Mens Tennis Forums banner

THE HAMBURG THREAD SF: Delbonis def Federer 7-6(6) 7-6(4)

21K views 608 replies 31 participants last post by  barbadosan 
#1 · (Edited)
I guess everybody's still disappointed from the big loss at Wimbly, and with the end of our beloved QF streak, and that's why no one's opened this thread yet. So I just kind of snuck in with my hopelessly crabby brand of wit in the title!:rolleyes:

Anyways, as they say - the show must go on!:devil:

So here's wishing Roger a new streak of Hamburgers and Frankfurters to keep him healthy for the second half of the season!:D

A new beginning: 2nd rd is with either Lorenzi or Brands.
 
#591 ·
:wavey:

It was strange to go back to Hamburg after a few years. It was the first tournament I ever went to in 2007 and I immediately became addicted to see Roger playing live thereafter :D

On Monday I came in time to see Roger practicing with Juan Monaco. It's really a bonus if you can attend Roger's practices (it's probably Halle's only disadvantage that you can't see Roger practicing over there).

I didn't went to any match on Monday even though I had a really good ticket but sometimes it's just more fun to chat with other fans.

We heard that Roger would practice with Tommy later on (these 2 don't seem to get enough of each other lately :lol: ) and it was on the same court as the practice with Monaco in the morning.

It was a really long practice in the burning sun with T-Shirt changes from Tommy who afterwards could have wetted the court with his sweat :p

We stood at the side fence and hoped that Roger and Tommy would come over but just as in the morning after the practice with Monaco Davydenko appeared on the court again and so only Tommy went into the corner to sign for a few fans before he and Roger left.

On Tuesday Roger practiced with Youzhny and afterwards he greeted us when he finished signing.

We were very surprised by the way when Stakhovsky came to the practice court and had a very long chat with Roger.

We saw him a few times these days and were all thinking about what happened in Wimbledon and apparently had much more problems with him than Roger ;)

It was another day without having watched a match on CC as we were just busy chatting.

On Wednesday Roger practiced in the midday sun again, this time it was just some light hitting with Severin. As warm-up he played a bit football with Stephané and Severin. (The ball had the Swiss flag on it :D)

It was time to see a bit of tennis and so I went in to see Tommy's match. I had a very good seat in the box and could hear every curse of Tommy :lol:

Then it was Roger time and I was already nervous before this match considering the fact that Brands was near to go 2:0 sets up against Rafa in RG.

I guess you can all imagine my thoughts after the 1st set. I had just bought the tickets for the rest of the week in the morning and now Roger was down a set against a tricky opponent.

It was interesting to see and hear the support from Severin who was sitting just a few metres away.
Fortunately Roger could turn around the match but I was already dreading his next match.
I supposed it to be against Gulbis before I saw the surprising result of his loss against Hajek.

On Thursday Roger practiced on court #2 with a junior player (we later on found out that it was Daniel Valent from Switzerland). Afterwards I went to the barrier and got my bag signed and wished him good luck for the match.

A Belgian fan asked me to come down to her and another fan to row 1 behind the umpire's chair so that we could sit together.
Luckily Roger had the bench in front of us :hearts:
That made the concentration on the match a bit difficult :angel:

I got really annoyed because there were kids sitting many beside me with their big tennisballs they wanted to get signed. I don't know why they were allowed to sit there as they most probably didn't have a ticket for this category.
They were chatting the whole time and I said a few times they should be quiet but of course they didn't listen :rolleyes:

Roger needed 6 MPs to close out the match and got a warning for hitting one of the balls out of the Stadium.
Once the match was over all kids moved forewards and other people pushed. It was a nightmare for us 3 fans because we were directly in the middle of this. The other 2 got pushed over the bench and my head was stuck. I feared that my glasses would get broken :mad:

The security was totally helpless against this madness and Roger also looked very annoyed. He told the people not to push.

We were forced in our positions though and glad when everything was over.

On Friday Roger had a light hitting with Severin again. He had to be patient until he could play his match because of the very long match between Verdasco and Delbonis and then the Haas-Fognini match thereafter.

It was already quite cold when Roger and Florian Mayer came to the court.
Even though I knew that the German player could be tricky I wasn't prepared for such a match.
It took probably 10 years out of me :lol:

It was great to see the support from the box again, especially from Gavin.

I was fortunate to catch Roger's wristband after the match :angel:

(No, ladies, there wasn't any special fragrance notable :angel:)

Later on Severin crossed my way and I said "What a tight match" and he answered "Yes, too tight for my liking" :lol:

On Saturday I saw Roger by chance before going to practice, he smiled and greeted me and I wished him good luck for the match.

He practiced with a left-handed Germany player who I saw quite a few times in the days in Hamburg but I didn't knew his name.

We were sitting in row 1 with a few fans which makes it always more special to be together in a group.
Afterwards I had a long chat with a fan and Stephané came to get the bags which they had forgotten.

Well, what can I say about the match? Even though Roger doesn't like to play against left-handers and even in his dominant times often struggled against players he has never played before I didn't thought he would lose this match, especially not when he was up a break in the 1st set.

TBs are often a lottery and it's bad luck that Roger wasted the MB.

I hoped he could turn around the match in the 2nd set especially considering that Delbonis had to get tired at a point due to the fact that he already played several matches in the week and had the long QF against Verdasco but he just played without any fear and was hitting the lines.

I thought that the crowd was not that much behind Roger as you would expect. I had people around me who were clearly cheering for the underdog.

Roger was really into the match and Severin did his best to cheer him on but unfortunately it wasn't meant to be :sad:

I regret that I didn't went to the players entrance to say good-bye to him but I'm sure he knows how we all felt who were there to support him these days.

Even though the week came to a shocking end it was a great week in general as we got to see 4 matches and some practices.

Instead of going to the final I decided to travel home very early this morning but I'm missing the livetennis already :awww:
 
#594 ·
Doris :hug:
Thanks for sharing! Good to see you enjoyed yourself :) Not the ending we wanted, but otherwise it sounded like it was for the most part a very nice experience. Congrats on catching the wristband :)
Thanks Markus :hug:


Hi Doris,
thanks for the pm and maybe next time we meet up.
I'm sorry that I read your PM only today, Daniel.


About saturday, when and where exactly did Roger practice? Because when I entered the venue, I saw the practice courts and one separated next to the Stadium where the juniors played. So on the closest court (next to the Westtribune) when I arrived, Fognini already practised. Then I went to these courts several times during the first semi, in order to catch Roger by chance but nothing.. once I saw on the same practise court 3 guys, one of them looks exactly like Roger with his hat on, but when I went closer his face was other and was a left hander :) and nobody really cared about them so I went back to the Stadium and soon the Roger match begun.
I didn't had a look at the watch when Roger came to practice but I would guess it was around 11.45/12.00

He was on M2, that's the court in the corner behind M1 where the junior matches took place yesterday.

Yeah, congrat for catching the wristband :)
Thanks :)
 
#593 ·
Hi Doris,
thanks for the pm and maybe next time we meet up.
About saturday, when and where exactly did Roger practice? Because when I entered the venue, I saw the practice courts and one separated next to the Stadium where the juniors played. So on the closest court (next to the Westtribune) when I arrived, Fognini already practised. Then I went to these courts several times during the first semi, in order to catch Roger by chance but nothing.. once I saw on the same practise court 3 guys, one of them looks exactly like Roger with his hat on, but when I went closer his face was other and was a left hander :) and nobody really cared about them so I went back to the Stadium and soon the Roger match begun.
Yeah, congrat for catching the wristband :)
 
#595 ·
All right, clever from Roger to go on the practice at the time the first match is announced and I was also in the stadium for a while - I thought RF would practice only before an hour his match begins. Or I didn't pay attention to that relatively hidden court behind the juniors court.
:)
 
#603 ·
Thanks again for all your kind words :)

All right, clever from Roger to go on the practice at the time the first match is announced and I was also in the stadium for a while - I thought RF would practice only before an hour his match begins.
Roger never practices that early before a match.

It's usually around 2 1/2 - 3 hours before :)

Wow, great story Doris :) Im really happy for know you enjoyed your week at Hamburg. I saw the match yesterday and was sad with that loss, but unfortunately this happens... But I know that after a storm there are always a rainbow and I'm pretty sure we'll see more great matches of Roger soon. No matter what, I'll support him always :)
Well said :yeah:

We have to get used to it that Roger is going to lose more often now. It's a natural development of every athlete.

When Roger was out to sign after the match he asked a fan how she was. That's just sweet of him :awww:


Yep, you did better than I did at the Olympics last year :). Oh well, I'll know better another time.
Did someone catch it before you were able to get it?

Good luck that you will get it the next time ;)

Oh, I was reading teletext on the TV this evening and it quoted Roger as saying something like he didn't think it was the new racket that was the problem. Is that a tacit admission that his back was still causing problems, do you think?
Of course he has to get used to the new racket and therefore he needs to play matches.

Then he surely doesn't have the selfconfidence which he had last year but you only get it when you start to win.

I guess he will never admit how much the back is bothering him but in 2012 he won Wimbledon even though he had problems during that tournament...

Thanks for sharing this Doris, it's nice to hear you got to see Roger many times despite his SF loss. I just wish I can be lucky enough to see him at some point
You haven't seen him live yet?

Which tournament would be an option for you to go to?

I really hope you can see Roger one day :)

Roger should fire Pierre P. and hire Steve McGregor to get him back to shape and help fix that back
Roger isn't unfit. He is just slower as in his dominant years.
I'm sure he already contacted specialists concerning the back.

Look at Agassi. He also had back problems and even working with Gil Reyes didn't help him...
 
#596 ·
Wow, great story Doris :) Im really happy for know you enjoyed your week at Hamburg. I saw the match yesterday and was sad with that loss, but unfortunately this happens... But I know that after a storm there are always a rainbow and I'm pretty sure we'll see more great matches of Roger soon. No matter what, I'll support him always :)

Congrats for catching the wristband,you're really lucky :D
 
#598 ·
Congrats for catching the wristband,you're really lucky :D
Yep, you did better than I did at the Olympics last year :). Oh well, I'll know better another time.

Oh, I was reading teletext on the TV this evening and it quoted Roger as saying something like he didn't think it was the new racket that was the problem. Is that a tacit admission that his back was still causing problems, do you think?
 
#604 ·
Roger's #1 issue is indeed the back.

He doesn't bend much, sometimes at all on the serve, movement very slow in the baseline, slow recovery for shots, but give Del Bonis credit, he was incredible, some fearless hitting at times, especially from the backhand.

I agree, the racquet is hardly a problem. He could probably play with a Pro Staff 85 and still be top 10. No, the back is the main issue.
 
#605 ·
Roger's #1 issue is indeed the back.

He doesn't bend much, sometimes at all on the serve, movement very slow in the baseline, slow recovery for shots, but give Del Bonis credit, he was incredible, some fearless hitting at times, especially from the backhand.

I agree, the racquet is hardly a problem. He could probably play with a Pro Staff 85 and still be top 10. No, the back is the main issue.
The thing is even though Roger hadn't played much this year the back still gave him a lot of trouble.

Wonder if he'll be able to manage it better like he did last year.
 
#608 ·
IF the back is causing him real trouble;he should consider hiring Dr Steve McGregor to help him cuz this back has been an issue for a solid 2 years now and whatever it is he's doing despite turning 32 very soon is not helping
 
#609 · (Edited)
Roger's back hasn't been a concern for just 2 years.. this goes back almost to the beginning of his pro career; but it's not surprising if it's giving more serious problems for longer periods of time as he becomes older. As for which doctor he uses, don't you think he's in a better position than any of us to know the very best people that he can consult?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/tennis/2003/wimbledon/news/2003/06/30/federer_lopez_reut/

Federer moves into quarters, but back concerns loom
Posted: Monday June 30, 2003 9:55 PM


LONDON, June 30 (Reuters) -- No. 4 seed Roger Federer overcame a back injury to defeat Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-4 on Monday and take his place in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.

But the Swiss player, enjoying the best year of his career with four titles already, felt he was lucky to survive as he had to call the trainer at the start of the first set when suddenly troubled by his back.

"I just couldn't move anymore so I had to call the trainer and hope for a wonder," Federer told reporter. "It was very tough for me. I don't know. I still now can't explain what happened. I don't know how I won today."

"It was totally blocked and, you know, I was always under a lot of pain. As the match went on, it got a little better because the body gets warmer and you get into it and you try to forget it.

"Yes, I am exhausted now because of what happened today."
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top