Tennis Thread - Official

[D]

I am being unpatriotic saying this

but Roddick has no chance

he hasn't shown any ability to fight through adversity

Federer wins in straight sets 6-4 7-5  6-4

[Gnrfan]

Go Roddick!

Final day. Not the final everyone was expecting, but nevertheless a great final. Federer is the favorite obviously to win this in straight sets, but I hope Andy finds a way to hold serve and at least win a tiebreak or two. Federer's been playing like circa 2005-'07 so there's nothing Roddick can really do unless the american plays the math of his lifetime. Even so, the swiss would still be the favorite.

Having said that, I feel like gambling today. If Roddick wins the first set, I say the american will go all the way.

So, my pic is Andy Roddick in 5 sets!

For Roddick to win he'll need a 75% 1st serve. And the most important thing is he'll have to volley as well as he did against Murray. If Federer gets to dictate then its over before he begins.

I don't think we have the two players who have played best these two weeks and thats the reason i want Federer to win. I think going back to No1 is massive for Federer on his resume and he has been playing as good as i've ever seen him so i'll take Federer in 4

[Axl4Prez2004]

Wow, both are holding serve with Roddick leading 5-4 on serve right now.
Seeing Sampras and Borg watching is just cool as hell!!!!

I love my country, but I'm rooting for Federer.  I want Roger to get #15.

[Gnrfan]

Wow, both are holding serve with Roddick leading 5-4 on serve right now.
Seeing Sampras and Borg watching is just cool as hell!!!!

I love my country, but I'm rooting for Federer.  I want Roger to get #15.

1st set to Roddick. To Be honest i thought that was a possibility i'd expect Federer to turn it on now though. This set is vital to Federer's chances

[Gnrfan]

Thats incredible. 6-2 down in the tie break to win the 2nd set. I guess thats why he's the greatest.

This could be a 5 set thriller at this rate

[Gnrfan]

This could be a 5 set thriller at this rate

Well we are in to a 5th. I think Roddick has been the better player really and i just get the feeling that this is his title today. Federer is probalyy playing as bad as he has played in this tournament But you never know with Federer.

At the end of the 4th set Federer had won 1 more point than Roddick in the match thats how close this is.

[Axl4Prez2004]

OMG!  Those volleys were amazing at 6-5 15-love in the 5th set!

Awesome stuff.

[Axl4Prez2004]

btw, there are some cute ball-girls at Wimbledon.

[Axl4Prez2004]

Damn!  I've gotta get working out here.  But I can't leave this match!  It's now 14-14 in the 5th set...with no sign of any server getting weak.

[Gnrfan]

What a match. Maybe not the fireworks of last year, but such intrigue. 16-14..... OMG

I think Roddick was brilliant and unlucky in some ways. Roddick got broke once in 5 sets against probally the best player ever..... unbelievable.

Great for Roger 15 GS titles, 6 wimbledons and once again Number 1 in the world.

Great to see Sampras back at Wimbledon, he was my idol in the tennis world when i was young

[Axl4Prez2004]

Wow, what a match.  That said...the way Roddick handled himself with such grace...I will be rooting for this man hard next year!  How funny was it when Federer, looking to console Roddick when he talked about how he lost it last year, and Roddick interjected with, "Yeah, but you already won it 5 times!"  Priceless!

btw, the gold trimmed jacket with the # "15" on it was a bit much for me.  I respect the man...Federer, but he didn't win points with me off the court.  (still a nice guy, but Roddick really shined through for me after the match) 

Great to see Pete!  He's a class act.

[Gnrfan]

How funny was it when Federer, looking to console Roddick when he talked about how he lost it last year, and Roddick interjected with, "Yeah, but you already won it 5 times!"  Priceless!

Yeah well funny.

btw, the gold trimmed jacket with the # "15" on it was a bit much for me.  I respect the man...Federer, but he didn't win points with me off the court.  (still a nice guy, but Roddick really shined through for me after the match) 

Its a sponsor thing dude, that #15 on the jacket is probally worth ?1Million to Federer and about ?50Million to Nike. I think its fair enough, its a historic moment in Tennis and people will always capitilise on that.

I felt for Roddick at the end, and i think he deserves credit for an incredible 2nd week this year and i think he'll go on to better things now. He seems to have found his game again. Its such a shame that he didn't win but i think he just ran out of steam at the end.

Having said that i feel privledged to see Federer win the 15th Slam and that it happened in my country. As you can imagine us British haven't had much success in Tennis of late and its good that Federers record breaking achievement was at Wimbledon.

[D]

I have mixed feelings about Andy Roddick

I feel he is a guy who has squandered his career by not working hard and dedicating himself properly.

Today he confirmed that. If he showed this determination his entire career, he'd have multiple grand slam titles.

Roddick had his shot. He had 2 break pts but Federer just stormed back.


Great Epic match and I watched every game.

Tennis is such an amazing,beautiful game.

[Axl4Prez2004]

gnrfan, I didn't mean to slam Federer...trust me, something tells me the hype machine will make money no matter what.  There were congratulatory commercials immediately following the broadcast, and I'm okay with that.  I had one little prob, and that was the #15 on his jacket.  That's all!  It was a brilliant performance, and he's the best player in tennis today without a doubt...and maybe the best ever...that's always open for debate.

Hey D, hopefully Roddick goes through what Agassi did when Agassi finally got focused. 

[D]

I still place Federer 3rd best all time behind Sampras and Rod Laver


Name one HOF caliber player Federer went against when he won all those slams.

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

Just Nadal.

Feds came in at the right time.  If he played against Samps and 'dre, he would not even be in double digits.

With that said, I think he can get to 18 slams easily.

[Ignatius]

So, my pic is Andy Roddick in 5 sets!

Just a few points off...



Viva el Tennis!

Incredible, amazing match. Roddick put one of his best performances I'eve ever seen him put on a tennis court and it was just not enough.

There are so many little things to comment on about this match. Small details that had their gone in some other direction, they would've totally changed the outcome of the match. Amongst them all, one of the things people don't seem to rely on is fitness. Roger won yesterday simply because he was fitter than Roddick.

Andy has gotten incredibly fit now that he's been trained by Stephansky, but it was Roger who seemed fresher out there in the latter games of the 5th. While Roddick's serve kept getting slower and slower, the swiss kept on firing aces game in and game out. the first sign of fatigue in tennis is the serve, the moment a player's serve % goes down or gets slower, it's a sign that he's tired. Andy's serve coordination was way off in the last 3 service games and that was enough for Federer to break it in the end.

Speaking of serve, Roger had one of his best service matches. He had 50 aces...he's not the most powerful man out there, but man can he change direction with the serve. Amazing stuff.

I really felt for Roddick in the end. I thought he had it. He had a few chances when they were 8-8 or 10-10 to break Fedex's serve, but couldn't manage to do it. Roger was too clutch as usual. Just as he was when facing 4 set points in the second set. Did anyone see that half volley off the down the line Roddick's forehand at 2-6? That was just the point of the tournament. Roddick could've pulled it off with 6-5, but his backhand volley landed 3 meters wide. That was the key to the match. Roddick held serve on set three, but I thought (we all thought) Roger was going to win the match in 4 after having won the second set.

In the end, it was just a matter of time to see Roger finally win. Andy was struggling to hold serve until he really couldn't keep it up anymore. That last forehand by the american was - again- a sign of fatigue. He just didnt had the proper footwork and didnt bend his knees.

Congratulations to Roger. Finally and without a doubt, the best player in the history of tennis.

Now I hope Nadal gets back soon enough to play the US open. If he does, he will lack the rythm, but for the first time in years, he will be 100% injury free in the late stages of the season.

Just Nadal.

Feds came in at the right time.  If he played against Samps and 'dre, he would not even be in double digits.

With that said, I think he can get to 18 slams easily.

I disagree Garry.

Federer's played with Andre at least 7 years. Sampras though is different cause he retired in 2001-2002. Andre played until 2006-2007.  Agassi could've been an all time great, he was just not consistent. He had amazing runs, but also gap years.

Pete didnt really have a rival. Andre and him played plenty of times but their head-to-head was like Nadal Vs Federer. Sampras won many many more times. Other than him, Sampras didnt really have strong contenders in his era; Kuerten, Krajicek, Bruguera, Muster, Courier...were the ones to name a few - but those were dominant on clay (with the execption of Krajicek and Courier). Becker and Edgerb were already on the glimpse of retiring, so for Sampras it was an easier road to travel (IMO). Federer has Nadal, Murray (these two had better W-L record against the swiss) and the Djoker.

[D]

Roddick kept making two huge mistakes

He would go for that slice backhand which failed him way more than helped him

and his approaches to the net got him burnt so many times.

He should've stayed confident in his power game and he would've won.

[Gnrfan]

I still place Federer 3rd best all time behind Sampras and Rod Laver

Name one HOF caliber player Federer went against when he won all those slams.

There are only 4 possibilities IMO Federer, Sampras, Laver & Bjorg. Eveyone to their own but its hard to say anyone is better than Federer.

15 GS titles in 6 years (Sampras won 14 but in 12 years / Laver 11 in 19 Years) - That in itself is incredible more titles in half the time of his nearest rival.

20 GS Finals out of a possible 25 since 1st Slam win (Sampras got to 18 out of 48 possible after 1st Slam win)

Longest single reign ever at No1 by over a year (237 Weeks)

Won a career Grand Slam

and thats just a few i found knocking about.

I also think that this generation of players are incredible. You may not have the top 4 of other generations but IMO its the best top 20 of all time and i know guys like Becker, McEnroe, Sampras and Laver agree because they all said it on BBC after the final.

The problem with discussing the quality of a generation is that you never know how good Federer is. D ask the question of how many HOF's are in this generation. Well my answer to that is "Maybe Federer is that good".... i mean think about it. Roddick could be a HOF'er if he'd have won Wimbledon the 3 times Federer has beaten him. Nadal is definatly in that group already. Maybe other generations have more HOF'ers because the No1 guy wasn't as good as Federer.

And thats why its so hard to say who is the "Best". IMO Federer is the greatest, He has won every GS, broken records all over the place. If you are ultra critical you could say Laver won the Year Grand Slam twice and Federer hasn't done that. But then you have to say he has lost to the best Clay Courter ever 3 times in the French Final and hs won 3 of the 4 GS tiles on 3 occasions with the French the missing piece. Thats pretty close.

So the argument of quality works both ways. If Federer was sitting here having won the Year Grand slam 3 time there really would be no argument..... and Nadal is the only thing that stood in the way of that.

[Mysteron]

I would rate Laver as the greatest player of all time. He was not able to compete in the Grand Slam events for five years during the peak of his career because the Slams were only for amateur tennis players up until the late 60's. Laver went pro in 62/63 and was not able to take part. Technically, Laver would have gone on to win many more Slams given the chance.

Federer is a clear second though.