Whassup with Federer?

[gsheiner]

Great comments so far. I agree that running around the second serve is a way for Federer to shorten points. You run around and go for a huge shot. The point will be over in one or two shots win or lose.

I might add that I don't think Nadal likes it when guys run around his second.
You could see that at wimbledon in the fifth set when Federer did it a few times.

It might one of the few ways that Federer can get into Nadal's head.

[ochi]

Roger has greatly decreased his UEs, especially off his forehand. He was averaging 15 per set until recently. This is the main reason for his improvement lately, I think. He has not had a great early season so far, for him, probably due to a bit of a loss of vitality while recovering from mono, or whatever he had, but his game appears to be more varied, more inventive, more spontaneous than anyone else we have seen on TV, as of today, May 28.

He got through his first round before rain-outs condensed Rafa's remaining schedule -- almost all of it! Tough on his feet, everything. So, if they face each other in the final again, perhaps Roger will be the more rested, physically and mentally. This Roland Garros appears to be his best chance, if he is not knocked off before he gets there.

It promises to be a great French, or is that an oxymoron?

[uspta146749877]

I expanded my previous pos

Great comments so far. I agree that running around the second serve is a way for Federer to shorten points. You run around and go for a huge shot. The point will be over in one or two shots win or lose.

I might add that I don't think Nadal likes it when guys run around his second.
You could see that at wimbledon in the fifth set when Federer did it a few times.

It might one of the few ways that Federer can get into Nadal's head.

Hi,
I expanded a bit my previous posts.
Nadal has a lot of experience playing against Moya
so he probably saw a lot of footwork shown in the clip I mentioned.

Different subject but worth seeing about serve

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/05/26/sports/playmagazine/200805227_IVANOVIC_GRAPHIC.html#

julian

[airforce1]

Nice clip frm the NY pub about the serve. I liked the part about taking it over the top vs pivoting to the side.

[johnyandell]

You guys know who gave them that clip of her serve, right?

[airforce1]

Was that yours?

[airforce1]

If it was yours, they should have had you or one of your guys doing the commentary, as it would have been as good or better.

[uspta146749877]

More about serve

If it was yours, they should have had you or one of your guys doing the commentary, as it would have been as good or better.

see as well

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/01/sports/playmagazine/601gift.html?_r=1&ref=playmagazine&oref=slogin

[uspta146749877]

Nadal

If it was yours, they should have had you or one of your guys doing the commentary, as it would have been as good or better.

see

http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2006/02/05/sports/20060205_SKILLS_ILLUS.html

[johnyandell]

Yep that was a Tennisplayer clip. Well Bruce Elliot knows a lot, but I'll take that as a compliment. You might see more of us there later on also.

[uspta146749877]

"there later on"

Yep that was a Tennisplayer clip. Well Bruce Elliot knows a lot, but I'll take that as a compliment. You might see more of us there later on also.

Did u mean by "there" NYTimes or French Open?
I assume the latter

[uspta146749877]

A picture of Monfils-very funny

Great comments so far. I agree that running around the second serve is a way for Federer to shorten points. You run around and go for a huge shot. The point will be over in one or two shots win or lose.

I might add that I don't think Nadal likes it when guys run around his second.
You could see that at wimbledon in the fifth set when Federer did it a few times.

It might one of the few ways that Federer can get into Nadal's head.

see a funny picture of Monfils playing Fed

http://www.atptennis.com/1/en/2008news/rg_friday21.asp

[oliensis]

French Final: Men's

I tend to root for Federer over Nadal when they play. Federer's virtues as a player appeal to me more than do Nadal's. Nevertheless, going into the final I suspect that Federer doesn't have a real chance. Why?
1) I think that Nadal's backhand is now better than Federer's on clay. The drive is better, and N's slice has improved a lot. This means that Federer doesn't really have a place to go to consitently hurt Nadal. And that's different than was the case even a year ago. Also, it means that there are many less patterns to play that will give Fed the advantage in court dynamics.
2) Nadal will be playing his game. Federer will be changing his game to beat Nadal on clay. At crunch time the guy who doesn't have to choose how to play has an advantage: he doesn't have to think, and so, he doesn't have anxiety or uncertainty. Just clarity and empty-mind state of being, which allows his nature/game to emerge.
3) Nadal's serve has improved to the point that I will be surprised (gleeful but surprised) if Federer can consitently hurt Nadal when returning.
4) Federer has had his service games broken a fair # of times by lesser players than Nadal during this tournament. F will have to serve lights out to dominate sufficiently on his own service games that he'll feel comfortable taking risks on N's service game.

I hope that Federer plays the match of his life and wins the tournament, but I think that's a fairly low-odds propostion before the fact.

[gsheiner]

Agree with all your comments except that I root for Nadal.

I especially agree with your comments on the improvement in the Nadal backhand. He uses more slice, is quite comfortable with it now, and usually gets good depth.

[lukman41985]

What I ate during Sunday brunch...

...a GIGANTIC serving of crow. Congratulations to Rafa.

I can't wait to see these two at Wimbledon--Djokovic obliging, of course.

I wonder how Roger will prepare for Wimbledon? Last year's crushing loss at Roland Garros kept Federer from playing the Gerry Weber Open--I think he knows that Rafa is looking better than ever to take the Wimbledon and as a result, he must play a warm-up to be fully prepared.