I'm starting this post with a shout out to one Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Why? Yes I'm being bad. I'm sure you know by now that Monsieur Tsonga stretched the FedGod to five sets in their quarterfinal match before losing 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-3, 3-6.
You see this is what Roger Federer fans were afraid of. In my opinion Tsonga could've won - in theory since I haven't stayed up to see any of the ATP night matches which means I haven't seen Federer play - but he doesn't believe that he can win but he can play hard enough to push Federer and that is what he did. He's not going to roll over and play dead but the head to head is now 9-3 in Federer's favor.
So the big deal of that loss by Tsonga is that Federer had to play five sets and then play again the next day. That is a big deal for a man of Federer's age. All the cosseting, all the favorable treatment given by the TD's in the end meant nothing when Federer faced Andy Murray who had a much easier time against a nervous Jeremy Chardy winning his day match in three sets 6-4, 6-1, 6-2. And Andy Murray despite being treated like the proverbial red haired step child by the tournament was physically ready for a long match. It's amusing to read about the meltdown Federer had cursing and carrying on while Murray (!) just played tennis.
Once again I'm having a "Bitch Stole My Look" moment. All together now " A soft draw does not a champion make". I know Federer fans think his draw was difficult but there was never any doubt in my mind that he had a clear road to the quarter finals. Tomic? Raonic? Davydenko? Paire? Yeah those players were going to give him a hard time. They've been conditioned to think they can't beat him. Tsonga was the first real threat he faced and right behind him came Murray. He wasn't going to survive both.
As for Murray it seems his work in the heat of South Florida has paid off.
Any long time readers know I don't care for Novak Djokovic as a player since the Gael Monfils incident at the US Open. Still I never doubted that he was going to make the Final. Sure some will say I should get over that incident and that he has made himself into a better person. Sorry. As Maya Angelou said "When someone shows you who they are believe them." Roger Federer dropped the mask a bit in last night's match and Djokovic dropped his long ago.
Who do I think is going to win? No idea. I'm not even going to try and stay up or record the match. I'm sure there will be plenty of the players fans doing that. I hope they get a good match.
4 comments:
Savannah, which players ranked outside of the Top 20 do YOU think could have challenged Federer in the first week, or any of the Top 3 for that matter, since you insist in you're theory that Federer always gets soft draws? As I've said before and Karen said this too, ANY draw is a soft draw for The Big Four .They're just too good.
I meant to answer your question about this before Fred and what with Cheatergate got away from it.
I look for a player, any player, to come on court and play his/her best no matter who is across the net.
For example we saw the excitement of Maria Sharapova when she defeated Venus last week regardless of the fact Venus is no longer in her prime.And look at how many people celebrated Lukas Rosol last year when he defeated Rafa who we now know was injured. I've watched players get way up playing Rafa, Serena, (Virginie Razzano comes to mind) and Venus playing at a level you never see them play at other times. I include everyone in the top 20 of the WTA or ATP and those not there at all.
You NEVER or rarely see players do this against Federer. They come out with the attitude that they're not going to win and they play half assed and make stupid mental mistakes rarely challenging him. Federer needs these soft draws to make it to the Quarters of tournaments. Look at what happened when he finally started playing seeds who weren't scared to play him or resigned to defeat.
I count Del Potro among the already defeated when he plays Federer now by the way.
Savannah, I think Tsonga *did* think he could beat Federer. Yes, he had a Tsonga-like lapse in concentration in the last set, but other than that both his effort & attitude were excellent. And believe me, I've seen plenty of Tsonga matches - and not just against Federer - where that was not the case. Remember he's got RR in his corner now. I think that helps.
And I don't know what Federer fans you're talking about who supposedly want soft draws, but that's not me. I think the Federer of today needs a tough draw to get his form in shape & to have a prayer in the final rounds. And if he doesn't get there, well then, he doesn't. Age catches up to everyone. No shame in that.
But I have to say I didn't watch the men's final either. I figured Djokovic to be a 60/40 favorite over Murray, so to me there wasn't enough suspense to justify getting up at 3:30 in the morning.
Randy there were soooo many Fed fans crying about a tough draw and I kept wondering if I was in an alternate universe because I didn't see it.
Anyway I'm trying to work myself into the frame of mind where I'll watch the men's final. I figured if it went five sets Murray had a chance. It didn't and he didn't.
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