[Dextertje]

Sorry if already posted.

It's nice that Roger gets recognition in Spain

[nobama]

Originally Posted by World Beater

i loved that. Hewitt always used to bring it up pre-match and derive confidence from that match. Always got smashed right after.

Anyways, this shows imo what happens when federer plays without outside interference. No wind, sun etc. The conditions stay relatively constant and fed gets in a groove and decimates other players.

When federer plays outside in conditions that can be variable, he tends to be conservative in his play. Think to cincy and usopen where he was passive and wasnt feeling the conditions too well.

right now, federer is far and away the best indoors, and his level indicates that he could be among the best of all time indoors if he plays like this.

In his post match interview Roger said his game plan was to play offensive, more aggressive style. I would love to see him play like this more often. Moving well, vollying well, great transition game....it's just a joy to watch. I'll take that any day over the junkballing/moonballing and defensive crap some we see with some guys.

[NYCtennisfan]

He certainly did play aggressively. He's been content to hit soft FH's to his opponents' FH's from the middle of the cout of late, but today, he attcked with that shot. His FH combos reminded me of his aggressive FH's of 2004, early 2005. His BH was also very good as he didn't offer up too many short balls off of the CC drive and his drive DTL was better than it has been during he summer.

Canas served a lot to the Fed FH on the AD court for some reason, something that most players hardly ever do (other than Blake who doesn't seem to have much of a gameplan when serving) and Fed's FH return from the AD end is really good as he tries to set up the return to the AD corner, FH to the opponent's FH, inside out FH or volley winner combination. He had some nice BH drive returns as well.

[lunahielo]

Originally Posted by World Beater

i
Anyways, this shows imo what happens when federer plays without outside interference. No wind, sun etc.

I guess this is not relevant (certainly not in the context you were talking about)~~~but the first thing that came to my mind when reading your post was~~*No wind, sun* no coach.
luna

He runs so freely when he is on his own.
I like that.

[World Beater]

Originally Posted by lunahielo

I guess this is not relevant (certainly not in the context you were talking about)~~~but the first thing that came to my mind when reading your post was~~*No wind, sun* no coach.
luna

He runs so freely when he is on his own.
I like that.

agree

although i liked roger's volleys under the roach.

Federer hasn't played this well since he played hewitt in canada.

[lsy]

Well done Rogi!

I was kind of afraid to open this site and saw the news of him crashing out vs Canas again. Like how suprised I was learning about his defeat over the radio in Miami

6-0...

Now I hope I can finally catch some of his matches this weekend!

[Daniel]

Good luck in the QF

[MrChopin]

He looked quite good against Canas, more agressive than I've seen for most of the year, but I think we're selling him short if we think he's just now beginning to play well now again. He played several strong matches at the US Open, most notably against Capdeville, Lopez, and Roddick. In each match, he had 40+ winners and ~15 errors. More noticeable, though, is the variety in his game and the way he approached the matches on the two different surfaces. At Madrid, he's hitting with more power and less spin, winners io and dtl blowing by opponents. At the USO, Roddick was hitting as hard as he could from the ground, and Federer was still controlling rallies by spinning it all over the court, forcing Roddick to deal with incredible variety. Once he got a chance to step around the forehand, he was doing things similar to today. I think his match against Roddick was as good as the one with Canas today, especially as Roddick was playing a lot better than Canas was.

[Puschkin]

Originally Posted by NYCtennisfan

He certainly did play aggressively. He's been content to hit soft FH's to his opponents' FH's from the middle of the cout of late, but today, he attcked with that shot. His FH combos reminded me of his aggressive FH's of 2004, early 2005. His BH was also very good as he didn't offer up too many short balls off of the CC drive and his drive DTL was better than it has been during he summer.

Strangely enough Roger's next opponent also discovered his BH in yesterday's match against Koubek. Together with some amazing FHs and excellent serving, this was quite a performance. If Lopez plays similarly well today as he did yesterday, we are in for a great match. I have no doubts that Roger will come through, but it might be a little harder than against the (overestimated) Canas.

[SUKTUEN]

Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!


Roger looks so sexy last night!!




And he play so Wonderful!!!

Go Roger!!

[Fergie]

Good luck Rogi vs Lopez

[didadida]

good luck roooooooooooooooooooooooger

[Sunset of Age]

Originally Posted by Puschkin

Strangely enough Roger's next opponent also discovered his BH in yesterday's match against Koubek. Together with some amazing FHs and excellent serving, this was quite a performance. If Lopez plays similarly well today as he did yesterday, we are in for a great match. I have no doubts that Roger will come through, but it might be a little harder than against the (overestimated) Canas.

Spot on!
I've noticed LaLo becoming better and better, he's a really good player now, and certainly better than Cañas. Of course I'm rooting for Roger but this could well be quite a match tonight!

[nobama]

I see now that Nalby gave Nadal a beatdown everyone is on the Fat Dave bandwagon.

[jtipson]

I think it could be quite tough tonight. I was at their quarterfinal in Madrid 4 years ago, and it was very tight. Feli gets a huge amount of support from the crowd as he's near enough a local boy. Still, Roger should be able to deal with that, but mentally the Nadal loss might affect him as he doesn't need to do so much to retain number one now.