Federer to play Rotterdam

First topic message reminder :

Virtually nobody around these days but I’ll post this anyway ..... just in case !

Federer has apparently been granted a wildcard to play Rotterdam next week. Sounds like he’s had as much rest as he wanted in the wake of his AO exertions (which didn’t really seem especially taxing, at least not compared to the 2017 event).

This will no doubt prompt lively media discussion as to the implications for the World Number One spot. But my own question is rather more basic : is it wise to offer a valuable wildcard to a part-time player, with a relatively unproven track record on the main Tour .....

Hello Laverfan. Man, it’s been years since I posted on this site and yet we are still talking about Federer. Amazing but also a bit discouraging.

quietplease wrote:Hello Laverfan. Man, it’s been years since I posted on this site and yet we are  still talking about Federer. Amazing but also a bit discouraging.

I have seen glimmers of hopes from Cilic, Nishikori, Raonic, Thiem, Zverev, Dimitrov, Kyrgios, Tomic, Wawrinka,.... but alas, none of them have made any progress in taking over.

Nadal, Federer still rule, of course with some competition injured.

Amazing that Daily Telegraph sport section today had not one word on Federer's return to the top.

Federer through to final after beating Seppi.

6-3, 7-6 (3) win for Fed tonight. He'll play Dimi in Sunday's final. After the easy win in the first round, Fed's had some competitive matches despite heavily outranking his opponents.

sirfredperry wrote:Amazing that Daily Telegraph sport section today had not one word on Federer's return to the top.

I very much suspect that this is purely down to print deadlines (which I believe are even earlier for the substantial Saturday edition than normal weekdays), as opposed to any lack of interest.

The DT are normally pretty good on the tennis front (albeit perhaps not the best) and their current online /digital version carries what looks to be a serious article on his return to the top. I say ‘what looks to be’ because it is within their ‘premium’ category and as such sits behind a paywall. But the opening paras are there for all to see (along with a good photo of the great one)

sirfredperry wrote:.............After the easy win in the first round, Fed's had some competitive matches despite heavily outranking his opponents.

Yes indeed. And due to a combination of circumstances, I would say : his opponents playing somewhat above their ‘normal’ level, and having the courage to be aggressive, in the knowledge that therein lies their only hope  ; and Federer having a few sub-par blips here & there.

Example : Seppi himself said, when interviewed after his QF win, that after coming in as a lucky loser, he was suddenly playing some of his best-ever tennis. He was looking forward to his contest v Fed ...... but went on to acknowledge that ‘many, many times’ your best tennis is still not good enough to pull off a win versus the OAP from Basel.

Here’s hoping the Final is of a high standard. It has all the makings. A first win over Fed for Dimi, maybe ? ......

lags72 wrote:Here’s hoping the Final is of a high standard. It has all the makings. A first win over Fed for Dimi, maybe ? ......

Methinks, Not!

Dubai tournament Director making noises about Federer being likely to enter there too, although obviously will depend on how he's feeling after this week. I suspect quite a lot of money is being offered as well (with Nadal elsewhere that week and Murray / Djokovic absent, it would look a weak field in the absence of Federer).

Anyway, Federer is back to #1 with 9905 points if he loses the final or 10105 points if he wins. Drops 45 points for Dubai, so 9865 or 10065 minimum after that.

Rafa is on 9760 points, and defending 300 in Acapulco (or with a scope to gain 200 with a win there), so could go up to 9960. Upshot is he can't retake #1 until Indian Wells if Fed wins Rotterdam, regardless of any other results.

Unlikely that Fed holds the #1 until the clay court season - it's likely he'd have to at worst win one and make the final of the other of Indian Wells and Miami, as he's so many points to defend. More likely that Rafa will reclaim the top spot at some point in March / April. Most likely scenario (if Fed doesn't play and win Dubai) would be after IW, where Fed is defending a win and Nadal only 90 points.

Assuming Fed doesn't play any clay tournaments (likely, but I wouldn't bet the mortgage on him missing RG), Rafa is likely to need another very good clay season to retain the #1 spot prior to Wimbledon - he's defending 4180 points out of 5000 from the 3 MS1000 events and RG

By winning a few ATP 500 and ATP 250 tournaments, that will relieve the pressure on Federer on having to defend all his Masters points.  

Any news on Federer's plans for the year - is he going to skip the clay season again?  Last year he was coming back from a significant lay-off so presumably was being extra cautious in skipping the clay season.  However, it seems he will probably make that decision after Indian Wells and Miami in March.

IMO, Federer should skip Clay and play Grass (Halle, Wimbledon).

Last year Federer was returning from a fairly long lay off recovering from a knee injury.  It wasn't clear until later on in the year how hampered Djokovic and Murray were and with Federer's successful 2017 it was probably a surprise to him how close he ended being ranked number one, even while skipping the entire clay season.  

It may be with the current situation, with both Djokovic and Murray still not contenders, Federer might consider managing his schedule to give him the best chance for more grand slams (especially on the fast courts) as well as the best chance of retaining his number one ranking.  The latter would have been unthinkable if Djokovic and Murray were still showing the type of form they had in the first half of 2016 for Djokovic, and throughout 2016 for Murray.

Haven’t got pictures, so can only follow by live text updates.

Either Fed’s on fire or Dimi’s having a pretty bad day (maybe both ...?)

First set wrapped up in less than 30 mins 6-2, and Federer already a break up in the second.

In other news, Muguruza v Kvitova has only attracted enough fans to fill around one third of the stadium in Doha for Qatar Open Final. That’s disappointing for a tour Final.

lags: http://www.stream2watch.org/stream/70421

Dimitrov is playing badly, down 2 breaks in second set.

The Federer v Haase was more competitive.

Commentators were saying Dimi might be a bit injured.

reckoner wrote:Commentators were saying Dimi might be a bit injured.

Most likely, as his movement looks pretty erratic.

Well, that's title #97 in the bag, in less than an hour.

Astonishing stuff, really.

laverfan wrote:Most likely, as his movement looks pretty erratic.

More so than usual, you think?

Federer saying "hope you feel better" to Dimitrov, sounds more like he was a bit ill than injured.

@reckoner : many thanks for link - although sadly, by the time I spotted your post, too late for me to bother registering/installing.

For future ref, do you believe it to be totally ‘safe’ ....?

So, coming  to Rotterdam turned out to be a pretty smart move by the Fed. Tourney organisers must have been absolutely thrilled by the late surge in ticket sales. Fed himself picks up around €400K which he wouldn’t have had if he had stayed on the sofa back home. (New shoes for the kids, maybe ....??)

Fun fact : coach Ljubicic - watching his pupil proudly from the stands - was actually playing him in this same Rotterdam Final thirteen years ago ....

@lags No worries. Yeah it was safe, no registration or installation required. Opened in an incognito tab with adblock plus. I avoid (and urge you to avoid) any site that requires installation or updates of any kind!

I agree, playing Rotterdam worked out well, but you can see why he isn't inclined to play this kind of tournament these days. In post match interviews he was clearly missing his family and there were several things like the godawful cardboard trophy for oldest #1, the bright red clogs presented by the well meaning interviewers on Dutch TV to Krajicek's cringe-worthy presentation that showed up how provincial the tournament is.

Still as you say 400,000 Euros not to be sneezed at!

Thanks again reckoner    (I’m not the most techhie-savvy guy, so might come back to you at some point for guidance on the exact process there .....)

Note what you say re the nature of the event, but I guess some of these (ie below Masters level) are much better than others .....eg Queens has real style about it and wouldn’t seem ‘out of place’ at any level (apart from limited spectator facilities of course). Plus ..... these 500’s and 250’s do of course remain the bread & butter for the vast majority of very good players who lack the extra quality to shine at the very top events.

Two tournaments played in 2018. Two titles won. (or three if you include Hopman Cup, I guess ....).

This Rotterdam wildcard chap shows a lot of potential.

No problem at all, happy to help lags.

I agree, Queens is amazing and does it with style. I don't mean to be so harsh about Rotterdam, just that I can see how it isn't worth spending time away from family for.

Well, that was a bit quicker than expected but it seems Dimi may have been a bit ill. 
   Means Fed will be top for a few extra weeks now whatever happens. Just makes it even harder for anyone to top his 300+ weeks at numero uno.
   A good chance now, with two titles already in 2018, that Fed will chalk up his 100th tournament win some time this year. Seemed some way off when he was on 88 but he's won nine in 13 months to reach 97.

"It is the third time Switzerland's Federer has won the Rotterdam event, and it takes him to within 12 titles of American Jimmy Connors, who holds the Open-era record of 109." - BBC.

So he needs 3 to get to 100. That's singles titles, with doubles he already has more.

Even the Connors record is a possibility now. I think he'll need another 5 or 6 this year. Still asking a lot, but before it was a considered a given that he would never reach it. Now it's at least not crazy to suggest it.

If he ever decided to play some of the end-of-the pier standard of tournies which Jimbo did in his latter years (and I hope he doesn’t) ...... then he could almost certainly match/surpass the record.

Connors was a tremendous competitor of course - but also a bit of a gambler for a spell, and would play pretty much anywhere / anyone to help make amends for his betting losses, and/or feed the habit.

Elsewhere there have been a couple of other notable results. Firstly, Kvitova continuing a rich vein of form beating Muguruza in the final of Qatar Open, having beaten Aus Open champion Wozniacki in the semis, and coming 2 weeks after winning St Petersburg Open. The Czech's comeback will be v warmly received by many and she is now back in the top 10.

Also wanted to mention Argentinian Open over in Buenos Aires. Whilst it was an expected win for top seed Thiem on the clay his opponent in the final Bedene beat Ramos Vinolas, Schwartzman and Del Bonis earlier on in the tournament, so a good tournament for Bedene.

Back to Federer, yes it was a real masterstroke playing Rotterdam and the tournament organisers must have been delighted. I do think that Connors record of 109 titles is looking more reachable now though my instinct is that he might just fall short on that one, finishing on 106 or 107 titles, but given how the last 12 months has panned out he might just pull it off.

MrInvisible wrote:...

Back to Federer, yes it was a real masterstroke playing Rotterdam and the tournament organisers must have been delighted.  I do think that Connors record of 109 titles is looking more reachable now though my instinct is that he might just fall short on that one, finishing on 106 or 107 titles, but given how the last 12 months has panned out he might just pull it off.

It really just depends on how long Fed wants to keep playing - he's said before that an Olympic singles gold is a target that he's missed out on. Would he be willing and able to play on until mid 2020, so around his 39th birthday, to take one last shot at that? If so, and if he retains anything like current form, another dozen titles doesn't feel out of the question (noting of course that this is by Federer standards, not by those of mere mortals). Certainly there is no feel that this year will be his last on Tour, especially if the ATP and the tournament organisers remain happy for him to pick and choose when he plays. It helps that he, as with the Williams sisters, has an ability to be match sharp without regular tournament play.