2020 Australian Open...ATP 2000...Melbourne, Australia

[nytennisaddict]

Match of the Day...Roger Federer vs. Filip Krajinovic

Game, set and match to Roger Federer...6-1, 6-4, 6-1. Only Roger Federer can command the tennis aficionado's attention to the degree that he does. I watched Stefanos Tsitsipas the other day against a pretty decent opponent that he was routinely dispatching and he doesn't have the commanding presence that a Roger Federer does. Fed is prowling. He's almost imperceptibly snarling. The Snarlin' Darling. But he was up on it today against a guy who has a pretty darn good game...at least half a pretty darn good game. You see...he has no options. It is just back court...more backcourt and more backcourt. Nothing to take Mr. Federer out of his rhythm or out of his realm. Federer is a man for all seasons and all surfaces. All occasions. He can adapt and he can do it on a point by point basis. A shot by shot basis.

I spent an hour on the court this morning working out with my young friend and protege Gustaf. I had watched him play and lose rather decisively to the number one seed at a local tournament here in Skövde, Sweden before the New Year. He has the strokes and he has the variety of shot but he has virtually no idea how to use them. So that is what we worked on a bit today. Every shot doesn't have to be a winner. Every shot doesn't have to overwhelm your opponent. Case in point...Roger Federer. As glacierguy pointed out regarding Daniel Evans two set from behind comeback...you have to hit the ball and keep it in. Keep the ball in play.

So we marvel at the great assortment of winners and glorious shots that Roger hits during the course of any given match but what really impresses me are the five or six balls that he is willing to trade before he goes for the knockout. Whatever it takes...but no gimmes for the opponent. He makes his opponent win every single point that they win. He doesn't give anything away. Deuce court, opponent hits what looks like a clean winner up the middle on serve but here is Roger lunging and somehow getting his racquet on the ball and lobbing it up towards the ceiling and bouncing it as near to the baseline as he can. He makes the opponent play as awkward a ball as he can and he has all of the possibilities. Sometimes it is a high spinning ball landing back towards the baseline or sometimes it is a short spinny shot in the forecourt. Opponent coming to the net? He somehow gets it down at the feet...or gets them to move backwards for a well placed lob. That is if he isn't in position to land the haymaker...which he does with confidence.

So impressed with Roger's patience. So many times he worked his younger opponent around the court to get him off balance to get a slightly better swing at the ball. Many times he ran him out of the court on the forehands side and instead of going for the outright winner to the backhand he just moves him over there where he just managed to get the ball on his racquet and then here is Roger swooping in for the kill. Or prowling in for the kill. He is on the prowl now. John Millman next. Yep...the same Millman who handed Roger one of his worst defeats on the Big Stage at the U. S. Open. This is only going to work against Millman now as Roger never forgets. Now he has the opportunity to bully the Aussie on his own court and I sort of see Roger trying to put the pedal to the metal on Millman. Roger has some room in front of him now. A good look to the semis. Berrettini made a quick yet prolonged exit courtesy of Tennys Sandgren which just opens up the draw for Roger. He can see Djokovic down at the end of the tunnel. The same Djokovic who stole his thunder last year at Wimbledon. It's not nice to steal Roger's thunder. He doesn't like that. But does he have the legs for it? That will be the question.

So far, so good. He's been on the court and off the court just as quickly. Saving energy. Counting his steps. Measuring. Until he gets to the real thing then it will just be prowling, prowling and more prowling. Trying to trade the necessary balls to get the haymaker on his racquet. A lot of work to be done. But that is what he does. He doesn't let the other guy outwork him. Make no mistake...he is TALENTED. But he earns it. When he is away from the tour he is out there working.

well written. thx.
not enough is written/said about fed's defensive/neutral rally game (usually reserved for nad/djoke).
millman is a tough match up for anyone... if you're just slightly off, he's gonna grind you down (us open courts are slow, helping millman track down a few more balls - guessing it should be different on the presumably faster AO courts)

[klacr]

well written. thx.
not enough is written/said about fed's defensive/neutral rally game (usually reserved for nad/djoke).
millman is a tough match up for anyone... if you're just slightly off, he's gonna grind you down (us open courts are slow, helping millman track down a few more balls - guessing it should be different on the presumably faster AO courts)

This is essentially what makes Federer great and the true genius of an aggressive game.

Roger Federer will go down in history as one of the most aggressive/offensive minded players to ever play. But its his speed, defensive capabilities to neutralize and patience to recognize the right opportunity to attack that allows him to do so. It's an art form.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Delray Beach
SETS Consulting

[stroke]

Haha...you are there and I am here. We pushed the "post reply" within one minute of each other. Didn't mean to steal your thunder. Both motions are excellent. Do you give the nod to Pete Sampras? One cannot argue with either one. Pete probably ly a heavier ball and more MPH...but the thing about these two motions is that they produce the beetest of placement. Lines, lines and more lines. Little bits of the line. Yeah...Sampras was reigning supreme when he was on top of his game. He was in on the net just as quick. His motion was designed to go in and that is going to produce the better motion all things being equal...I believe.

I do think Pete had a slightly better 1st and 2nd serve. I think Roger is better at everything else, but Pete was great. I bet he did not have many losses where he won more points than his opponent ha.

[stroke]

Fritz had a great come from behind 2 sets down win over Anderson. I like his game a lot. He could definitely be a top 10 player to me. I hope he keeps it going here.

[klacr]

Anderson flirts on the verge on perennial top 10 with never being seen again due to his injuries. He works so hard on the prevention of them. Amazing that Fritz, Paul and Sandgren are in the 3rd round. That fact will be repeated ad nauseam by the US Tennis Media. They had to battle in 5 setters to get there, they are hungry and willing to battle. That may be the best sign for the future.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Delray Beach
SETS Consulting

[don_budge]

Match of the Day...Roger Federer vs. John Millman

Poor Novak Djokovic...he will never, ever be the match of the day if he plays on the same day as Roger Federer and that is what eats at him. Jealously. Perhaps he is over it. He might as well be because that is never going to change. Poor Novak...he is dreadfully boring. In more ways than one. A great modern tennis player when the conditions and equipment seem to dictate the style of play but in another era he is just another boring baseliner. Federer...now there is a man for all seasons.

Roger Federer versus John Millman. Millman ranked #47 presently and this is precisely the type of player that Roger wants to play in this round. In fact...Millman is the player that Roger wants to play in just a couple of hours. Millman happened to catch Federer on a weird evening in the Big Apple a couple of years ago. Some say it was heat. I say he didn't like what he saw in the big picture and decided to cash in his chips...and I say that half seriously. Who knows? There really was no logical explanation for the collapse. But that is in the rear view...or is it?

Today they lace them up in Melbourne, Australia and what is it that they say...paybacks are a bitch? Well this is payback time. Millman is in front of his home crowd and what better way to answer any questions about that debacle in New York than to play pin the tail on the Millman. Roger should have it out in full throttle and pedal to the metal. He now knows that it is Marton Muscovics, the #67 ranked player from Hungary of all places, who he will face in the next round if he gets past Millman. There are a couple of key pieces of info that Roger needs to know at this point. Make no mistake about it...he is on a need to know basis now. His teeth are deeply sunk into this tournament. Two more wins and he plays one of four players who are basically in the same category. Maybe Fabulous Fabio Fognini. But that is beyond his need to know at this point. He isn't even thinking about anything other than tearing Millman a new you know what in front of his home crowd. He's mean...he's really mean. But as I told Nicki from Serbia a long time ago here on the forum..."you gotta be like that Nicki...you gotta be like that".

You can have the rest of it. Except for the possible drama that might develop should Nick "The Jerk" or Nick "Curious George" get past the Russian who barely squeaked by the Ethiopian/Swede yesterday in five sets. Karen Khachanov was less than impressive and Nick seems to have his nose somewhat to the grindstone. He actually broke serve a couple of times which is a deviation from the "too cool for school" mode he normally is playing. Should he get his match with Fafa Nadal the Australian crowd might just get behind their petulant wunderkind and propel him into a new train of thought. A come to Jesus moment if you will. But there is not getting ahead of this one. Nick is just about capable of anything at this point. An inspiring performance or another dramatic letdown.

Just try to remain in a need to know basis like Roger. It gets to be too much information otherwise. It's distracting and it just might cause you to take your eye off of the ball when it needs to be there most of all. Just a thought. Food for thought. What do you think?

[stroke]

What a match in 5th set now Fed and Millman. When I see matches like this and players like Millman, #47 in world floating around the draws, it makes the achievements of the big 3 almost even more impressive to me. What an atmosphere in this match.

[don_budge]

Roger fucking wins it!!!!!!!!!

[stroke]

Db, yes Nick's too cool for school "you can't break my serve anyway" mode is extremely frustrating, mostly because like Roger, he has the hand skills to pretty much be a threat to break all the time, yet he just does not often care. Regarding Novak and Roger, I think Novak has long ago come to terms with the absolute fact that he will never get the crowd love Roger gets. For that matter, no other player will either. A few of his massive wins over Roger were even more impressive to me because in these huge matches, it is basically a Davis Cup atmosphere, and Novak is not the home country.

[stroke]

Stefanos goes out to an in form Raonic. Slightly disappointing. No shame, Raonic along with Nick to me have the best sub 6'10" serves in tennis. But it may be another indication that Stefanos is not really next up to take the baton from the big 3. Those 3 always seemed to get through those kind of matches.

[don_budge]

Excusez Mon Français...pardon my french

Roger fucking wins it!!!!!!!!!

Wow...what a match! What a day for me. Here is how it went down:

I got out of the house just a bit later than I would have liked to but still felt that I was somewhat on schedule. I didn't feel that I had to watch the entire match but I wanted to at least be there for the last set. My first priority in life now is the gym. I have set aside everything else to adhere to the program that my Physical Trainer Mona has put together for me. I took the garbage in the car with me and I put it down between my feet. But wouldn't you know it...I forgot to stop at the end of the drive and put it in the container. In my defence the drive is four hundred meters long so during the course of the drive there...I forgot. So I ended up driving to town with this bag of garbage between my feet. That sort of annoyed me.

Once I got to town I was looking for a place to deposit my bag and I went behind some stores in search of a garbage container which I found and completed that mission. Since that errand took me to the "Farmer's Shop" I stopped and picked up food for the dogs and horses. Next stop the gym. Not feeling at the top of my game today but I managed to make a good effort to complete my assignment. The last item on my agenda is four 250 meter sprints on a rowing machine. This a high effort item as the goal is to bring them in under a minute. Downstairs is the usual machine that I usually do my sprints on but there were a couple of elderly people on them looking like it was "row, row, row your boat...gently down the stream. merrily...merrily down we go, life is but a dream". So I went upstairs and I was staring at the machine there. The four sprints are quite daunting...it takes me 35 pulls at full speed to get it done under a minute. I was wondering what Roger was up to as the time was getting to be noon. The match started at 10:30 AM. I was thinking of letting the sprints slide but I thought better of it. I did them. That would have been the first time in three months that I short changed my workout. But I got down on the infernal thing and did them. 55.9, 57.7, 57.4 and 56.5. Gave it everything I had. Nothing left. Showered and shaved...out the door by 12:20. Next stop the grocery shopping.

Out in the car I checked my phone and the ATP app. Federer had lost the first and won the second. It was the early middle of the third when I started the Land Cruiser for the race home. Eighteen kilometres in an eighty kph road...a two lane high way in Sweden that reminds me of Upper Peninsula Michigan. At my fastest I clocked 115 or so. Roughly seventy miles an hour. Not desperate. Then it was nine miles of a two lane country road out to the farm where I may have topped off at 84 kph. There are no speed signs but conventional wisdom might presume 70 to be the limit. I needed to get home. Federer wins the third by the time I navigated the two kilometre dirt road to the four hundred meter driveway.

I arrive at my computer and it is early on in the fourth but it appears that Roger is stalling just a bit. Running sort of low on energy or something. Don't forget he hasn't played a match in how many weeks. The first two matches he cruised through but John Millman is putting up some serious resistance...sort of like that rowing machine back at the club. I was totally spent and Roger looked like he was on his way there. Sure enough Millman wins the fourth and Roger is sputtering. Millman breaks early on and Roger is playing catch up and he manages to break back before getting too deep into the set. Now my computer stream is really sputtering. It streams for five seconds and then is down for ten. It did this for the entire fifth set so I had my phone on and I was mostly watching the live score on my phone. So I didn't have a decent picture and I was watching only the score for the last half of the set. Very annoying...very tired. As Roger seemed to be. This is where it comes in handy "Being Roger Federer" as I have been inside his head for the past ten years. I know what he is thinking on every point. I am playing by the score.

We get to the Super tie-break and he loses the first point on his serve. He is behind 3-0. He is behind 8-4. The stream has gotten several points behind the score on the live score app. Very, very annoying. So I am reduced to the live score app. Somehow Federer claws his way back into it. I did get to see the match point. Millman serving...Federer returns rather defensively. Millman attacks to the backhand...Federer just claws his way to the edge and gets his racquet on it. He lifts up a lob high in the air to the Millman backhand side of the court. Millman runs around the forehand and as Roger said in his interview...guesses wrong. He drives down the line into the Federer forehand and Roger realizes in that split second that this is it and he unleashes a great forehand deep crosscourt. Game...set and match to Roger. God bless him. He fought and he clawed his way to the finish line. Just gutting it out and trying to get the match on his racquet. He did for a split second and manages to do what he needed to do. The haymaker. Thus the "French" exclamation. Excusez moi...s'il vous plait.
.

[don_budge]

Federer/Millman highlight video. Missing the most important three points when Federer was down 4-8 in the tie-breaker.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQ2BfKZ9I2s

The tie-break...missing the same three points.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4pc1fCLK0M

Match point...Millman big serve down the middle in the ad court. Federer blocks back...rule number one, keep the ball in play. Millman pounds into Federer's backhand and Federer slices to just past the service line on the backhand side of middle. Millman tags a forehand and he may have hit the baseline and Roger just gets his racquet on it at full stretch and lofts a high floating shot to the backhand side of Millman's court. Millman runs around the forehand...the rest is history.

[stroke]

Federer/Millman highlight video. Missing the most important three points when Federer was down 4-8 in the tie-breaker.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQ2BfKZ9I2s

The tie-break...missing the same three points.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4pc1fCLK0M

Match point...Millman big serve down the middle in the ad court. Federer blocks back...rule number one, keep the ball in play. Millman pounds into Federer's backhand and Federer slices to just past the service line on the backhand side of middle. Millman tags a forehand and he may have hit the baseline and Roger just gets his racquet on it at full stretch and lofts a high floating shot to the backhand side of Millman's court. Millman runs around the forehand...the rest is history.

beyond small margains, it is a wonder all these players are not in therapy

[stroke]

Nick and Karen in a hard fought match, 5th set. Winner gets Nadal. Can't help but think Nick would have a much better chance of beating him. Karen is a real pro. He just goes about his job.

[stroke]

Nick gets through 5th set tiebreaker. 4 hour plus match. The Nadal match should be something.