Nadal and Federer Fall
by Mr.electric10 on Jan 27, 2011 11:27 AM EST
Email
PrintCould these be a sign of things changing? Going into this tournament only once, the 2008 Australian Open, since 2005 has their been a final not featuring Rafa or Fed. That final was won by Novak Djokovic over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. In the first tournament of the new decade, both Nadal and Federer will not be in the final. Rafa was taken out by his fellow Spaniard David Ferrer in straight sets 6-4, 6-2, 6-3. Nadal, who was battling a virus coming into the tournament, suffered from a left hamstring injury very early in the match. Nadal made a couple of attempts to comeback in the match but every attempt he made Ferrer was their with the perfect response. Nadal, known for his ability to chase down balls, gave up 44 winners and on match point Nadal couldn't chase down Ferrer's winner, a shot he usually gets to with ease. Nadal, was visibly upset and had tears in his eyes in the third set. Ferrer was nothing but classy during the match looking over more than once to make sure his countrymen was ok and had a very short celebration after winning. For Nadal this will be a tournament of what could have been and for Ferrer he has a tough match with Andy Murray next.
Roger Federer's loss was very different from Rafa's and much more concerning for his camp. Federer, unlike Rafa, was healthy throughout the match but was just outplayed by Novak Djokovic. Djokovic beat Fed at his own game and capitalized on all of Roger's mistakes. The biggest of which occurred when Federer was up 5-2 in the second and lost the next 5 straight games winning only 7 points during that span. The final mistake occurred after breaking to make it 4 all in the fourth. Federer lost his serve and then lost the match after hitting his return on match point out. After this tournament, Federer will not be the defending champion in any of the 4 grand slams. Fed's loss has got to be very worrisome for his camp and could signal the beginning of the end for this great.
This piece was written by a reader of The Daily Forehand, and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the site.
2 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Roger Federer’s loss was very different from Rafa’s and much more concerning for his camp.
yep. Fed got his ass kicked on the baseline, unable to assert himself. Djok played great – that was some of the best quality of tennis I’ve seen. The thing that should worry Fed, as you say, is that this was top-level Fed, revamped with a good aggressive game-plan flowing from Annacone. And Fed played well, his backhand was solid, but Djok was just too good off the baseline and able to threaten Fed on his serve and Fed’s.
"You can't search me without probable cause Or that proper ammunition they call reasonable suspicion Listen while I bring friction to your whole jurisdiction" - Fugees
Exactly
In the past he has been able to dominant the pace of play and if you watched the match it felt like Fed was behind the whole time. Also, lesser players were able to challenge him this tournament (Simon and Roberdo). Lastly, on to Nadal I have no worries about him and I think he will dominant the clay court series later this year.
by Mr.electric10 on Jan 27, 2011 10:52 PM EST up reply actions
