Day 13- French Open Men's semifinals

First topic message reminder :

Friends, v2ans, countrymen lend me your ears.
I have come to preview this semifinal fixture not to curse it;
The memory of the matches that these men play often live after them;
The unforced errors are often interred with their bones;
So let it be with Roger. The noble Novak
Hath told you Roger is ambitious;
If it were so, it was a grievous fault;
And grievously Roger might answer it;
Roger was my friend, faithful and just to me;
But Novak says he was ambitious;
And Novak is an honourable man;
He had brought many Grand Slams home to Switzerland;
Whose gleam did fill the trophy cabinets;
Did this in Roger seem ambitious?
When his twins have cried, Roger has stayed up;
Ambition should be made out of sterner stuff;
You did see in Paris many times now;
Thrice the 'Grand Slam' was presented;
Which he did thrice refuse; was this ambition?
Yet Novak says he was ambitious;
And Novak is an honourable man
You did all love him once, not without cause;
What reason withholds you to cheer for him?
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts;
Bear with me, for now I must pause to do this preview

http://www.presentationmagazine.com/famous-speeches-friends-romans-countrymen-11673.htm


Mens semifinals:

Nadal(2) vs Ferrer (6)
Head to Head Record: Nadal 15-4 Ferrer
Last meeting: Rome Semis Nadal 7-6 6-0 Ferrer
Head to Head in Grand Slams: Ferrer 2-1 Nadal
Clay Head to Head: Nadal 12-1 Ferrer

Djokovic (1) vs Federer (3)
Head to Head Record: Federer 14-11 Djokovic
Last meeting: Rome Semis Djokovic 6-2 7-6 Federer
Head to Head in Grand Slams: Federer 5-4 Djokovic
Clay Head to Head: Federer 3-2 Djokovic

Predictions so far:
Ferrer- Invisible Coolers
Nadal- Lydian, Jahu, Haddie Nuff, Bogbrush, Social, Barrystar, Legendkiller, Mangamuri, Tom, Summer, SFP

Federer- Jahu, Lydian, Invisible Coolers, Haddie Nuff, Legendkiller, Tom
Djokovic- Barrystar, Bogbrush, Social, Mangamuri, Summer, SFP

Yes barry, if Fed won this one via a 4-5hr epic...you fear for his chances of games on Sunday.

No way would you be fresher playing over two days.

It's not just the physical exertion of playing a match. It's also the prep, the warm down afterwards, the mental and emotional toll.

Then you have just a few hours to prepare for the final.

Yes Lydian and he´ll be off for an early meal and settling down to watch Euro 2012 football... have a good evening Rafa

I'd also say Lenglen should have had the other semi - particularly on the restart after the first rain delay, as at that point the second SF was always guaranteed to run well into the evening with any further rain punting it back to Saturday.

I know they are often reluctant to do this because people pay a lot for a mens SF ticket and would complain a lot if they were only to get to see one - particularly as the Djoko Fed match is the one people were looking forward to.

Didn't the French bust down the barriers on year when a match got moved and simply march to the court showing the match they were expecting to see?

I agree emancipator - the player is getting no mental rest at all and that is very tiring.

I heard on Radio RG that Ferrer has just said in a presser - short and to the point - "He plays better than me all the time. Its just too tough, too tough".

Fair enough...there's nothing like rolling over and admitting you're 2nd best for future battles.

I know lydian the trouble is will little Dabeed he is too honest for his own good.
He pays homage to (as he calls him) "the boss" I think he is too humble to be anything other than what he is and maybe thats why I just "love" him. Still he should be proud of himself he has done inordinately well .. congratulations Dabeed you tried.

Stupid really. I mean;

Why not play the half that's led the tournament first?
Why play in sequence when the weather is going right with forecast?

And most importantly, why put Fed/Djokovic on when they knew I was going out for the day? I would have watched first up, now I'll be looking for signal in the Canadian woods for a score update!

Anyway, enjoy all of you and good luck to TMF.

lol BB...indeed. Silly scheduling...they should put both Mens semis on at the same time regardless of weather. Thats fit anf fair.

Hope you dont find any bears in those Canadian woods!

Play starting in a few minutes

So they've started...lets hope for them (and us) they get this done tonight.

lydian wrote:I agree emancipator - the player is getting no mental rest at all and that is very tiring.

I heard on Radio RG that Ferrer has just said in a presser - short and to the point - "He plays better than me all the time. Its just too tough, too tough".

Fair enough...there's nothing like rolling over and admitting you're 2nd best for future battles.

Got to admit it must be disheartening for Ferrer and to be honest it may help him relieve some pressure on himself for future games. Really the two play similar on clay, its just NAdal has developed add-on weapons and has more spin than Ferrer - its a bad matchup through and through, so its not worth beating around the bush really. Ferrer for me has done great in his career to be at the consistent level he is at. He's made slam Sfs everywhere but Wimbledon. Also he is incredibly fit and is in just as good a shape as the top for. To be honest on pure extreme fitness/conditioning he's probably above Murray and Federer:
http://cornedbeefhash.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/ferrer-sleeveless.jpg

I even remember Federer looking less than amazing in terms of fitness as recently as 2010:
http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQC0duYTzFlOzvzNtPV_OZtskZUqrLm_h0MLt3eNZ5xR5E3p9Tl

Fed taking the ball early, some superb FH shots so far.

Its sunny...got to be good for Federer...quicker.

Fed completely different start from Delpo game. Hitting the ball clean.

Go Fed Go.

wow.. some ferocious hitting

Fed brakes 3:2. Hitting balls like mad!! Hope it continues like this.

great start from Fed, playing superbly so far

Tom_____ wrote:
Got to admit it must be disheartening for Ferrer and to be honest it may help him relieve some pressure on himself for future games.

There are plenty of lop-sided H2H's around - Roddick, Hewitt, DD vs. Federer are good examples. You didn't hear them talking about how they were bound to get gubbed beforehand and then afterwards saying that they got gubbed because Fed is better than them.

Ferrer is a good pro and a very good player who has done extremely well in his career and is obviously well-liked by his peers. He lost some respect with his kow-towing to Nadal's superiority in his pre and post-match pressers - even 'Rafa's the favourite but I'm going to do my best' and 'he was too good for me today but I'll be back next time' is better than abjectly saying that beating Rafa is next to impossible and beyond him.

Federer's aggressive approach is working really well at the moment, his forehand is looking imperious. Now it's just a matter of sustaining this level as we all know Djokovic is gonna stick around and up his level at some point.

If Roger plays at this level, fingers crossed, in the final - surely he'd beat Rafa?

Tough call in that case. Nadal can run and spin much more.

One thing i have been thinking about Fed and Djoko is that when either steps out vs NAdal they will not really have had a chance to place a defensive-agressive player before the final and it may come with some quick adjustment needed. Both have had hard hitters in the QF and now face each other - to be honest although Djoko is defensive i think he plays Fed agressively and his style is very disimilar to Nadal in terms of flat hitting etc etc. Therefore either in the final might have some trouble.

I would say the flip side is that Nadal has not played aggressive hitters before the final, however the way Almagro played him i would say hes had some good matches to build his form before the final.

Fed Djoko seem competitive so far!

Djoko brakes back. Silly UE's from Fed. Rushing to end it fast.

Easy Fed easy.

Tsonga came to the net a lot and frightened Djokovic, Federer simply has to do the same thing today.

Nole comes roaring back though, cracking match so far this

Turn around galore, brake back and hold serve to love.

Jahu wrote:Tough call in that case. Nadal can run and spin much more.

I spoke too soon anyway....

Novak's sportsmanship during matches is awesome.

emancipator it is great a lot of the time but I have seem him clap the frame of his racket when federer shanks a winner as well, which I guess must be frustrating to be fair

Demon Racer wrote:If Roger plays at this level, fingers crossed, in the final - surely he'd beat Rafa?

Not a chance.

FO final 2006, fed comes out blazing and takes the first set 6-1. Rafa claws him back and wins in 4. Fed just can't sustain that level against Rafa on clay. Rafa will just keep plugging away and wear him down.

2 SP for Djoko. Fed back to hitting balls like he's playing in football stadium.

6;4 Djoko. Fed can not get a move on without loosing first or second set.

when Djok wins the first set, he wins

Fed is making that mistake he often does....too aggressive!
Pulling the trigger too early....that break back rattled him.
He needs to make headway 2nd set...dont see him coming back from 2 down.

wow a 6-4 set in 34 mins, that was quick fire stuff

Fed needs to vary his play a bit more, throw some slices, drops in.

At the mo he's just trying to blast him off the court - too little room for margin.

I don't remember Djokovic ever losing to Federer after winning the first set.

This current level of Djokovic though, goes to sleep midway into the 2nd set, doesn't pull together 2 great sets like he was last year.

I think its nerves emancipator...its easy to try to unleash all that pent up energy through power shots. He needs to sit back and work this one out a little more...needs to get Novak on the move...build the point, he doesnt like doing that but its the clay-way!

What a point. Djoko has already started to squeal.

point of the tournament!

Fed listens to emancipator. Mixes it with drops. Brake up Fed.

I agree he needs to work the points more, move him around, be patiently aggressive

If Fed can stretch it, Djoko does not seem fresh to run around endlessly. And that first set for Djoko was more of a Fed gifting UE's.

Jahu wrote:If Fed can stretch it, Djoko does not seem fresh to run around endlessly. And that first set for Djoko was more of a Fed gifting UE's.

Indeed. 17 UE by Fed to Djokovic's mere 3. Let's hope this second set doesn't follow the same pattern as the first. Keep it competitive please Roger!

Federer needs to be breaking late in the set not early as his service game isn't as consistent and reliable as it was in the past. Djokovic is certain to break back and gain the momentum.

Looks like Djoko is struggling with whatever, totally different state on second set. Fed has upped it for sure.

... but of course a double break helps

Like I said about back to back sets, Djokovic can't play at the same level.

No aggresion, weak legs.

fed brakes again 3:0

Whats going on with Djoko?

I guess the two 5 setters in a row has completely taken everything off from him, is this gonna be another boring semi?