Queens/Halle Thread

[Guest]

First topic message reminder :

Thought I would get the ball rolling this week.

Queens is having an inspection at 12. If the forecast is correct, we might not get started until next week!

Not sure they are having the same problems in Halle though.

[Jahu]

Haas takes it. Oh well, better luck in W.

[laverfan]

Well played, Haas.

[laverfan]

Now, if Nalbandian would win Queens, it would make W interesting.

[lags72]

Well the theme of odd results at Halle & Queens continues right to the end !

You wonder how disappointed/bothered Federer will be.... ? Maybe he wasn't pushing himself. And yet he obviously did against Raonic.

I think it's one thing for a seed to go out early in one of the grass warm-ups, as they all did at Queens, and of course Rafa at Halle ; but having actually made it to the Final, much better to move on to Wimbledon with a win than a loss, surely .....

Congratulations Haas

And now for Trivial Pursuits : when was the last time Federer lost to anyone ranked outside the Top 50 ........

[laverfan]

Is it Volandri or Horna? PS: Or Canas?

[lags72]

No.

But I confess I had no absolutely idea off the top of my head, so had to check it out

And just to be clear : I meant in ANY official tour match, not just a Final.

[lags72]

I'm counting on you lf, but a little clue to help : he was as high as 7 last year and is currently well inside top 20 .......

[michael_o]

And now for Trivial Pursuits : when was the last time Federer lost to anyone ranked outside the Top 50 ........

Think there might be something fishy about that question.....

[laverfan]

Thanks for the hint, Michael. Fish (#98) @IW 2008.

[Josiah Maiestas]

Taking very few chances is a German DNA. Well done Haas, may you carry on your form to Wimbledon.

[lags72]

You got it.

Way, way back in March 2008

A certain Novak Djokovic had only just announced himself big-time with his first Slam title ........

[lags72]

Taking very few chances is a German DNA. Well done Haas, may you carry on your form to Wimbledon.

I agree with your first sentence.

As for the second ...... I have my doubts. Sometimes the grass warm-up tournies are an indication of things to come at SW19 but almost as often they can be the total opposite.

All credit to him for winning in front of a home crowd - AND against the grass king, when many might have been expecting a routine Federer victory, esp. after the opening break ; but at Wimbledon, Haas has just one SF to show for his 12 appearances and I just don't see him suddenly going deep aged 34.

[Josiah Maiestas]

Taking very few chances is a German DNA. Well done Haas, may you carry on your form to Wimbledon.

I agree with your first sentence.

As for the second ...... I have my doubts. Sometimes the grass warm-up tournies are an indication of things to come at SW19 but almost as often they can be the total opposite.

All credit to him for winning in front of a home crowd - AND against the grass king, when many might have been expecting a routine Federer victory, esp. after the opening break ; but at Wimbledon, Haas has just one SF to show for his 12 appearances and I just don't see him suddenly going deep aged 34.

Well, he won't beat the top 7/8 in 5 sets. But he can possibly get a lucky draw and get to 4th round or quarters. Never said anything about "deep run" anyway, when Federer plays like a defensive tight-ar$e you can easily beat him, even Falla nearly did in a 1st round of Wimbledon.

[luciusmann]

Definitely agree, Haas in front of a home crowd no doubt helped, something he is unlikely to have @ Wimbledon.

Although Fed lost today, which Im unsure is concerning or not, the good news is he closes the gap to 625 points with Nadal. I don't really have a lot of faith Fed was going to win Wimbledon this year in the first place so that's view isn't really affected by today's result.

[lags72]

Well quarters I personally would consider deep (even R4 to an extent) given you're down to the last eight from a field of 128 .....

I still feel Fed would have wanted the win today (they've even named a street after him in Halle apparently.... ) but I guess just getting to Wimbledon injury-free after the very full schedule he's played since USO 2011, almost always making the business end of Slams and non-Slams, will be quite a bonus in itself.....

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

What the hell is Nalbandian doing!!!!!

That is disgraceful, deserves to be disqualified

[CaledonianCraig]

What a crazy way to lose a final.

[User 774433]

Nalbandian disqualified

Cillic wins by default.

[Danny_1982]

Oh my god.... What on earth was Nalbandian doing??

That is incredible! The most stupid thing I've EVER seen a player do on the court!!

[lags72]

Missed this.

What happened please ...?

[CaledonianCraig]

He chased down a ball but missed when his serve was about to be broken. He kicked an advertising board which a linesman was standing behind and it disintegrated, knocking the linesman over and cutting his leg.

[lags72]

Belated thanks for filling me in CC

My internet went down immediately after I'd posted my query, hence my delay.

I don't live too far from Queens, so maybe that Nalby kick somehow damaged my connections too

Have since heard on radio that after an initial apology he later went on to air some er 'robust' views about the ATP authorities too .....

[CAS]

Just when I think Federer has a chance at Wimbledon he does that, he will go into the tournament on a low. He is becoming so frustrating, keeps making me think he has still has it and then takes it away! I need to stop falling for it!

[lags72]

It was indeed an odd loss, maybe something of an aberration, and based on their past h2h I reckon they could have played each other every day this coming week on grass and Federer might well have won every one. But Haas did what he had to do, and some folk have pointed out that Federer looked to have brought his C game to the Final, so one imagines he will be a lot more focussed when the serious business gets underway at Wimbledon. We shall see very soon !

I think once you get to even a 250 Final then it's not ideal to lose it going into a Slam ; but then again I don't believe Rafa's much earlier Halle exit has any impact whatever on his own prospects at Wimbledon .....

[luciusmann]

Just when I think Federer has a chance at Wimbledon he does that, he will go into the tournament on a low. He is becoming so frustrating, keeps making me think he has still has it and then takes it away! I need to stop falling for it!

Agree, I'm of the same view. I think part of this is because many of us Fed fans are used to seeing Fed winning so much, so when he gets to a final against an even older player like Haas, we expect victory, but they don't come and it's frustrating for us.

However, on the positive, it's usually when we expect little from Fed that he surprises us. My main concern is that the bad form we saw going through RG is potentially something that could surface for Wimbledon, which could be devastating, I mean the Quarters is where he was last year and that was after he made the final @ RG so where would that leave us? A R4 exit, I hope not, I mean, that's not even the second week! As I said on another thread, I'll be looking to see how many sets he drops and the manner in which he drops them before I make my own judgement about how far he may get. Many have said that it's the USO where he stands his best chance, I probably agree with that, but it would be nice if he could make the semis @ Wimbledon.

[CAS]

I can tell how fast the surfaces are just by seeing how many times Federer gets broken, in Dubai I never felt nervous he would get broken he was supreme on serve, and the same in Madrid Berdych played 2 great games to break him. But when he gets broken consistently you know, RG I expect it but he was being broken quite a bit in Halle which worried me. When he holds easily, his game follows.

[lydian]

Tommy clearly proving he's no Haas-been.

He's beaten Federer 3 times now...all oddly at Halle.

[laverfan]

He's beaten Federer 3 times now...all oddly at Halle.

Hass beat Federer at Sydney Olympics, 2000, and AO 2002 (both on HC). This is his first win on Grass. Halle 2005 and 2006 were Federer wins.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/Players/Head-To-Head.aspx?pId=F324&oId=H355

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