2019 Wimbledon...ATP 2000...London, England

[don_budge]

Novak's level dropped in the 2nd set vs RBA and after winning the 1st set, it is one set all. And he is getting fussy out there. There won't be much room for level dropping and getting fussy vs Fed or Nadal.

Just got back and walked in the door. Flew all night and made my way home by bus, train and finally the car ride home. I was wondering the whole time what time Nadal and Federer were playing. Djokovic fussing? He's milking it. There isn't much going on between him and Bautista-Agut. Another break in the fourth for Djokovic. Good...get this over with. You cannot watch it. I'll never forget watching him at the French Open. Trying to watch him is more like it. I was nodding off...only the French coffee kept me conscious.

Hoping for a compelling victory for Federer. Shame that the grass doesn't give him an outright advantage on the Spanish knuckle head. Look at the wear patterns on the grass. No net play...it was engineered out of the game long ago. Oh look! Djokovic just went to the net!

[stroke]

Fed wins the 1st set in a tiebreaker looking only like he can. 2 things, he is hurting Nadal with the down the line forehand, and I think he knows Nadal is vulnerable to the short ball, bringing him in, IF he gets Nadal to hit a backhand on that ball. Of course, the Nadal forehand is not an option for Fed. And Roger's backhand is holding up great vs the Nadal hook forehand.

[gzhpcu]

Anybody know who the guy with the goatee and cowboy hat in Federer’s box? You see him often in player boxes... thanks...

[stroke]

I don't know if I have ever seen Roger lose a set like that 2nd set except maybe that bad loss to Nadal at the FO a long time ago, maybe 2008 or so.

[don_budge]

I don't know if I have ever seen Roger lose a set like that 2nd set except maybe that bad loss to Nadal at the FO a long time ago, maybe 2008 or so.

That may have been a tactical toss of the set as Bill Tilden discusses in his book "How to Play Better Tennis-a complete guide to technique and tactics". It seems to me that he talks about letting a set go in a five set match in order to steady yourself for the next. That's how it played out though. Roger really buckled down the last two sets and really matched the resolve of Nadal.

The court being the great equaliser. That is six of seven against Nadal since the equipment change. Roger has his number except of course on clay and he deserves a "do over" on account of the hurricane conditions that they played in at Roland Garros. Roger actually didn't play lights out and he has looked a bit sluggish at times in the tournament as if he is not fully awake or just tired of the rigamarole. He had a real lapse against Nishikori in the round before in the first set.

It didn't really surprise me that he won. Nadal's playing back way behind the baseline started to come unwound there...after the second set. Roger started to really move Nadal around. It didn't appear that Nadal was as successful in moving Federer. Interesting match though. I think that once again the usual suspects have demonstrated just how much the sport lacks depth. Not one of them had a challenge of a serious nature.

So it makes me wonder about the Djokovic/Federer matchup. Frankly...nothing would really surprise me from Federer. He has beaten Djokovic somewhat recently and on a decidedly faster surface than normal. I don't know if we can really classify this grass as fast yet there is something different about the surface than your run of the mill plexipave or clay courts. I will put it at even money and even make Roger a slight favourite. But the problem with that is my same old dysfunction...I always bet with my heart.

"The Living Proof" is still holding out. Holding up. It was phenomenally wonderful to see him pin the ears back on the donkey...the ass. I don't suppose anyone else saw the stalling tactics throughout the match. After all what do you think that preserve routine is. Nadal is a blatant gamemanship user. Can't wait to hear his excuse.

[stroke]

I liked Fed to win vs Nadal and I like him to win vs Novak.

[gzhpcu]

Never saw Federer play so well and aggressively against Nadal. And he will be 38 in the Fall....

[jeffreycounts]

I don't know if I have ever seen Roger lose a set like that 2nd set except maybe that bad loss to Nadal at the FO a long time ago, maybe 2008 or so.

I thought he was done after that set. Maybe he knew it was lost and just let it go, getting ready for the third. Either way, an incredible turnaround.

[don_budge]

I don't know if I have ever seen Roger lose a set like that 2nd set except maybe that bad loss to Nadal at the FO a long time ago, maybe 2008 or so.

I thought he was done after that set. Maybe he knew it was lost and just let it go, getting ready for the third. Either way, an incredible turnaround.

Once Federer got behind in that set he realised the amount of energy he would need to expend to get even and win it. He elected not to and to bank on the third set. I will refer to "The Book" and William Tilden to clarify. In his section on "Match Play and Tennis Psychology" he expands a bit on his thought about the psychology in five set matches. His thoughts are crystal clear and hit the astute tennis aficionado in the forehead like a beam of white light. Inspiration.

"In a three out of five set match, the climactic set in my opinion is usually the third. The first is naturally of great psychological value but it is not actually decisive. If you can win both the first two sets so much the better. Still the third set is the critical one. If the score is 2 sets to 0 a victory in the third means the match. If you are behind at 0-2 you must win the third or the match is lost. But in many three out of five set matches the players divide the first two sets and stand at 1 set apiece. Now the real importance of the. third set comes to the fore. If you win it and lead 2 sets to 1 the discouragement to your opponent is tremendous. By the end of a third set any player will be feeling the physical strain, more or less. To face the necessity of winning two sets in a row places a great burden on the mental and physical courage of your opponent. It looks like an awfully long road back. You may even be able to afford taking a chance of running him in the fourth set and even if you lose it, tire him so much that he will be easy in the fifth. It is, of course, better to keep pressure on in the fourth set and take no chances.

If your opponent leads you 1-2 then it's up to you to muster all the guts you have, go out for a quick victory in the fourth set and shoot the works in the fifth even if you wind up flat on your face at the end."

I highly doubt as to whether Roger Federer has read any Bill Tilden tennis literature. But he instinctively knew that the second set was not going to break him either way. He had the first in the bank which was absolutely crucial to him. That tie-break certainly could have gone either way early on. Nadal at one point chased down a short Federer volley to his backhand and with one hand managed to just "dump" the ball past Federer at the net down the line into Federer's corner. A miraculous save that looked as if it would turn the tie-break and thus the first set. But Federer was managing his emotions to the max and it didn't matter to him one way or the other. He was "simply" playing to the score and he did it to perfection to close out the first in style. Beautiful and elegant tennis style...which is of course why he is and always will be the "Living Proof".

On a "real" grass court Nadal would be cat food for a guy like Federer. But the "velcro" like nature of the grass these days allows him to hang in the match much longer than he should be able to. After losing the first set tie-break the skunk lurked into the bathroom for a potty vacation. He took forever in there doing whatever it was he was doing. It was if he was having a baby. How long does it take to take a leak anyways? Then when he came out he took his time as if it was just a normal changeover and went through with all of his antics with arranging his moronic bottles and such. Federer was on the other side of the court ready to resume play and you could see he was impatient and very annoyed with Nadal. He knew what Nadal was up to. Federer had enormous momentum after winning that stunning tie-break and Nadal was only stalling to throw off Federer's momentum. Ironically it worked.

Later when Federer was ready to serve out the match Nadal elected to take off his shoe and was monkeying around with something...a sock or some tape. But it was just a ploy. It did once again throw Federer off just a bit. Which is all that it takes. Nadal is a master of all masters at this. His pre-serve routine is only that. A monstrous mind fuck. Stefanos Tsitsipas was rather vocal about it in a round about way after losing to him at the Australian. He has a "talent" at making his opponent play bad. Nadal controls things including the time on the court from the coin toss. He is a bully without a doubt in that regard. John McEnroe was tippy toeing around the subject but he was crystal clear to me when he observed to his partner in the booth that the umpires make allowances for him because he is "Nadal". There isn't any room in my book for this sort of behaviour but somehow it floats in the modern game.

So it was a glorious victory and one that rivals the light and dark force in epics like Tolkien's "The Ring". There is no room for failure in a situation like that yesterday for Roger. Failure was not an option. He played like it and he manned up. I don't think that he served up to his potential which is a great sign for him going into the final. There is still room for improvement and that is what Roger will be searching for between now and the final. Little things. Tiny things. Things that will give him that tiny ray of hope. That tiny little space that often spells the difference between winning and losing a tennis match.

The technique is certainly a fascinating discussion in itself. But it is the "match play psychology" that is the real game breaker. No wonder those lines of Rudyard Kipling's are forever etched over the entrances to both Wimbledon and the U. S. Open.

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same

Federer was staring them down all day...the two imposters. Never giving way to either. He never stressed even when his demise may have appeared imminent. He just kept staring them down. Never losing his head. Never giving his hand away. It was a masterpiece in match play psychology and I don't believe that technically he played his best. He still has something left in the bag. I know that conventional wisdom says Djokovic is the favourite. But I always bet with my heart. I did when I was a boy probably being the last to believe in Santa Claus. I know I do it with Trump hoping that someone can make a difference in this old world. I do it today when somehow I believe that he can pull off a win on Sunday. And...I know I am not alone.

[stroke]

Oddsmakers have Novak at about a 65% chance of winning the match. Novak is going to have to deal once again to his chagrin with an obviously pro Federer crowd.

[stroke]

Fed needs to take advantage of his massive superiority over Novak with his hand skiills and bring him forward with the short ball off either side(unlike Nadal) and challenge his volley skills. Fed needs to ride the crowd adulation to Novak's chagrin.

[stroke]

https://slate.com/culture/2019/07/federer-nadal-2019-wimbledon-rivalry.html

Very good article on Fed

[don_budge]

Fed needs to take advantage of his massive superiority over Novak with his hand skiills and bring him forward with the short ball off either side(unlike Nadal) and challenge his volley skills. Fed needs to ride the crowd adulation to Novak's chagrin.

Roger Federer needs to take advantage of every single thing that he can and the one thing that is truly in his hands is the service game. He must take care of his serve as efficiently as he can. I don't think that he has yet to serve lights out this tournament and this would be a perfect time to do just that. He has to play a brilliant tactical match and I would bet that the slice off of the backhand side is top on the list. He must use this shot judiciously to do exactly what you imply...move Djokovic off of the baseline. But the serve is paramount. As his serve goes so will the rest of his game. He opened the match with an ace. That's a perfect start. Keep the service games quick and put pressure on the Djokovic serve.

[stroke]

Obviously a very well played 1st set by both players. Novak is not fussy today.

[stroke]

Novak has not done his winning chances any favors with this 2nd set lack of intensity.