly he should know that the same old trick ain't good enough.

From what I saw from the match, he did make some adjustments in the second and esp the third set. He was leading 5-3 and serving for the set and he started to falter. I don't know whether that was due to nerve or what, that he lost serve and allow Fed back into the set. He did try to play more aggressively during the third set but it's a bit too late. It seems to me that Murray played like he was afraid to lose rather than playing to win.

When playing against an opponent, one would naturally avoid his opponent's strength and concentrate on attacking his weaknesses. Many players are trying to do the same thing to Fed, ie by attacking his backhand but can I ask you, how many have succeeded? It's just not that simple. You have to give credit to Rafa for successfully doing so. Rafa lost the Madrid match 6-4, 6-4, only one break of serve in each set by Fed. If you think Fed can just drop shot on Rafa on clay all the time and win the match, think twice. The Rafa we saw at that Madrid final was certainly not the 'best' version of him, esp after that 'death in the afternoon' match against Nole.

Rafa had been having some successes against Fed since 2004, and was Fed chasing any of Sampras or the career slam record back then? I believe it was since 2006 when he won 3 slams in a year that the pressure of surpassing Sampras and winning career slams caught up with him. So to imply that each time Fed lost (to Rafa) was due to Fed having less patience and feeling the pressure (because he has not gotten his career slam) is simply incorrect.

chr18, from your post above, I gather that you seems to see things in a simplified way.

So Fed has beaten Rafa at Madrid and now he has figure out how to beat Rafa? Can I ask you what happened in Hamburg 2007 final? Didn't Fed beat Rafa then, and what happen since?

I'm sorry that I disappoint you in that I'm one of those that find the FO 08 final rather boring. If you have the time and scroll backwards on this thread, you'll see that some of us mentioned that too! I'm not sure that all those that find this AO final a bit boring are all Rafa supporters. Maybe chr18 can do a check on all the posters to confirm that? As usual chr18 like to make all sorts of assumptions!

luckystar, i agree with your analysis of andy's game. i do think he was a bit nervous in the beginning, seemed a bit tight at times and not swinging very well. i did also get the impression fed was a bit nervous in the later stages but he's got 15 behind him to fall back on. the 3rd set was the most exciting but i think fed had let murray back into the match by making some mistakes. i still maintain andy lost his chances in the 1st and 2nd sets to give fed a good fight. his game from his quarter final match failed him in the final and ,yes, that included his s&v which was so effective. he many times had the opportunity to come to the net to finish a point but he stayed back. i agree his first serve (and 2nd) was pretty bad. i think it hovered around 60%. in a final against fed, that's suicidal. andy did a rafa and hit about 75-80% to fed's backhand (and vice versa) but fed handled it very well. and andly doesn't have a heavy topspin like rafa tho he did try to send the ball higher at times. and whenever andy gave fed a look in on the forehand, fed handled that even better.

one thing i'm surprised is that andy didn't seem to read the game well or maybe as you say he was nervous and wasn't allowed to play his game. andy is very smart, he normally reads a game well and can counter the opponent. to win, he needed everything to work for him. but he also needed to grab those moments when they appeared. they both said that winning can come down to the difference of a few points. but andy didn't, he stayed defensive and he paid the price. i think his mental strength wasn't there at the start. unfortunately, i don't think the british press will leave him alone. not a god day for gbr. laura robson lost the girls finals. but considering, they may still feel their choice to play the hopman cup was a good warm up having both got to the finals of the open. andy may decide to do the same next year in order to aclimatise early. he said that if he does well at the open, he'll play HC again.

luckystar, u got it wrong.

Fed is different now. He's not scared of long rallies. When he was younger, he likes to finish opponent early and hate defensive players and have problem with Rafa.

But sadly, it's not the case now. He's more patient simply because there is less pressure on him to win Career Slam or breaking GS record.

I know it's a scary thought for u that Fed has evolved. You cant expect everything to stay the same. You cant expect a genius like Fed to just play the same way everytime against Rafa.

This AO performance has been Fed's best for a long time. That's why it's 'boring'. I really would have wanted Rafa in the final coz I wanted to see how Rafa would win against Fed in this kind of form.

But since Rafa lost to Muzza in QF, i dont think Rafa would have troubled Fed in the final.

torres9, I'm not wrong when I said that Rafa beat Fed even before Fed become pressurized by the GS records, am I? That was since 2004 -2005, right? You are strange when you make the statement that I'm scared? Why am I scared? Its not just Fed that is evolving, Rafa too is also evolving. You just can't expect Fed to evolve and all others remain stagnant, can you? I'm sure Delpo, Cilic, Nole and Murray are also evolving. Its too soon to jump into conclusion now.

Fed and Rafa have not met since Fed completed his career slam. Of course I'm not disputing the fact that Fed now seems more relaxed as he gets the burden off his shoulders. We'll not know for sure the results of their meetings until they really meet up. Till then all these comments that we made are just guess work.

Of course from your standpoint as a Fed fan, you hope that he'll meet Rafa and beat him now, knowing full well that Rafa is not at his best and his confidence is not sky high at the moment. This is not the right way to beat a man, when he is down. Why not wait for Rafa to come back from his injury and face off at IW or Miami?

luckystar, ur last post just showed how u probably overlooked some things. Fed has always been pressurized to get the Career Grand Slam. In the FO it's like a mental burden for him to get it and Rafa stopped him 4 times where he was so desperate to get it. How can you say he is not pressurized back then?

And did Rafa always beat a 100% Fed, not everytime but u guys still bragged abt it. In Wimby 2008 when Fed was struggling with mono, did Rafa wait for Fed to have gain confidence before meeting him? Hell no!

And did Rafa suddenly decide to play the FO finals on Hard court so that he would not have an advantage over Fed? No.

There are so many times when Rafa beat Fed when he is down. So dont talk abt Rafa being injured so it's not right that Fed beat him rite now.

And the ones that think Fed is not evolving are Rafans who constantly think that Fed will just let Rafa beat him without changing his game.

torres9, you obviously did not read my previous two post correctly before you respond? Didn't I state clearly in my previous two posts that it was only in 2006 after the FO that Fed started feeling the pressure of a career slam etc? That was when Rafa had beaten him twice at the FO, and Fed's slam tally get up to eight or nine then and there was a realistic hope of surpassing Sampras.

You bring up the mono issue again, but please consider this: the fact that Fed played all the way and reached the final of both FO and Wim told me something that mono was no longer an issue that bother him then. Earlier on during that year, yes he was bothered by that. Please remember also that Fed had reached the final of Monte Carlo and Hamburg that year too. His losses on clay to Rafa weren't anything new, and prior to meeting Rafa at the Wim final, he had won the Halle tournament and was beating everyone in straight sets on his way to the Wim final. How then was his confidence affected? Again he lost to the better man on that day.

The fact that now Rafa can't even get to the final of the AO and the fact that how poorly he played the hard court season last year and lost to almost all top ten players that he met said something about the level of confidence that Rafa had now, whether you like to acknowledge it or not. Given a choice, I would rather have Rafa going into the AO final and got beaten by Fed, than to lose in the QF to Murray and had his ranking gone down to no.4!

And what advantage did Rafa have over Fed at the FO? The surface is the same for both, the conditions are the same for both, so it is merely the better player win on the day. Are you thinking about the H2H? I didn't even mention that!

Who says Fed is not evolving? Again please read my previous post before responding. I said Fed is not the only one evolving, others like Rafa, Delpo, Cilic, Nole and Murray are also evolving. And who said that Fed will just let Rafa beat him without changing his game? Ain't we here saying that players (and that include Fed and Rafa) are evolving??

luckystar the guy goes repeatedly around in circles. he's made up his mind, you can't change it. i just realised that in another thread where he can't admit fed's gamesmanship that wwas noticed by the cameramen, journalist, jim courier, and arena fans. and this wasn't even the first time it happened.

luckystar, i think ur the one that's not reading my post and misintepret it completely.

1st of all, if you say that Rafa do not have an advantage over Fed on clay because of his weapons, then I dunno if u know tennis at all.

2ndly, that statement doesnt mean FO should not be played on clay, it simply means it doesnt matter Rafa gets beaten now or in the past because u brought up the notion that it is not right for Fed to beat Rafa now.

3rdly, u downplayed Fed's lack of confidence and he definitely was struggling with mono in 2008 but now that Rafa is lacking confidence and not 100%, u think it's not 'right' for him to get beaten by Fed now, cant u see u are conradicting yourself.

4th, Again with the pressure,

There are 2 type of pressure that Fed faced and clearly u did not read my post.
1) Career Grand SLam by winning FO. Lemme ask u when did Fed start to lose to Rafa in FO finals?
2) GS record- This pressure was definitely on him during A02009.

So, the one whose not really reading the posts are u, not me.

well well well.....oo much talking abt Rog Vs Rafa matches.... h2h ... win or loss wteva... but at the end of day its a win which matters.... its da title which matters.... its the record which matters.... its da ranking which matters...... and at this point of tym..... Rafa is way behind than Roger is...... :D

talking abt tennis.... y the hell rafa gets njured every second match he plays..... if he is not putting 150% every match to win ..... obviously if ur opponent is giving 100 n ur giving 150% ....u will win na...... but the out cum is gtn injured every now n then dats da problem with Rafa......

Not to forget Rafa has beaten Fed on clay most of da tymz..... n has not faced Roger whn he was on his peak b/w 2004-2007 !!!!

The most no of win came odr than Clay against Rog in 2008 whn he had mono n back pain...... n n n ..... now we no that Roger has won 16 GS title including elusive FO.... whch he was desiring from ages..... got bk his fav Wimby crown..... revenged AO.... {not against Rafa ...errr coz he cud to make it above Quarters }...... 23 str8 semi appearance..... insane..... ths guy is crazzy to play so consistently at the highest level of tennis....... :P

We no that Rog has played last 8 Finale at GS compared to Rafa's..... 3 since 2008 AO..... he has won.... 4 four compared to Rafa's 3 !!!! He got his #1 ranking bk n leading by ova 3000 [dunno exact] pints from his closest competitor !!!!! lolllllllllzzzzzz

his arch rival is gtn injured frequently..... who was supposed to spark this year AO final yet again...... ppl won't rem how many tymz Rafa has beaten Roger .......but the records n no of titles...... n 237 weeks at No.1 spot.......common......

get well soon Rafa ..... to be humiliated !!!! roflllll......

Alerrrrrrrrr Roger......or shall i say Vamos Roger .........hahaha

Torres9, it seems that we can't see eye to eye.

First, I thought we are arguing about when the pressure on Fed started? I did say it all started after the FO 06, when Rafa successfully defended his FO title and beating Fed for a second time in a slam. Fed at that point of time had 7 slams, and he finished the year 2006 with 9, winning three slams during the year. I believe the pressure on him started then when he seriously thought of himself having a real chance of surpassing Sampras' 14 slams, and at the same time, he might be thinking of a career slam. Prior to the FO 06, nobody could foresee that Rafa would turn into such a formidable force on clay, and I believe Fed himself, when facing Rafa at the 05 & 06 FO, wouldn't had any pressure yet about getting the career slam.

Talking about Rafa's 'weapon' on clay, I think you meant his topspin forehand on clay. So, he is not supposed to use his 'weapon' just because his opponent didn't have one, or his opponent couldn't handle it? And do you know that this 'weapon' of Rafa couldn't work well on hard and yet he managed to beat Fed three times out of six meetings on hard? You think Fed did not have 'weapon'? What about his 'weapon' on grass and hard, ie his serve? So, must he refrain from using this 'weapon' when his opponent can't handle it or his opponent doesn't have it? I thought every player has to bring and use their best weapon(s) on the court in order to have a chance to beat his opponent? Why single out Rafa's 'weapon' only.

I have no doubt that Fed had mono earlier part of that year 2008, but by mid year when the clay and grass court season started, he was out of it, as evident by the fact that he played well and reached the finals of MC, Hamburg, FO, Wim and winning Halle. If you meant that the loss at FO would affect Fed's confidence, it was Fed that denied it and judging by how well he played at Halle and Wim, where he didn't drop a set on his way to the final, it seems that he had no confidence issue. Furthermore, if Fed had both mono effect and confidence issue, he won't be able to fight for 5 sets in the final, coming back from 2 sets down, when the pressure physically and mentally would be hard to bear for one that suffered from such effects.

I did not dispute the fact that Fed was under pressure in the slams, including those times where he met Rafa. I only disagree about the timing of when the pressure started. Obviously when Rafa won his FO 05 SF and FO 06 final against Fed, the pressure had not started to build on Fed yet. To say that Rafa beat Fed only because Fed was under pressure is not 100% correct, and is not giving Rafa the credit that he deserves.

none takin credit awa from Rafa 4 beating Fed at n e point of tym.....hez given due whn its !!!!

.just give Roger his due...... :P

Roger was won AO on his own.... hez not gifted win.... or Rafa did not gifted win to his opponent..... Rafa was beaten by better player on da given day n Rog beat his opponent dominantly in str8 sets...... be gracious to the deserving champ instead of crying lyk sour losers........ :)

tomnjerry2, what sour losers? BTW your post is difficult to read, what with all the funny spelling. Who is not giving credit to Fed? In fact its the other way round, Rafa not being given credit. I thought we are supposed to stop talking about Rafa, but torres9's keeps bringing it up.

I thought enough credit has already being given to Fed for his win over Murray. Why don't you scroll upwards and start reading all the posts about how well Fed played, instead of calling other sour losers when you don't even understand what the discussion is all about.

luckystar.... one is given credit whn he does sumthn credible..... Roger has been doing constantly well at GS level..... so he ought to be given more credit than n e one else..... :P

Y drag Rafa unnecessarily into AO where as he has been eliminated since Quarters... he dun deserve to be discussed here.... on Fed Vs Muray thread..... well... i dun think you were here in last AO.... so u won't understand.

I dun wanna talk abt Rafa.... but you ppl forcing us to involve him.Its Roger who has won N Andy M who has lost.... we better keep our discussions limited to these ppl only... The Gladiators.

Sry if ur having difficulty in reading my post... i ryt this way only !!!! inconvinience regretted !!!! :P

luckystar, u really missed my point 100%. I didnt say no one should use any weapon. I just said since you are the one who brought up the thing about ' it is not right for Fed to beat a man who is down' notion, then Rafa shouldnt have played Fed on clay where he has an advantage and vice versa.

If Rafa meets Roger now, which u suggested is not right since he's not confident whateva, should not be taken as a 'no-match' just because Rafa is injured simply because Rafans have been boasting abt Rafa's h2h with Roger on clay where Fed is not at his best.

If Fed didnt have confidence issue on WImby 08, then Rafa shouldnt have confidence issues now, rite? He made it to the SF USO and QF AO, A non-confident Nadal shouldn be able to go far on HC Slams, rite?

So if you're gonna say something like 'Fed was confident in Wimby2009 (which u are not sure of)', how r u sure that Rafa isnt confident abt himself just becoz he loses in QF.

Just because Rafa won Wimby and AO ONE TIME, it means he should be in the final and win both of it every time, if not, he's not 100%?

torres9, by your logic, Rafa cannot meet Fed on clay and beat him, as Rafa always has an advantage? What logic is that? Each time when Rafa beat Fed on clay, does Fed has a confidence issue, mono issue or injury issue? Or are you saying each time Rafa met Fed on clay, Fed wasn't at his best? So when then can Rafa meet Fed on clay?

You seem not to understand the gist of what I'm saying about 'not beating a man when he was down'. I've no doubt that should Fed meet Rafa now, he'll beat Rafa, but its that what Fed fans want? You mean you are so desperate to balance Fed's H2H with Rafa that even when Fed beats up a down and out Rafa now, you'll be so happy and accept it? Have some faith in your man, a healthy Fed may be able to beat a healthy Rafa, don't you believe it?

Why are you insisting that Fed had a confidence issue at Wim 08, when your idol Fed insist that he didn't have any confidence issue? You want me to believe you or believe your Fed? And you are wrong that Rafa did not have a confidence issue. Unlike you and your Fed, (where you insist that he had a confidence issue but Fed denied), Rafa admitted that he was not with 'calm' (confidence) and he asked his fans to be patient with him and that good results may come one day; so we believe him. It is testament to how much Rafa had improved on hard courts that even not at his best, he still manage to play his way through the draws and reach the QF, SF. However, he was not good enough as once he met a top ten player, he faltered. If he is back to his best, we expect something like his performance at the AO 09.

luckystar, the problem is, I dont really care if Rafa beats Fed 20 times on clay becoz I know that doesnt mean Rafa is a better overall player or a more consistent player. It's you who gave the notion that Fed shouldnt beat Rafa now becoz he's down.

Even if Fed said he's confident in WIm08, are u sure 100% that he is confident? And r u sure that Rafa was not confident against Murray? Are u rafa or roger?

And I dont care abt h2h coz to me it's not the main thing. GS count, weeks at no.1 are all more important things so dont talk abt me being desperate to balance the h2h.

And even if Fed balances the h2h beating Rafa now, it's still legitimate becoz like I said, Rafa has beaten Fed was he was not at his best numerous of times.

or are u implying that everytime Rafa beat Fed, Fed is 100%?

However, he was not good enough as once he met a top ten player, he faltered. If he is back to his best, we expect something like his performance at the AO 09.

No player can be at his best forever, that's what differentiate Roger and the rest. How many times can he produce the best out of him.

No tournament wait for a player just like no tournament waited for Fed to recover from mono or be 100% confident to play or be cured of back problems.

Same goes to Rafa. He's not at his best? So do we have to w8 till he is at his best again for a tournament to be legitimate.

Some silly thinking there.

torres8, why the legitimacy of a tournament come into the picture? Where did I say anything about legitimacy? It seems that each time we have a discussion, you can't stay on topic, and started to bring in assumptions which in the first place I didn't even think of.

When did I say that Rafa is a better player than Fed? Please show me where in my post that I said that. About the confidence issue, no one will ever know, not you and not me, so we just have to believe what the players themselves had to say. Is that OK with you?

Of course Rafa didn't always beat a 100% Fed, but Fed also did not always beat a 100% Rafa. In the first place, did they meet at this AO 10 or not? Fact is they didn't. What we are talking here is the mere thought of wanting Fed to beat a not so confident Rafa now; and I question that thought - was it out of desperation to balance the H2H or not.

'No player can be at his best forever, that's what differentiate Roger and the rest'

Er, are you saying that Roger can be at his best forever, judging from the above statement that you made? A bit presumptuous I think. And who says about tournament waiting for Rafa? I believe I didn't say that.

No player can be at his best forever, that's what differentiate Roger and the rest. How many times can he produce the best out of him- means wha's differentiate Roger than the rest is how man times he can produce the best out of him.

If you are too shallow in your thinking, you'll take everything that people say 'literally'.

why the legitimacy of a tournament come into the picture? Where did I say anything about legitimacy? -

Of course from your standpoint as a Fed fan, you hope that he'll meet Rafa and beat him now, knowing full well that Rafa is not at his best and his confidence is not sky high at the moment. This is not the right way to beat a man, when he is down. Why not wait for Rafa to come back from his injury and face off at IW or Miami?

You are the one that suggest if Fed beat Rafa now, it's not the 'right way' as if it's 'illegitimate' to beat Rafa now. And a lot of times Rafans has been buzzing about a Slam won by Fed which is not against Rafa as somehow 'negligible'

This is the silliest thinking by Rafans it's tiring how they nag abt Rafa when he's not even the one in the final. It's just tiring.

and here luckystar is, talking about Rafa's past as if it's the only thing that ever happened in tennis. I can talk about Fed's glorious past too, you know. But I am not gonna be repetitive like the Rafans here trying to repeat what Rafa has achieve for a short span of time over and over again...

tomnjerry, did you read my previous post to you carefully. Didn't I mentioned that we should stop talking about Rafa and torres9 was the one who kept mentioning Rafa first. Please be fair with your comment. (if you need further reference, please refer to my post on 31/1/10 3:56pm; and torres9's post on 31/1/10 6.31pm where he started his comments about Rafa and hence the discussion followed.)

That's all from me now. I believe my discussion with torres9 should have ended by now.

torres9 I thought we had already ended the discussion. Why do you insist on lumping me with other rafafans? And who is questioning the legitimacy of Fed's win? I didn't!!

If your thinking is so shallow as to think that the question ' not a right way to beat a man, when he is down' is questioning legitimacy of Fed's win, then I seriously question your understanding ability. Didn't I say in my post immediately prior to this that I merely question the thought of wanting Fed to beat a not confident Rafa? And who is the one who take things literally here?

Why are you holding me responsible for what other rafa fans said about Fed's slams? Where in my post did I question Fed's legitimacy? Why are you so hyper sensitive and view every Rafa fan as anti Fed?

Who is basking in past glory? I brought out Rafa's FO wins merely to substantiate the argument about Fed's pressure at the slams, so we are not supposed to bring in facts? Maybe it is hard to swallow for Fed fans when they are reminded about his past losses.

Please torres9, can we stop talking about Rafa anymore as this is a Fed/Murray thread and like what tomnjerry mentioned, let's just concentrate on talking about Fed and Murray. Enough of the Fed/Rafa discussion already, as we can't seem to engage in a proper discussion when you keep bringing up all sorts of assumptions which I don't even think of, and you keep going round the bush. Goodbye!

luckystar i admire your patience and perseverance. however i think it's a pointless exercise. you can't discuss the techniques of the game, players' performace, mental strength or lack off, other aspects of the game without being jumped on.

For e.g: fed took prolonged toilet break and shirt change to obviously try and shift the momentum equates to:

fed cheated, broke the rules, commited a crime and should never have won the open because he didn't deserve it and the toilet break saved him!!!

i believe as long as you do not wax lyrical about fed's greatness, bow down to him and insist he is a perfect human being in each of your posts, you won't get far with your arguments with the other side. i'm sorry you are arguing with a brick wall. i like reading your posts though. your efforts are commendable ;)

Yes homos I know. That's why I ended the discussion. I'm also amazed at my own patience!

homos, you are a brick wall yourself with little logic. Who else can think like you and believe that a toilet break can win tennis matches. Only in homos la la land.. LOL...

Anyway luckystar, you are so contradictory, it's really pointless pointing up things to u. WHat you do is throw stones and then hide your hand in the back.

You say 'it's not right for Fed to beat Rafa' and then say it's legitimate for Fed to beat Rafa.

You talk about not mentioning Rafa's past, but you post it up over and over again.

If you're gonna deny everything that u did, then I cant do anything...

SWEET 16!!!!!!

FED's THE BEST EVER!!!

see what i mean luckystar? are you laughing as hard as i am?? :)

if you say A is A and 2+2=4, it actually CAN still get 100% misinterpreted. the entertainment alone is worth it!!!

torres9 this is the last time I'm responding to your post. I seriously question your understanding abilities. I think I've said enough and I'm not going to repeat myself. I'm sure whoever with an unbias mind reading all my posts would have understood what I'm trying to bring across. If you insist that I'm contradicting myself, based on your limited understanding abilities, so be it. It seems to me you are a young fella, not capable of engaging in proper discussion, hence you came up with some strange assumptions, jumping into conclusions when you don't even understand others' view points, holding a bias view and having a one track mind. Oh yes, and you also think that all rafa fans are anti fed. Good luck to you!

PS I don't mean to be rude but can't help myself when someone talk about me having shallow thinking. Goodness me I wonder this said person does realize how flawed his own thinking and view points are.

Yes homos, I'm sure whoever read his posts would be confused and amused too! But you seem to understand what I'm trying to bring across right? Entertaining read? I believe only some dumb wit fellas wouldn't understand!

Luckystar unfortunately, your thinking is shallow and also u contradict urself. So like I said, i cant say anything coz u say something and then try to deny it. And repeatedly u trying to sound intelligent but in the end, all u do is show the true side of u which is that u r just an angry, deluded Rafan who think she/he is clever just by mentioning some stats LOL

And homos, entertainment is what u specializes esp. with the toilet break = winning a Grand Slam... That's as hillarious as it can get.

torres: The more you try to argue your point, the more you highlight your ignorance and immaturity. You cannot cope with Luckystar's arguments which is why you keep simplifying things and bickerng like a kid. And homos never said that toilet breaks = winning a grand slam. The argument was about Roger trying to break Davydenko's rhythm in that QUARTERFINAL match BY taking longer than allowed (after time was called by the umpire), not that taking 1 toilet break brought Roger the title. If that's the case, everyone would be going to the toilet! Any reasonable person reading the posts can tell that luckystar and homos are talking about A and you are talking about Z. You really aren't doing yourself any favours. If the argument is out of your league, you should stay out of it.

hi jean.havent seen you here for a while,every now and again on tennis.x unless its another jean?but I can say that it is a shame that some people want to pick up on tiny,insignificant detail, (untrue) and take them out of context,rather than celebrate an amazing competition,full of twists and turns,some great tennis, and yet another slam gained by the greatest tennis player of all time.as some people say here,the times all players have had to put up with timewasting,(on a regular basis), swearing (on a regular basis),what federer brings to tennis is unmatched.
cheers jean.
congratulations to all federer fans.

jean, the only reason why I stayed in these arguments is becoz of their ignorance and immaturity.

The problem is with luckystar is all she can do is state stats abt rafa that I know so well. She has no real point. All she does is put stats. And she says A and then turn around and say Z.

Homos on the other hand is over-emphasizing the effect of something which did not affect Davydenko and yet he made it as if Roger wouldnt have won if he didnt take the toilet break. The way I see it, when Fed hit those forehands that destroyed Davydenko, it was wayyyy after he had the toilet break. And Davydenko's rhythm broke in the 6th game of the 2nd set, not the beginning of the 2nd set.

So if u r so matured and grown-up, care to explain what's wrong in taking a break when it's between sets where they'll have a break anyway. And if Davy's rhythm is broken just by a prolonged 15 secs of changing shirt, then it was not evident.

How bout Rafa who does all the grunting and delaying which is clearly effecting some players but u dont care abt that coz he's your man... LOL...

there really is no point in arguing.it is obvious that some people just hate the fact the federer proves people wrong with his fabulous talent,it's as simple as that.and to rely on a toilet break that has happened twice in a career of 10 plus year, is ridiculous. davydenko is a professional player,in his zone whatever anyone does. it reminds me actually of when federer played the FO last year, and that crazy jimmy ran on court for a few seconds, that could have put federer off for the whole match,instead he got through it. so really a toilet break, a helicopter ride mid match,anything, a tissue flying, a bird squeaking, players have to concentrate.to try to find excuses when a player losers is just in the history of bad ideas, right up there.

roger may have taken the toilet break to get rid of that nagging sun and turn the tide in his favor , i donot know with any sort of conviction BUT look, truth is truth ,even if u ask rafa this question the answer would be the like this ' no no no,this is nonsense na, the sun was for BOTH players and we are allowed toilet breaks ,i dont think there is something unusual there ".... homos's claim that roger used this thing more than his usual routine at RG is right ,he did use more toilet breaks and shirt changes,but i dont think anything was done to break the rules,even if some momentum was shifted it may have shifted due to some other reasons,i am not sure but I am sure that federer is a tennis GIANT, he admits it himself that only rafa can get him in a slam final(its his inner belief too) and he also knows he can topple rafa too,so i am just waiting for roger-rafa ,hope it happens soon :( please rafa u have to get healthy

torres in 'i love twin Rafa' mode again; just waiting for flick of the (emotion) switch :)

Federer has won so much, they say he has started to chase the women's record, he is going after Chris Evert's and Marina Navratilova's 18 grand slams, I think he should concentrate on winning the Davis Cup, that is sadly missing from his CV.
as for Murray his quality of play is certainly on par with the very top of the game, but in the 2 grand slam finals he has played, you don't win by sitting back and waiting for mistakes, I am sure his day will come as Federer said he too good a player not to win a slam

as for the match being boring as many have said on here, all one sided matches are boring

i hope roger goes for margaret court's 24 slams - she was at the AO yesterday.

Fed did went for a toilet break but I dont think it was for the sun to move over or what. He probably went to try and compose himself becoz he was being dominated by Davy in the 1st set.

When Jim Courier asked him about it, he was jz joking around saying,'yeah, i probably went to let the sun move'. But even if the sun moved, if Davy kept on playing like he did in the 1st set, Fed would have had a very tough time beating Davy.

There's no excuse for Davy to let Fed win 13 games in a row. There's too much time for Davy to get back his game but he brain-cramped his way in 3rd set and then suddenly found the game back in the 4th set.

Come on. 13 games?... I dont see Djoker, Rafa, Delpo, Muzza, getting so jaded to let Fed win 13 games in a row even if he went to the toilet 10x and changed his shirt 20x.

Davy should have taken it as a sign of weakness more than anything.

I disagree that a scoreline reflects the quality of a match even if it finished in straight sets because a scoreline doesn't reflect the exchanges that went on thru out the match. If a person judges a match's excitement simply on the scoreline criteria, then DON'T watch the match and just wait for the 'net or the newpaper for the scoreline and match result. A straight set score simply indicates that one player won more of the points to win the game, played better, but NOT NECESSARILY had an EASY TIME winning. Hmmm....does the quarter finals match between Rafa - AMurray qualifies as to be boring since Rafa is almost in straight sets as well (but too bad, he retired.......)?

homos,
A toilet break is the equivalent of a timeout in basketball or football. It's within the rules and if it changes momentum so what? It's just part of the game and you have to adjust. Have you ever watched baseball? The manager and catcher walk out to the mound all the time so the reliever in the bullpen can warm up more. Who can blame a toilet break for losing a match when it's only a few minutes? Last year Kuzy had to wait almost an hour for them to close the roof for Serena. You should complain with the 45 second timeout Nadal calls between each point.

It's all loser excuses anyway. Fed is on top of the tennis world right now. Nobody's even close.

pls point out to me WHERE in any of my posts did i say he BROKE the rules.

there shouldnt be a problem with toilet breaks at all homos.apart from the fact that you are the one who keeps bringing this up?what about murray yesterday who is supposed to be "the fittest" guy on tour,complaining about his leg on court on sunday.was that a tactic?then it turns out his cycling shorts were too tight! C'moon homos! see through it! and can we talk about the game rather than this?
I asked you before homos, what do you think of the hitforhaiti organised by fed? What a wonderful gesture,dont you think?

I asked you before homos, what do you think of the hitforhaiti organised by fed? What a wonderful gesture,dont you think?

maxi , 2/2/10 7:44 AM


maxi, maybe I could take the liberty of answering this question for Homos.

A modest person would not have made it so public that it was his idea, and revel in the glory of being interviewed and praised on court to be applauded by the audience.

torres9, who is immature and who is mature, everyone on this forum has the eyes to see and decide for themselves. Its no point repeating others words about A or Z just to retaliate. A person's maturity is revealed by the way he/she conducts himself/herself in a discussion, and the logic one brings into a discussion.

luckystar, they say the ones that reply to immature ones are more immature... LOL..

And you have no logic... sry to say that...

carrie, thanks for answering a question that was directed to me. you might like to know that comments on other forums i've read indicate you are not the only one who think that. while i'm sure no one doubts the benefits, the motive was a hot topic.

torres9, and what you have been doing all along? Ain't you replying to posts too?

As I said, those on this forum will be able to decide for themselves who is the immatured or illogical one. Your opinion won't count for much to me, as I've already questioned your intellectual ability since the start of the discussion.

Owhh luckystar... for one who have no logic nor analytical ability, you sure have done quite well in contradicting urself... Congratz

This blog was about Federer Murray final wasnt it? But looks like most comments here especially from nadal fans like carrie are about Nadal or else they are complaing about the quality of tennis, questioning Federers style of challenging line calls, vamos rafa says Murray chocked in set 3 and so many other comments. its not hard to figure out that, Grapes are sour when Federer wins.

Federer fans: This is just incredible!

No stranger to jaw-dropping numbers, Roger Federer's most impressive statistic just might be one that doesn't involve hitting a tennis ball. Since he first appeared in a Grand Slam draw at the 1999 Australian Open, the world's best player hasn't missed a single one of tennis' major tournaments.


That's a span of 45 tournaments in 11 years. In a sport that beats up legs, knees, shoulders and minds like few others can, Federer has been a veritable Superman. Most of the rest of us pull a muscle playing for the company softball team. This guy circles the globe inflicting real punishment on his body and never misses a step.


And he's not showing up to these Slams with a limp, either. He has made 23 straight semifinals, an eye-popping stat that defies the laws of consistency in the sport.


Federer's amazing durability is something every other recent tennis star hasn't quite realized. Arch-nemesis Rafael Nadal has missed four Slams since playing his first in 2003. Pete Sampras missed five between 1990 and 1999. Andre Agassi missed 20 -- though most for reasons other than injury -- in the 20 years he competed. All of them have had their share of disappointing results.


We've worried before that Federer was losing his grip on dominance. When he lost to Nadal in 2009's Australian Open final, many writers -- this one included -- wondered if he would ever get to that record-setting 15th Slam title. When he lost to Juan Martin del Potro in last year's U.S. Open final, we were reminded of the coming generation of players that was closing the gap between Federer and the field.


At this year's Australian Open, injuries claimed almost all those would-be challengers. Nadal was forced to retire in the quarterfinals with a knee injury that will keep him out four weeks. Novak Djokovic -- who defeated Federer at the Australian Open in 2008 en route to his only Grand Slam win -- was slowed by breathing issues in a quarterfinal loss to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Del Potro was battling a wrist injury all tournament long. Andy Roddick -- who pushed Federer so admirably in last year's Wimbledon final -- hurt his shoulder in a quarterfinal loss to Marin Cilic. Even Murray -- who had looked like the most impressive player of the tournament headed into the final -- started feeling pain in his leg toward the end of that match.


In the end, only one man was left standing. In more ways than one.


"I always knew I had it in my hand. The question is do I have it in my mind and in my legs?'' Federer said after beating Murray. "That's something I had to work extremely hard at."


Federer now heads into the spring stretch with a world of confidence. Down a set and a break against Nikolay Davydenko in his quarterfinal match, Federer rebounded to play some of the best tennis we've ever seen from him, closing that set on a 5-0 run and then winning the rest of the eight sets he played in Melbourne. He's the undisputed No. 1 and talk is already bubbling about his chances at winning the calendar year Grand Slam.


Meanwhile, most of the rest of the top 10 is nursing injuries -- typical of the late months of the year, but a very troubling development for Feb. 1.


"Now I feel, like, obviously I'm being pushed a great deal by the new generation coming up," Federer said. "They've made me a better player, because I think this has been one of my finest performances in a long time, or maybe forever.''


His finest performance ever? That new generation had better get healthy ... fast.

That's the funny thing.

The young generation is sick, injured and unhealthy

The old guy is healthy, alive and kicking.. LOL

...Re the Hit for Haiti event, i think it was the press who mentioned that it was Fed's idea.....not Fed himself. Please don't allow bitterness or blind dislike distort facts. And of course, since it's his idea, he is spearheading it because of the so short of a time to prepare and get it going (mind you, it was prepared in less than 24 hours!)...

Re: Hit for Haiti, it HAS to generate PRESS INTEREST in order for it to be a SUCCESS. If it's done quietly and humbly and without any fanfare and hoo-haa in order for it to be "sincere"...urm, I wonder where the donations are going to come from? The point of the event was to use the big names of Fed, Nadal, Djokovic, Serena etc etc to generate interest from the public, so that they will DONATE towards Haiti.

Same goes for all the philanthropy efforts for the likes of Hollywood celebrities, Lance Armstrong, Bill Gates and Warren Buffet and gang. They highlighted the causes they are supporting so as to get MORE SUPPORT for the cause.

Not only Federer gets the credit, you know. If you read all the news articles, all the other players who took part gets LOADS of credit, too, for agreeing to take part and hence putting aside their own preparation to help out a good cause. They are all heralded as they deserved.

Sheesh. For the haters, everything Federer does is WRONG. He could be donating his organs and haters would say it's his evil plan to take over the world by implanting himself in people. Or something.

eloquently put, jyannis ^^

eloquently put, jyannis ^^

eloquently put, jyannis ^^

jyannis ....Fed can do no right with them .....haha.....i loved the last paragraph .

These dufoses expect people to show up to an event orgsanised by a nobody . hahahah....they expect fed to pull this off only to stand at the back in am empty stadium looking at the other players saying ...well ...too bad for haiti !! of course he used his name , and nadals name and djokers name and serena's name ...and of course he picked the australians to participate because they are local !!! does that make his a racist now ...hehe...i bet one of them are going to come up and say this .....sheeshhh

C'MON !!
AO10....where the "experienced" schools the "new"

Sheesh. For the haters, everything Federer does is WRONG. He could be donating his organs and haters would say it's his evil plan to take over the world by implanting himself in people. Or something.

brilliantly put :D

i'll have his tennis brain :P

carrie, thank you for answering on behalf of homos,who would appear agrees with you. I am deeply saddened by both of your continuing jibes at Federer. I suppose if rafa had organised it then that would have been fine?all of this is so childish and it makes me feel as if i cannot have a decent chat with either of you because you are so mad at roger for being such a great man.he is. whether you like it or not. It was the press, and the man (name I forget, sorry - looks a bit like greg norman with grey hair?) was the one who announced what roger did. what a wonderful,amazing gesture from roger.i love him even more for thinking of others less fortunate than himself.the both of you,try to be more REM (smiley,happy,people?).you both seem very sad,very miserable and very unhappy. (sorry carrie,but what has happened?you used to be so lovely (really).I can only imagine you must be very worried about rafa.i think the whole tennis world is.

Look maxi,
everyone admired Roger for thinking about the H4H, but because you keep dragging it up at every opportunity to counter any criticsm that is made of Roger in totally unrelated circumstances, you just invite people to criticise him for it. You seem to think that his thoughtfulness for Haiti means that he is above all other criticism that people may have in other aspects of his charcter or him as a tennis player.

Many of the players do things for charity all the time, they may not have thought of doing the H4H, but for all you know they may already have donated money towards the disaster. If you don't try to imply that no one else gives of their time, thought and money to charity, then people will not be tempted to find holes to pick in what Roger did, just to balance your stance.

Carries and a lot of other Rofa Fanatics are just so bitter,deeply disappointed and frustrated that Federer won yet another major,We should just leave them and enjoy. for them "Grapes are Sour when Federer wins" so they try to take out their anger and frustration.

Yes, tennis2010, I staying off grapes at the moment for sure.



Get Well Soon Rafa
Vamos

Yes Carries Of course you should stay off grapes for the time being, Comments should be moderated at these websites it should be taken into consideration that most comments must be relevant to the blog or else they shouldn't be allowed. Especially when people like you who drag the a** of Nadal in every blog, even when the topic has nothing to do with Nadal This blog was about the Austalian open Final, didnt Nadal lose in the Qf to Murray? So Sicne Federer won the title and Murray was the a finalist this Blog should be more about Federer and after Federer it should be about Murray, what had Nadal got to do with the AO final? but Thanks to some Nadal fanatics this blogs turns into a " Vamos Rafa Get Well Soon thread"

We are only responding to comments made about Rafa.

I'm calling BS on this one, carrie. Go back to the top of the blog. First 11 posts are all on the match. No mention of Nadal at all, until we get to post No. 12.

"Where is the excitement, where is the electricity, where is the edge of your seat stuff, where are the Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrhs and Oooooooooooooohs - in Manacor, Mallorca, Spain"

Gues who wrote that? Why, it was YOU! You dragged Nadal into this looking for a fight. You got what you wanted.

Not that I care that a fight broke out, but own up to it.

That was a legitimate observation that other people agreed with, but that doesn't mean that you should rlease all your bile against Rafa.

Yeah, and you made that observation five more times! Make your point and move on. But you were so consumed by bitterness that Federer was going to win another Grand Slam, that you couldn't let it go.

If you can point out any post I've made -- here or anywhere else on this site -- where I rlease (or even release) "all this bile" against Rafa, I'll be happy to retract that. Remember, Miss Bitter? I DEFENDED Nadal when that i d i o t atr was trolling around here.

I have no problems with Nadal. His greatness is unquestioned. His heart is unmatched, which is why he tends to be on the winning end of so many epics. I want Federer to beat Nadal because I prefer Federer's game, but there's no anger if Nadal wins, because there's no shame in losing to someone as great as Nadal. (Now Mardy Fish on the other hand ... )

My problem is not with Nadal but with some (NOT ALL) of his fans. They can't let pass any article on Federer or any comment by a Federer fan (no matter how innocuous) that doesn't either qualify Fed's accomplishments in some way or acknowledge the greatness of Nadal. And they hammer the point over and over and over.

Maybe you just feel the need to emulate your favorite player, never giving in, fighting on to the last point until you win the day. Do what you need to do, but there is no honor in this (even though I call you the Federer of bashing Federer).

OK, now I'm going to let it go and go bask in the awesomeness of Stephane Robert in Sood Afrik and wonder who all is going to show up in Rotterdam.

There's some good tennis going on, if you're interested.

OK SP, I take your point.

" his evil plan to take over the world by implanting himself in people." jyannis, 2/3/10 1:15 AM OMG that is so funny. Ha ha ha!!

SOmetimes it's funny Rafans say we target Rafa but in the end the ones that comes to Fed's threads posting lengthy Rafa stats are them and it's funny everytime a match Fed's won is because Rafa is not there to beat him.

So silly.

Rafa can still beat Fed, but the problem is that he has to beat several others to meet Fed, where he has some problem lately. His shots are a little too short now. Robin Söderling messed up the order of tennis.

Rafa fans feel like just because he has winning H2H against Fed he is better than everybody, including Fed. If he is so good he would have reached all the GS finals as Fed before he got injured but he could not and lost to so many different players in or before semi. This should prove that Nadal is not better than Fed but Nadal fanatics dont agree. Meanwhile they are frustrated and bitter about Fed's achievements. But I have a bad news for them. The field is more competitive (many great double handed backhand players in the top 10) than last year at this time and even a fully fit Nadal can't get things done. We will see what happens during clay court season. Nadal might win some clay tourneys but he has to work even harder this time as I think even Ferrer/Verdasco/Almagro dont give in easy which may make him get injured and pull out again a very important match..... Oh boy this is going to get ugly.

Rafa h2h is not the best indicator because Rafa has failed to meet Fed most of the times in GS finals. ALthough he did beat Fed when he reaches the final, it's unfair to look into it with great depth because of the number of times he failed to meet Fed.

Fed won 6 USO and not one is against Rafa which means Rafa is greatly inferior in Flushing mEadows.

And also 1 Wimby win over Fed doesnt mean Rafa is better than Fed on grass.

I copied this from the AO10 website ....there was a top ten moments article ....this no numero uno....

************

Men?s final: Short, sweet (for Roger Federer fans at least) but a classic nevertheless, the men?s final featured two-hours and 41-minutes of fabulous winners on the court, and some classic one-liners in the post-match presentation speeches. Federer struck 46 winners and broke Murray?s serve four times in claiming his 16th Grand Slam title. After the match Andy Murray summed up what most of the men on the ATP Tour must be thinking so far this season when he said: ?I can cry like Roger, just a shame I can?t play like him?. Meanwhile, Federer could afford to be generous having lifted the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup for a fourth time telling Murray, ?You?re too good a player not to win a grand Slam so don?t worry about it?. Easy for him to say!

*************


C'MON !!
AO10..where we have lifted one down under !

same old sour grapers venting spleen, nit-picking, hating the fact that RF is still amazingly winning GS titles or at least making to to the finals. he' brilliant; get over yourselves for once already and move on.

maxi- hello to you! 4 AO titles! i really didn't expect him to win AO this year-glad i have it recorded for posterity tho-#16!! maybe it's his last, maybe not. at this point
still shaking my head in amazement.

curious about the muzza. can he win a GS? beginning to wonder. all that talent, all his success on tour. hmm

the ego was flushed out of his system with the tears - he will win the next one. the next HC one ie.

Hello too zoey.thanks for the "hi" .i havent seen you on tennis.x for a while,spending more time over there, so hop over when you have some freetime.

duro/where are you right now?

you think so, stu? will win the next HC 1000 series? or....us open? i mean, it's possible, right?

maxi, i had a day, a whole day to join the infinitely stimulating blog where you posted yesterday.

the GOAT debate is the alpha and omega of tennis talkers.

zoey,

i saw you and responded. your comments with skeezer.very funny.and fedster's youtube vid.hilarious.