this will become the mother of all sports quests in modern sports. it will be known going forward simply as "The Quest".
can he snatch a total of 100 titles before he hangs up his racquets? is that a viable goal for him to have?
and also what about 20 slams now that 17 are in the bag?
i know he wants slams but slams dont come easy after 30. he will be one of the exceptions obviously if it happens. where do you see his best chance at another slam? could it be on the u.s. open surface?
somebody won a french open at 31 for instance? what was his name? that is your question of the day. here is a hint: he was 6 foot 5 and he was a left hander.
muscles (rosewall) was making the finals of slams at some ridiculous old age. so if you have the talent and you can keep up on the fitness front you can certainly show up in the finals of slams.
Here's how Rogie can get to 100 and then 110 for sure... play several more years and focus on playing a lot of 250s and 500s, he could rack up 10 titles per years there.
He's not going to do that, though. 109 is not a big enough motivational factor. He prefers aiming for the biggest tournaments and so haven't got time for many optionals.
Well, I projected Federer for having 88 titles by the end of the year, but he already has 87 with 5 left to play in his schedule.
US Open - fair-good chance
Shanghai - good chance
Basel - excellent chance
Paris - possible skip, I think he has one exemption remaining. Would give him more energy for WTF.
WTF - good-excellent chance
I think 88 was a good guess, 89 possible, but I would be very surprised if he got to 90 this year. But maybe even I am underestimating him.
I thought he might win a slam this year. He was close again at Wimbledon, but maybe it's better he doesn't win a major, just yet. It keeps him motivated and still playing.
I don't know why people expect him to skip Paris. He played there last year even though he still had the Davis Cup Final as well as the WTF to play.
He hasn't overly played this year (12 tournaments so far) and won't be playing a demanding schedule for the remainder. After the US Open he has a Davis Cup tie which shouldn't be too taxing followed by 3 weeks off. He should still have plenty left for Shanghai, Basel, Paris and WTF (4 tournaments in 6 weeks).
Well well, another major final at hand, and yet another Djokovic-Federer clash of the titans. Roger is playing some great tennis now, better than Wimbledon. Better than in a long time.
Federer has not lost a set or match since Wimbledon.
Can he continue his superb play into the final and win Slam #18 in New York, an Open Era record 6th US Open, and his 88th title?
It's interesting to see how close he has been to getting near 20. It was not an unreasonable quest or prediction.
Roger keeps tweaking and improving his game. His defense against the hard hitting Wawrinka was incredible and then he turned it to offense.
It seems only the Serbian Slayer can stop the great Swiss Assassin these days. He's #1 for a reason. A long match favors him. But if Federer gets out of the blocks quickly and blitzes Novak, he'll have his chances.
If he does win this then winning more next year is entirely possible. Hell, he could end with 20...something everybody thought impossible a few years ago :lol: As for 100 titles...if he wins tomorrow night then he'll only have 12 more to go. Considering how well he's playing at 34 years old he can at least win the numerous smaller tournaments he enters over the next few years to get there...at worst. At best he carries on winning big titles too and gets there easily.
You never know what can happen when a player is 25, let alone at a age when most players are either retired or either down the rankings.
You simply take what comes. And don't expect anything. One bad movement, and it's over.
He has experience and intelligence on his side though.
If the goal is achieved then this thread may become the greatest MTF thread of all time - started by none other than the great Clay Death, who of course is... permanently banned lol.
20 slams were obviously never going to happen.
But whoring up 13 more MM tournaments is within Roger's reach. Imo, pursuing this number is why he's still playing.
Federer still has a chance to win more Grand Slams. The odds are possibly against it, but it's easy to get carried away. He's made 2 Grand Slam finals this year, he lost in both of them to the world number 1, he won sets in both matches, he's comfortably the world number 2, he's thrashing the world number 3 every time that they play, he's beaten the world number 1 twice this year...I mean, if he doesn't have a chance of winning another Grand Slam then what's the point in holding the tournaments?
12 more! I still think he could do exactly 100 IMO. 20 Slams though is a bit of an ask. With his current level he's still competitive and he may play more 250s later on when he full declines and get more wins. He is still winning more than 3 a year so let's say in the next 4 or so years he wins an average of 3 I think it's doable.
Congrats to Roger on taking title #88 in Basel.
That was my prediction for the year and he still has 2 more tournaments to go. I also predicted 1 major for him. Well, with 2 finals, I think that wasn't bad pick. Anyway, could this be a repeat of 2011? Well, one title out of the last two wouldn't be bad. The WTF draw might be interesting.
As for how long he'll play?
Federer said after yesterday's final that he will be happy if he will open the new 10.000 people stadium in Basel in 2018: 'I hope I can return for many more years and play finals like this vs Rafa. My goal is to play for as long as possible'.
Tbh Fed could get these missing titles already next season by playing shitload of 250 and 500, we all know this.
With the slams, hard to imagine he could get any, because these players here arent some pushovers like Roddick or Philippoussis, but his chance is luck - like at RG when Soderling took out Rafa. Who knows, this can happen again. Im sure he believes in one more slam and with this luck factor it's not completely out of question. 20 though is hard to believe. For starters, something must happen to Nole (which I hope won't)
True. Important for him is to stick around and stay healthy. Novak is not gonna win everything in sight, and when he steps off the peddle just a bit, Roger can be in contention for an important tournament. I don't think Rafa is gonna win USO anytime again.
You are also right in saying he can collect his "12" with much ease in a year and a half if he wants (by focussing on MMs), but he won't do that of course.
Federer wants to play until 2018 so age 37, yeah that's possible, no problem. It is all about Mirka really. Physically Roger probably could play until 40 at least but when will Mirka say enough is enough?
I think he'll be able to still win a couple titles as a swan song. He can definitely end with 90. Another slam or M1000 is close to impossible as his level will be dirt poor by the time he comes back and Fed has never taken this long of a break. He'll have his chances in Basel, Halle and possibly Brisbane. Most importantly we can only hope he even fully recovers.
How do you know his level will be dirt poor? As you yourself said, he's never had this kind of break before. So there's not a lot of prior data to go on, just have to guess. Some people do well after breaks, others don't.
If he recovers, he has a CHANCE at some 250s, but I wouldn't bet on it. The man no longer has desire to continue playing, his aim was to play at Rio and unfortunately, he couldn't do it. But he can walk away knowing that he has contributed immensely to the sport for over a decade and a half.
Of course he's got a desire to keep playing, you haven't been paying attention. Rio makes little difference that way. He was never aiming for it specifically, just like he's not aiming for Basel specifically but is sure to play it if uninjured.
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