posted Oct 4, 2008

Life court:

"And what a way to cement his legacy... acheive the most ever GS (15) by winning the FO, and in doing so, recover the #1...!
"

this was the point at which you mention Federer becoming #1 by end FO. This is why my post addressed the liklihood of that occurance, of which i hope you'll admit is quite low given the points circumstance.

I wasn't attacking you, however i think you were being naive about Federers likely climb up the rankings if you take the point situation into account. Although his 08 was good by most standards, the leap that Nadal has made is stunning. you have to take that into account when looking at the hill fed will be climbing and further take into account that for 2 months he is chosing to walk downhill.

Slam tally i think Fed may get to 15, but rankings wise its a hard road back.

Quite honestly i think Fed fans expect to much,which adds to his pressure. Be happy with what he has achieved and hope for more - the majority on here seems to think its totally in his hands - Murray, Nadal and Djoko make that not the case. Federer finally has a multi-rivalry to combat

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posted Oct 4, 2008

I'm worried for Fed when I read these comments. He seems happy to attribute the dip in his fortunes this year to illness at the start of the year, but this really can't be the case. It did seem to affect him early on; however, by the start of the clay court season his play was up to quality. Since then his short-coming has been a regular loss of nerve at big points - something which can't be attributed to illness.
I do think and hope he can get back to number 1, but probably needs to start being honest with himself to do so.

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posted Oct 4, 2008

If he fails to win AO, FO and Wimbledon next year I think he will call it a day.

I really don't beieve Roger has the temperament to be in the second tier after all his successes. There are other challenges in other spheres he could turn his hand to.

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posted Oct 5, 2008

Lets see what he does after his comeback?

http://www.ekhichdi.com/index.php?action=profile;u=230

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posted Oct 5, 2008

In every carreer there are ups and downs. With age you have to prepare some things better because your body needs more rest after physical performance. His advantage will be the growing experience to deal with this and the joy of success will even be bigger because of the harder work behind it.

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posted Oct 6, 2008

"If he fails to win AO, FO and Wimbledon next year I think he will call it a day."

What a load of rubbish. He's gone on record that he'll play until at least Olympics 2012. Especially as it will be played at Wimbledon.

So you're saying if he still takes USO he will retire then???

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posted Oct 6, 2008

I think that saying he might not play for the rest of the year is saying in fact that he doesn't care anymore about the ranking but that all his future efforts will be saved for slams and that his one and only objective from now on is to win 2 more to beat sampras's record. That's what he wants.The rest and whether he is # 3 or # 10 he doesn't give a damn anymore.

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posted Oct 6, 2008

Roger is ranked #9 in the
"The Global 25
On the world stage" by the Business Week magazine.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_41/b4103062511137.htm?campaign_id=rss_topStories

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posted Oct 6, 2008

Tennis Masta

Thanks for the link, not bad considering the only other tennis player on the list is ranked number 25 and it is a woman

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posted Oct 8, 2008

Tom____,

You sound like myself, very analytical with the point system, and so you should be, as tennis is by far one of the most fragile of sports in terms of every performance has such a large effect overall in the standings.

The important thing though, is to remember it’s a lot easier to become number one than it is to retain the crown, which makes Roger’s achievements all the more impressive for holding it for a record 237 weeks. Although being number one may give you an easier path to the finals of competitions, there is a huge amount of pressure to achieve the same results or better the following year to defend these points.

I believe Federer has a good chance next year in all the slams again, however, for him to retain the #1 spot again, he needs to win some masters events, unlike this year, which has been poor by his standards.

I predict titles in Indian Wells and potential final in Miami, and for him to win back Hamburg and win Monte Carlo, as he has made the final 3 years in a row. Also see him getting Cincinnati back.

He most definitely has to play the masters cup this year, and would like to see him perhaps miss Madrid and play Paris with a strong desire for the title. Although he will lose final points for Madrid, its an unwelcome distraction being a Nadal camp, and he could make the points up in Paris as only has 3R points to defend.

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