[Johnny Groove]

Great analysis, duong.

[duong]

Originally Posted by MaxPower

Some people work twice as hard after a setback. Federer is definitely one of those guys. Many times in his career he raised his level in the very next tournament after a bad loss not because he didn't care but probably just because he cared so much. I think people on MTF often make the mistake of taking press conferences and his public persona a bit too seriously. What do we really know about what's going on in his head? Maybe the very fact that he tries to act like he doesn't care after certain losses means he cares even more than your average player. Some people build a wall and hide everything in themselves because it's too painful to deal with it directly and they could get emotional or say things they regret. I think there is a big difference between Federers public persona and the real Federer. Maybe there isn't but it's just a hunch I have. Hopefully he will open up more after his career.

I understand what you think, but I have another opinion : I wondered a lot about this difference between the public persona and what he thinks inside, especially about Nadal, because he was harder to understand for me than Federer,
but I came to the conclusion (at least temporarily ) that these constant ways they did analyze their matches really expressed their thoughts (I often say that people shouldn't cut every interview's word too thinly, but when some points are constant in many interviews, that's different imo).

That's the main point of my long post : making a link between what they constantly say to analyze their matches in interviews and their attitude during these matches, as I said not necessarily "natural" attitude" but an "attitude which has been learnt to win".

I also tried that because I felt that if it was so unnatural for me to understand Nadal's way of thinking of his matches, it must also be as unnatural for other fans to understand what I feel about the way Federer analyses his matches. I'm upset when Nadal says he's not the favourite, other people are upset when Federer says his opponent was "lucky" or, as you say, when he says that he played a good match when he lost.

My point was mostly about these interviews : I can't go much further in analysing what each player should do, if Federer should be "more natural" or else.

I think they both learnt this attitude which for both has some negative points :
- Federer may lack some "rebellion attitude", he may also not be able to adapt enough during a match ;
- Nadal said himself that what his uncle had told him about his opponents being so much better than him has created an anxiety inside him (he said that in his autobiography)... and from what he said during last Roland-Garros especially, I had the impression that it was especially the case about Djokovic. It may be harder for him to get back confidence quick than for Federer.

I don't really think like you that Federer works much harder after his defeats than other players : he may work more than usually but I don't think more than other players. He has always insisted on being constant "if it has worked before, it can work again". That's rather the message of saving confidence which I kept from his words.

[Time Violation]

Lol, just listened Fed's interview at Rotterdam, the last question was what he can do about Nadal/Djokovic this year to make it happen... he said he just needs to do what he has been doing, and maybe to push more luck, something like that. Really spot on topic