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2015 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals…ATP 1500...London, England
Last year's World Tour Final was off the charts…it was a Federer affair. His David Cup partner and lifelong friend Stan Wawrinka figured prominently in the goings on. Novak Djokovic was incidentally the champion.
Watch the point at 3 games all in the second set at 40-40…the biggest point of the match according to the book.
I wrote this about the infamous semifinal…
Originally posted by don_budge
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There certainly were some moments when it was in doubt last night. Stan Wawrinka had his doubts…he thought he had it in the bag. Roger Federer had his doubts as he felt it slipping through his fingers. What drama. When one says that tennis is a unique game and somebody doesn't understand…show him a replay of this little dandy. What a game.
The final score was 46, 75, 76…but that is only the beginning. Or rather that is only the ending. The beginning has been in the works for months…parts of it for years. Here are two Swiss Davis Cup partners who in a short while will be tied by their cosmic umbilical cords…last night they were fighting each other tooth and nail. Giving no quarter and asking for none in return.
Anyone with half a brain would have picked Federer in straight sets…but that is the funny business about this game. These guys are human. Stan for some reason felt that the occasion was his and he played like it. Roger on the other hand for all intents and purposes should have felt that the night belonged to him but he was coming up short…for whatever reason. All that I have been talking about is preparation…on and on and on. Then…for some crazy reason we are reminded that humans and rodents have the same problem in life sometimes. The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray.
Wawrinka took the first set as Federer showed some nerves and some tentative play. Wawrinka smelled blood and he went for the kill…first set to Stan on account of his assertiveness. When I used to be a manager in a Quality Control department at the Ford Motor Company I used to tell my employees that the only "ass" that was going to get anyone anywhere was assertiveness. No ass-kissing…thank you.
Federer knew he was in a dog fight and he switched gears from high wire acrobat to street fighter and he just eked out the second set. Never mind the particulars because none of it matters until you come to one of the first games or first points in the third and decider. The freaking dumbum in the umpire chair overruled on a Wawrinka ball that he had hit wide…the idiot called it in. But Roger didn't seem to be aware of the overrule and he lost the count in the score.
When he woke up…he was down a break just like that in the most important set of the whole entire year. Suddenly he was one of us…he was screwed. Just like you and I every single day of the year…the cards are stacked against us and the men in control take great delight in giving us a collective screwing. After some deep soul searching Roger knew he was fucked and he was just going to have to make the best of it and no matter what he wasn't going to cave in to the deep dark psychological forces that were compelling him to do all kinds of counterproductive things to get even…with the idiot in the chair.
Needless to say that did nothing to help his confidence but he showed us and most importantly himself…he has what it takes. It takes balls to be a tough tennis player and he showed everyone at the O2, including his partner across the net, including his wife for the umpteenth time, his new coach…he showed everyone that he has intestinal fortitude and he can deal with misfortune. He can deal with bad luck. He can deal with the bump in the road. He fought against being his own worst enemy. He got on with it. He fought with all of his heart when the demons were working on him. When Stan was applying the screws on the other end. He was what Don Budge was on the day in London when he fought and duelled the Baron Gottfried Von Cramm until the last point when he passed the German down the line and ended up face down on the grass at Wimbledon in a Davis Cup match…he was the ultimate of tennis players.
The final score was 46, 75, 76…but that is only the beginning. Or rather that is only the ending. The beginning has been in the works for months…parts of it for years. Here are two Swiss Davis Cup partners who in a short while will be tied by their cosmic umbilical cords…last night they were fighting each other tooth and nail. Giving no quarter and asking for none in return.
Anyone with half a brain would have picked Federer in straight sets…but that is the funny business about this game. These guys are human. Stan for some reason felt that the occasion was his and he played like it. Roger on the other hand for all intents and purposes should have felt that the night belonged to him but he was coming up short…for whatever reason. All that I have been talking about is preparation…on and on and on. Then…for some crazy reason we are reminded that humans and rodents have the same problem in life sometimes. The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray.
Wawrinka took the first set as Federer showed some nerves and some tentative play. Wawrinka smelled blood and he went for the kill…first set to Stan on account of his assertiveness. When I used to be a manager in a Quality Control department at the Ford Motor Company I used to tell my employees that the only "ass" that was going to get anyone anywhere was assertiveness. No ass-kissing…thank you.
Federer knew he was in a dog fight and he switched gears from high wire acrobat to street fighter and he just eked out the second set. Never mind the particulars because none of it matters until you come to one of the first games or first points in the third and decider. The freaking dumbum in the umpire chair overruled on a Wawrinka ball that he had hit wide…the idiot called it in. But Roger didn't seem to be aware of the overrule and he lost the count in the score.
When he woke up…he was down a break just like that in the most important set of the whole entire year. Suddenly he was one of us…he was screwed. Just like you and I every single day of the year…the cards are stacked against us and the men in control take great delight in giving us a collective screwing. After some deep soul searching Roger knew he was fucked and he was just going to have to make the best of it and no matter what he wasn't going to cave in to the deep dark psychological forces that were compelling him to do all kinds of counterproductive things to get even…with the idiot in the chair.
Needless to say that did nothing to help his confidence but he showed us and most importantly himself…he has what it takes. It takes balls to be a tough tennis player and he showed everyone at the O2, including his partner across the net, including his wife for the umpteenth time, his new coach…he showed everyone that he has intestinal fortitude and he can deal with misfortune. He can deal with bad luck. He can deal with the bump in the road. He fought against being his own worst enemy. He got on with it. He fought with all of his heart when the demons were working on him. When Stan was applying the screws on the other end. He was what Don Budge was on the day in London when he fought and duelled the Baron Gottfried Von Cramm until the last point when he passed the German down the line and ended up face down on the grass at Wimbledon in a Davis Cup match…he was the ultimate of tennis players.
The Roger Federer/Stan Wawrinka semifinal was absolutely one of the best matches of the year. The psychodrama that was going on in the background only served to elevate this match to its greatness. Roger ended up winning but he couldn't answer the bell for the finals against Novak Djokovic handing the trophy to Novak in a walkover. Interestingly enough it did nothing to diminish the greatness of the tournament. Federer absolutely dominated the tournament with his great play. His beating of Andy Murray was phenomenal.
This year there is a similar cast of characters. The draw will make all of the difference. Anything less than Federer and Djokovic in opposite halves will be a disservice to the big picture. Novak Djokovic comes in the heavy favorite.
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