Arena Federer/Nadal/Djokovic Era - Now 1/3rd Over

Federer misses a chance to break Nadal in the second set, which reminds me a bit of the 2011 French Open, when he had Nadal on the ropes in the first set. Nadal came back with a fury and thst was the end of that. Nadal went up 3-0 here as a result, so it's different, but we'll see here.

 

Holy crap. Fifth set got real

 

heavyweight championship of each other, etc.

 

No ******* Way

Federer era not over yet

 

Fed, what a legend!

 

Federer has done it!

 

I hope everyone's right and Nadal wins in France. These oldies looked fantastic

 

what a final set what a match. [apart from the idiots who screamed during points] 18 grand slams over 100m in prize money the greatest of all time

 

Barring future unexpected developments, I think Federer sealed his claim as the greatest of all time with this win.

 

Watching the trophy presentation-- there is only one man in men's tennis history who Rafa can be introduced alongside where he's not at least tied with that person for most grand slam titles, and it just happens to be the man who defeated him today.

Tough going for Rafa-- he's experienced three brutal defeats in the final over the years (to Djokovic, Wawrinka, and now Federer). Fortunately, he at least has an Australian Open of his own title to look back on.

 

It seemed inevitable, didn't it? Something like, "good show, Roger, but this is how it has to be."

Also-- Federer quietly ties Jack Nicklaus with an 18th Slam title. Like Nicklaus, he won the 18th long after the 17th, and it came during a tremendous run mixed with some luck. I wouldn't be surprised if their careers line up closely in terms of how they won their major titles.

 

Whoever was in charge of anthems needs to be fired. ASAP.

 

Dear Germany. It pains me that your Nazi past sometimes comes back to haunt you. I feel badly whenever you accidentally get reminded of it.

 

Speaking of Germany, Schweinsteiger is coming to Chicago Fire. That can mean hopefully only one thing: he's bringing Ana Ivanovic with him. I'd like to join the official Ana Ivanovic Chicago welcoming committee if there is such a thing and there are any openings on it.

 

fed and rafa playing in the final of the miami open tomorrow if anyone's interested in that kind of thing.

 

Should I warn her family? Just kidding. It's cool that you support her.

*goes back to lurk mode*

 

jesus, fed looks good. rafa never had a chance. couldn't get any traction in roger's service games. might be time for a new title, "federer era: back in full swing".

 

Rafa doesn't have the physical abilities he had at his peak, which were always of paramount importance for him. His last stand in that respect (and in hindsight) was the remarkable run of titles he went on in August and September of 2013. Starting with the Australian Open, he's been gradually robbed of that which once separated him from everyone else (save Djokovic). On more even terms, I'm not sure he's able to best Federer, except perhaps at Roland Garros.

It would be ironic if their career arcs ended up becoming more like a circle, with the end closely resembling the beginning.

 

i don't think i agree with any of that tbh. for one, i think i would give rafa the edge on any clay court, not only roland garros. fed has said that he is going to skip most of the clay court season though, so it might be a moot point. for two, while rafa's physical abilities are very important i don't think he gets nearly enough credit for the mental side of his game. when he was dominating fed, sure he ran down a lot of balls and made some impossible shots on the run, but for the most part his dominance was due to wearing down roger with great shot selection, particularly that amazing top spin forehand that he would bounce high to federer backhand. it's a shot that's always been more effective on clay, and difficult to execute on hard courts with quick conditions. the thing is rafa looks great, fed is just playing out of his mind, particularly with his serve, and rafa has had the misfortune of having to play him 3 times. there's no question in my mind that they've been the best two players on tour so far in 2017, which is great to see. let's not forget they played a great and very close five setter in melbourne. the tables have turned, but not as drastically as you would have it.

 

That's really well said, and I'm with you to a point. I particularly agree with you about Nadal not getting enough credit for the mental side of his game. I've always thought he was just as artistic as Federer, if not more so at times, and it was just that he was clearly expending a lot of energy instead of making it look effortless (cf: DFW's essay). My only point is that if it was the 2010 Nadal on the other side of the net, even Federer playing out of his mind wouldn't have been enough. That was the thing about them-- Nadal was the only player who could take Federer's best and have it clearly not be good enough. That was particularly true earlier on in their careers. More recently, I remember Federer coming into their semifinal match in the 2014 Australian Open playing well and looking good, only to get swept aside like kitchen table crumbs.

I agree that Rafa looks great, and your point about the close match in Australia is well taken. It's just that I think Nadal was so physically capable for so long (barring injury) that it has somewhat masked a less physically transcendent self, which is still good enough to handle almost anyone else on the tour, even on their best days. Against Federer right now, I don't know that it's enough.

One thing is for certain-- 2017 has already gone a long way toward rewriting and deepening their rivalry, a history that looked to mostly be written and well into the settling phase.

 

yeah, i mean rafa is obviously not at his absolute peak anymore. but i'm more about marveling at roger right now, who has somehow reclaimed his peak form when people have been writing him off for six years. and that's what's so amazing about these two athletes, how they continually seem like they are down and out and how they continue to surprise us. let's not guess how it's going to go next. let's just watch.