And the above reason is why Federer rubs me up the wrong way. He is so smug!
Talk about trying to talk down Rafas achievements and talent.

If there is such a thing as Karma, it will be a Roger and Rafa final,and Rafa will win and give Fed a mighty beating! Seems like Fed has yet learnt to shut his mouth. I suppose Rafa beating him at AO 09 against all odds wasnt enough of a wake up call.

But as I said I have a feeling Rafa will get to the final and Roger wont. That will be good enough too!

Vamos to anyone that plays Roger!

You have to take this with a pinch of salt, isabeau77. Roger's literal quotes don't seem to have any connection at all to the title of this article.

Yes the reason Fed is not my favorite player and never will be is because of his smugness. I do respect his achievements and recognize his greatness though.

Rafa won't be affected by whatever Fed said. Rafa is one determined fella and knows what he wants and will go all the way to get it. The mind games won't work on Rafa as he has beaten Fed in slam finals and on three surfaces, so he knows what it takes to beat Fed. Murray may be affected by Fed's mindgame as he has never beaten Fed in a slam.

I'm affraid I have to agree with isabeau77 and luckystar.

As much as I have great admiration for what Federer has achieved (and probably will still) throughout his career, I find a lot of his comments towards his opponents extremely arrogant. I'm sure some will say that he has been misquoted or misunderstood but the frequency in which he is "misquoted" or "misundertood" seems to happen a bit too often for my liking.

Perhaps it would be best if Federer put his head down and concentrated on his own game rather than offering "advice" to other players.

In the meantime, I only hope for a USO full of great matches

....... and, of course, Rafa winning a career Grand Slam!!!!

Look obviously people get misquoted, but you cant be misquoted if your are not saying things or implying things to be misquoted about.

Take Rafa for example. He says stuff on the lines of
"Its going to be very difficult match for me. He is a very good player and has had very good results. Its not going to be easy. I will have to play my best to have a chance to win".

This can not be misquoted.

Federer on the other hand would say something like

"You know he has been playing well, he won Toronto but I wasnt playing well and its a lot harder to win seven straight matches in NY. Although his preferred surface is a hard court I think it suits me better, as I have won here so many times in a row.
I am confident, that I can beat him here and dont think losing to him in Tornoto means anything for my success here".

I think waht Fed said here makes sense that it will not be as easy for Rafa to beat people here as he does on clay and grass. thats fine...I wudnt read too much into it

Fed says that he is looking forward to meeting Rafa in the finals. I guess he beliebes that the courts here suit him a bit more than Rafa, so herein lies his best oppurtunity of beating Rafa in a GS final. I am sure his past losses to Rafa in GS finals still hurt him

Everyone knows that hard court is not Rafa's best surface, I just don't understand why Federer feels the need to keep stating the obvious to the press.

I mean its not like Rafa comes out before RG and says "well, you know, this is not Roger's best surface".

It is in hope that if he says it enough, that Rafa may believe it and doubt himself when and if he comes up against Roger at the US Open.

Fat chance!

The only person that will be shitting himself to see Rafa on the other side of the net is Roger.

Rafa isn't going to be affected by any mind games or psychological gamesmanship by Fed. He isn't afraid of him. Why should he be? He has beaten him too many times at slams. Nothing with pierce Rafa's armor or his iron will. Once Rafa sets his mind to it, nothing can stand in his way.

That nonsense may have worked with Murray, but it will not have any effect whatsoever on Rafa. At this point, it's all very premature, because we have a lot of matches to play before we get to any possible meeting between Rafa and Fed in the final.

Everyone knows fast hard courts are Rafa's worst surface so there is no need to keep talking about it. The more Fed talk about it, the more he shows that he is worried about meeting Rafa in the final. If Rafa is good enough to reach the final, he is good enough to win there. Rafa's success rate in slam finals is very impressive, eight out of ten slam finals. He may not reach that many slam finals compared to Fed but once he was there he won 80% of those.

The fan of nadal reacts really excessively. How much does Roger admit nadal. it is always. Roger respect for nadal

Therefore, he is invited to the charity. to Roger'charity. Up to now, has Roger invited someone. Excluding the charity event of the Roger's of 2010 AUopen

sorry. [Up to now, never has invited it ]

I would love Rafa to reach the final but I doubt that it will happen, not only judging from his experience in Toronto and Cincinatti but because his game is just not adapted enough to these surfaces, full-stop.

It is really wonders. Roger's article. It always speaks nadal. Article on forum here
However, it is not actually so. his is an important us open for Roger.
Hes interview the majority of hemself. He talk about himself
However, the article all.. nadal? sigh.. add, journalist's question is really negligent.

Final advancement of Roger 6 years in a row. 5 time victory. advance to the 7 years fainal. It is unbelievable. it doesn't understand. possible or not. I wish your win. Rog

.........The Swiss says his own form could not be better after his Cincinnati Masters 1000 run-up title. "I'm feeling as good as I can prior to a Grand Slam. It's good to win titles but it's important that I'm playing well and I'm beating top guys once in a while."


The smug one has spoken...........Cincinnati run-up title? Three and a half matches, and barely beating Fish?

I hope Federer is not living in a fools paradise. The one thing in his favour is that he has a dream draw up to the SF, but someone might just pull off a Falla win this time early on.

I hope Rafa keeps his head, when all around him are losing theirs........

VAMOS RAFA!

nadline. Roger's cup ahead of that. A tough game continued to Roger.

I think that it was two really severe weeks. He is not young. But, he is a champion of 4 times. in cinci. It is ability.

Insult to Roger. It is a hobby of the fan of nadal.

I do not like nadal. And, nadal fan
The medical time out of his sham also. I hope never win nadal. sorry

nadline-

"I hope Rafa keeps his head, when all around him are losing theirs........"

Bloody beautiful..you have summed up whats going to go down perfectly. Yes, yes Rafa will keep his head

Roger has lost all the screws how can he tightens them up?

The bolts & nuts are automatically loosen up once Roger sees Rafa on the other side of net.

This is my first post (been a reader for almost a year... never posted one) and a Tennis Fan for long time...

When I saw the title & No. of comments, I guessed 90% should be a Nadal Fans... I wasn't wrong though... Point I'm making is words in the article & add to that title can sometimes make us misunderstand the whole picture that has to be conveyed..

I read about the interview in other newspapers & videos... But the whole picture is portrayed here as if Federer is undermining Nadal's acheivements. Whereas that is not the case.

I request that article writers should provide honest journalism rather than writing biased article unless it is a blog.

I too want Nadal to win US open for sure, but just that give respect to other players...

RMadhu, if you are here long enough, you should know that there are fans of both Fed and Rafa who behave the same way. There are those who show respect for other players and there are those who don't - whether they are Fed fans or Rafa fans.

I have long felt about Fed's smugness, not just after reading what was written in this article. I believe most of us can and are capable of forming our own unbiased opinions and not being influenced easily by others, considering the fact that many of us here are not that 'young' anymore or can be considered wise with age!

RMadhu - Nowhere in the article does it say anything about Federer undermining Nadal's achievements. That sentiment was expressed only in the comments section. In fact, it says nothing of Nadal's achievements at all, except that he has a harder time winning on faster hard courts...which he does.

I really don't think that any comment Federer makes has any impact on Rafa at all. In fact, I believe this is how he handles HIS insecurities. He must know that Rafa believes he has a better chance of beating him than vise versa, even on hard court.

In fact, I think IF Federer makes the final and sees Rafa on the other side of the court in that "OMG that is sooooo awesome" black outfit he's going to pack his bag and go home!!!!!!

Should they meet in the final (which I feel is more likely than not) it had better be played in daylight or it will be devilishly difficult to distinguish them apart at a distance - with one in black, t'other in navy, and both wearing Nike headbands.

ed, no problem, Rafa will be the cute one playing brilliantly.

People really like to read into what Roger says about Rafa. What about: "I think it would be great. We've played in all the other majors, I hope we do it this year." The man is not a monster for gods sake. They are probably even friends. As for me I hope Rafa makes it to the final, and "if he does" Roger will take the title away anyway! :) C'MON! Rafa fans your quick to jump at anything Roger says. It shows how insecure you really are when it comes to Roger. Yes, Rafa can beat Roger, but he can also lose to Roger. That is the point isn't' it. The advantage at Flushing Meadows is with Roger. Let's see what he does with it. :) C'MON!

On a side note, that black 'bat man' out fit is beyond awesome on Rafa.

I can honestly see him biting the trophy in that. Its very gotham city. Very NY.
He is not losing in the outfit. Its in the stars, I tell you and I think Nike subconsciously knows it too. I have been saying it since the beginning of the year.
I hope I am not wrong.

I see you are on form today Nadline :-)

sky,

Please do me a favor and don't distort what Rafa fans say here. You are not the interpreter for our words.

We are not the ones who are insecure regarding Fed. Why should we be? Rafa's record against him in slams speaks for itself. On the contrary, it's the Fed fans who freak out at the prospect of him meeting Rafa in a slam final. The hope is that on the hardcourts of the USO, things will be different.

If Rafa makes it to the final, he isn't losing to anyone!

NNY-
Thank You. Someone needed to stress that unlike Fed fans Rafa fans are not scared to see a Fed and Rafa final, we actually want it. And we may not agree with Feds comments at times but it doesnt take away from what he has managed to achieve.

[Relaxed Nadal says winning the U.S. Open not an obsession]
?I think if we are talking generally, I probably arrived a little bit better than (in the) other years,? said Nadal, whose first opponent will be Russian Teymuraz Gabashvili. ?But I did two semi-finals (in the) last two years, so it wasn?t a bad result. I was there.
?Physically I?m fine. I was always fine mentally, just one time in 2008 when I lost the semi-final against Andy (Murray). I was too tired to win this tournament.?

Nadal looked a little rusty on his return to the tour in Toronto and Cincinnati earlier this month but said there was no reason why he could not win the title in New York.
?After a few years I am playing better and better in this tournament, but still the centre court is difficult to play, with more wind than the rest of the grand slams.
?Sometime when you are against the wind, it seems like you are not moving the ball. But I did well. When you are in the semi-finals for two years, why not??
http://sports.yahoo.com/tennis/news?slug=reu-opennadal
Nadal makes an excuse

isabeau,

You are quite right about giving Fed credit for his considerable achievements! Wouldn't it be refreshing if Fed fans could do the same for Rafa?

couldn't understand what the fuss was about. had a look at the ESPN website where this was first reported. It's a shame that things are misreported and people like to twist words because it's suits them. Once again, federer is unfairly represented. For those who really can be bothered to check the source, I've provided the link, but it gets a bit waring isabeau, when you seem to believe the worst because you want to believe the worst. I suppose if Fed mentioned about the wind (as rafa did here), you would moan some more.

The original article was posted by ESPN. The question posed to Federer (a bit further down) was the following:

"I'd love to play him," Federer said. "We've played in all the other majors, so this one's missing. I hope we can do it this year, otherwise I think we'll both be around for quite a bit longer that we'll have a chance further down the stretch."

Nadal shared Federer's sentiments.

"I would like to play against him in this year because I can only play against him in the final," Nadal said.

"[If] we play in five years, maybe we can play in third round."

"In five years." Clearly Nadal sees no imminent decline for the two, either. But it is a reminder that their names will not always sandwich the draw as they do this year, and only a few chances might be left for a title bout in the only major they have never contested.

Only the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in a tournament are guaranteed not to meet before the final, and Federer and Nadal have each dropped to No. 3 at various times this season. At the top of the game, even a short stutter can be costly. Nadal was laid low with midseason injuries last year, and Federer dipped in form after winning the Australian Open earlier this year and had quarterfinal exits at the French Open and Wimbledon. Their meetings also have become less frequent -- just one in the past 14 months, at the Madrid Masters in May.

But for the moment, the now-legendary rivals have re-established their stranglehold on the men's game. After Federer won in Australia, Nadal took over when the clay season began, going undefeated on his beloved red dirt in Paris and following up with a win on the slicker grass courts at Wimbledon.

Federer re-emerged as the tour returned to hard courts a few weeks ago, reaching the final of the Toronto Masters and winning the Cincinnati Masters. He, too, relishes the prospect of a meeting with Nadal in two weeks' time, on the faster hard court that he believes favors his game over the Spaniard's.

*The question*:
Can Rafael Nadal finally surmount the hard courts of the U.S. Open?
*Federer*
"There's not much he's doing wrong.

*Isn't this a compliment?

If you can make it to the semis, you can make it to the finals," Federer said. "I just feel maybe on average the U.S. Open could be the fastest Grand Slam. That could be one of the problems for Rafa here in the past."


Although Nadal feels there is "no question" that Wimbledon's grass is still faster than the hard courts at the U.S. Open, he has had more problems adapting his clay-court-optimized game to it.

"The ball is softer. The ball doesn't get that topspin that I like to play with," he said. "The center court is difficult to play ? more wind than the rest of the Grand Slams."

Two amazing champions, two great friends, an amazing rivalry, forgotten by some people. It's got nothing to do with smugness, it's all about what you want to interpret and what you want to believe.

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/usopen10/columns/story?col umnist=tandon_kamakshi&id=5509274

...yawn...

@Jean,
thanks... I tried to put the same perspective but wasn't clear though... Your detailed comments do help put the things in perspective... we have a healthy rivalry still great friends, but unfortunately the fans can't be...

how true maxi, good posting :) our FED played well yesterday, it is an omen...

Woooow..."There's not much he's doing wrong."...what a compliment!!!
Who is he? Greater authority, high power...a judge???
"We've played in all the other majors, so this one's missing." In other terms... I was there, in finale... he wasn't...that's the real ExFed's message!!!
...you simply don't want to see and hear it :-(

Although I don't really see it in this article, I love it when Roger plays mind games.

smr you're too funny! lol :)