[AntiTardDefenseSystem]

2003 Masters win over Agassi.

Quite forgotten but very very impressive. (I'm assuming u mean the round robin)

I think this is the match where Fed became prime Fed

Insanely clutch and all the pieces in his game started clicking

 

[JediFed]

 

[JediFed]

LOL 5 votes already for 2011 FO SF.

 

[florentine]

2003 Masters win over Agassi.

Right, that one is forgotten 😅

Federer a player bigger than Texas
Roger Federer checked in with Mattress Mack. He received a sneer and a bucket of balls. He strolled to the practice court. Something was missing. The net. He moved to an enclosure more properly furnished. The steep downhill slope sent him back to the court without a net. He complained about the facilities. Mattress Mack was pissed, to use the American vernacular. Mattress Mack was Jim McIngvale, a big-talking Texan who made a fortune in the furniture business and paid $US25 million to host and promote the 2003 Tennis Masters Cup. The end-of-year tournament was staged at a ramshackle Houston complex with 46 social-standard courts and a hastily erected 7000-seat grandstand around the best of them. Mattress Mack was openly barracking for the hearts-on-sleeves American duo of Andy Roddick and Andre Agassi. Spectators were paid to boo Federer as nonsensically as the West Coast Eagles’ riffraff booing Adam Goodes.



https://www.theaustralian.com.au/su...type=anonymous&mode=premium&v21=GROUPA-Segment-1-NOSCORE&V21spcbehaviour=append

#11·Nov 15, 2023 (Edited)

If this is his first, in 2003 in Houston, in the house of "king of mattresses" , Jim McIngvale, here is the context in which Maestro must have established himself. 😌

Not everyone here followed tennis at that time, so it never hurts to recall the context.

Context.... always context.

Jim McIngvale, l’ex promoteur fou du Masters | We Are Tennis

edited, english version exists
Jim McIngvale, the crazy former Masters promoter | We Are Tennis

 

[Guest82]

RG2011 from a level point of view. Djokovic was unbeatable at that time.

AO2017 from a mental point of view. To come back from a break down in the fifth, against his nemesis, in a slam final, having been out for so long.

 

[Federinka]

If 2017 Shanghai final was included in the poll, 2017 Indian Wells match vs Nadal deserves a mention. Even though it's just a 4R match, level-wise it's one of Federer's craziest performances.

 

[Dominic S]

I think the most interesting thing about Federer is that most of his wins were one sided blowouts, so he didn’t easily get a chance to have “epic wins”. Where he is conquering a long climb up a mountain. I’d say AO2017 is the one that qualifies given his age/rival/time off.

But the most epic Fed matches during his peak most remember are the losses.

2006 Rome vs Nadal
2005 Masters vs Nalby
2005 AO vs Safin (IMO the greatest match of All time)

 

[FilipoSVK]

By the quality, one of the RG 2011 SF or AO 2017 F should win this discussion.

 

[Lukasgigler]

None remember guys whenever Federer won anything it was a weak era

 

[aselto]

US Open 2004 final

Bonus: Shanghai 2014 SF, Djokovic played the match of his life, yet got swept aside in two quick sets. What this rivalry would have looked like if courts elsewhere were fast...

 

[AntiTardDefenseSystem]

If 2017 Shanghai final was included in the poll, 2017 Indian Wells match vs Nadal deserves a mention. Even though it's just a 4R match, level-wise it's one of Federer's craziest performances.

Indian Wells 2012 is also worth mentioning tbh. Against prime Nadal, in blustering conditions (you'd reckon that Nadal would fare better in general) on a slow hard court. Rain delay and Fed comes back to seal it with an ace

 

[FlyingSaucer]

Indian Wells 2012 is also worth mentioning tbh. Against prime Nadal, in blustering conditions (you'd reckon that Nadal would fare better in general) on a slow hard court. Rain delay and Fed comes back to seal it with an ace

Shit was beautiful 🥰

 

[Auscon]

Biased but I'll throw a vote for 2007 AO SF v Roddick.

4 all first set, and then Roger kicked into a gear very few have ever found for the next 11 games or so. Untouchable.

Yes he wasn't facing an all time great, but many pundits felt Roddick had been closing the gap, coming within a point of beating Roger at TMC end of 06, and beating him at Kooyong in the lead up. At least among the press there seemed to be this view that we were in for an epic tussle, and one where Roddick was a real chance. In reality the gap had never been wider.

 

[AntiTardDefenseSystem]

Shit was beautiful 🥰

Nadal's face before the rain delay at the umpire makes me LMFAO every time

 

[friður]

as a big djokovic fan i will evelate him by making rogers greatest win against him

 

[BurnsTennis]

He had many but I am in a very small minority of voting for the 2019 Wimbledon semfinal. Before the match, I thought Nadal might do him, but Federer was on the front foot right from the off.

But probably the best one on the list might be the 2011 French Open semifinal.

 

[AntiTardDefenseSystem]

He had many but I am in a very small minority of voting for the 2019 Wimbledon semfinal. Before the match, I thought Nadal might do him, but Federer was on the front foot right from the off.

Indeed, I also believe it was his first (and only) win against Nadal in a slam SF.

 

[william_ph]

I think the most interesting thing about Federer is that most of his wins were one sided blowouts, so he didn’t easily get a chance to have “epic wins”. Where he is conquering a long climb up a mountain. I’d say AO2017 is the one that qualifies given his age/rival/time off.

But the most epic Fed matches during his peak most remember are the losses.

2006 Rome vs Nadal
2005 Masters vs Nalby
2005 AO vs Safin (IMO the greatest match of All time)

Indeed, when Federer was peaking in the mid-to-late 2000s, opponents were usually just hanging on or simply outplayed. The "go to" matches that are remembered as truly epic, like Wimbledon 2008 against Nadal, were often losses. One epic win that tends to get overlooked is the 2009 Wimbledon final against a peaking Roddick (also by OP in his poll), when Federer broke the Slam record in a 16–14 fifth set. Maybe that one feels less “epic” in memory because, even with the score line, there was always a sense of inevitability that Federer would find a way to win.

I also wouldn’t call Federer–Safin at the 2005 AO the greatest match of all time. Even at that tournament I think we’ve seen even higher-quality contests, like Djokovic–Nadal in 2012, the incredible Djokovic–Wawrinka battles (especially in 2013), or Federer’s own five-set final against Nadal in 2017. Still, watching Safin that night was jaw-dropping. His level was outrageous, and even then it was only just enough to edge Federer.

 

[Dominic S]

Looking at this more in depth…where I think most people think of an epic win being a long match vs another great player, I found this crazy Fed stat on tennis abstract:

Federer was 1-12 vs top 5 players when the match went 3:40+. And all of those matches occurred while Fed was also a top 5 player.

Mental strength? Stamina? 5 of those losses he was 30+ so you could argue age hampering his ability to keep up with a younger more closer to prime or prime player. But this stat does put a damper on Fed GOAT talk. You can’t go 1-12 vs your peers when the match gets into deep water

 

[platypus50]

For me, it has to be 2017 AO F vs Nadal for the following reasons:

• Beats Nadal for the first time in a major since 2007 Wimbledon (9.5 years), he was down 1-3 in the 5th set, to then win the next 5 consecutive games to seal the deal was epic
• Increased the lead to 4 at the time in the slam race (Federer 18, Nadal 14)
• Already lost to Nadal at AO on 3 previous occasions (2009 F, 2012 SF, 2014 SF), nice to see Roger get a win here
• Federer was #17 seed
• Nobody expected him to get far (all the talk was about another potential snooze fest Murray vs Djokovic final, thank goodness that did not happen again for a 5th time)
• Also did not expect him to win in 5 sets against #5 Nishikori in 4R, #4 Wawrinka in SF and then his arch nemesis #9 Nadal in F
• Federer did not compete for 6 months as he had shut down his 2016 season after the loss vs Raonic at Wimbledon