February/March 2019 Tournaments

First topic message reminder :

Some big-point tournaments coming up, including the sunshine-double of IW and Miami. You probably saw that Tsonga, after an injury-hit 2018, took the title yesterday in Montpellier. He took out four fellow Frenchman to win it. Good to see him back.

Argentine WC Londero won in Cordoba having never had a single win on the main circuit. Incredible. Far more predictably, Medvedev triumphed in Sofia.

GB women, after some heroic stuff, won all their matches in the Fed Cup in Bath and now face a play-off in April to get promotion. The women have a tournament in Doha this week, while there is a fairly strong field in the men's tournament in Rotterdam. No Fed this year, but he's scheduled to play Dubai later in the month.

Djoko is very secure in the number one position and is likely to be top for some time. I think Fed's record of 310 weeks in total at number one will eventually go.

After his headline-grabbing star performance of yesterday, Kyrgios is brought back down to earth by Coric.

Djoko out - beaten again by RBA. Shapovalov bt Tsitsipas in late-night thriller and the rain plus the ultra-long matches meant Fed never got on at all.

Fed will now have to play today and faces an awkward schedule. Barty bt Kvitova who will have to wait for her chance to get to number one.

Fed had little trouble seeing off Medvedev. All over in just over an hour which bodes well for Rog who will have to play again tomorrow.

Halep took the first set against Wang and recovered from 5-1 down to take the second set, and the match, 7-5. One more win and she regains number one spot.

Apparently Federer’s best showing of the week.

These young players, like Medvedev, are strong, can rally extremely well without tiring, and hit the ball very hard. We know that Federer has guile, variety, and experience - but it’s still impressive to see him fending off such challenges at this age.

Nowadays, for Federer to win, he has to win quick.  The younger players tactically have to try to keep Federer moving and to stay in the match for as long as possible - as they should develop an advantage the longer the match plays out.  Difficult to do for fast courts, easier to do for slower courts.

Djokovic today is not the invincible entity of the 2011 - May 2016 period. He just needs to ensure he peaks for the slams and not to overstrain the body in between.

No name Bertie wrote:Nowadays, for Federer to win, he has to win quick...................................................

For the most part, this is certainly true. And it’s obviously how he would like things to be, in an ideal world. (much of his legendary reputation was of course built on him being such a fearsome ‘front-runner’).

However ..... he is still up for a scrap when necessary. He dropped the first set to Albot in his opening round, then edged a tight second .... but had enough stamina to battle through and take the deciding third.

It can work both ways, so to speak. Not all the youngsters - strong and fit as they are - have yet developed the mental maturity or focus to maintain a very high standard over three - or five - sets. Especially those who are perhaps more accustomed to competing on the Challenger circuit.

Federer is energy efficient in his play - that's how he has been able to hold some sort of gap most of the times - even though he is getting on to being twice the age of many of his opponents.

More rain at Miami today, with very little play so far. More scheduling headaches ahead.

This amount of rain is (i think ... ?) quite unusual.

Fed thru with the loss of just four games against Anderson, who at least made a fight of it in in the second set. Rog now plays Shapovalov, while Isner takes on F A-A in another oldie v teen affair.

Pliskova bt Halep in straight sets and will play Barty in the final. Osaka stays number one for now.

Absolute masterclass in first set by Fed. I doubt Anderson has suffered too many bagels in his career.

We must enjoy this brand of tennis whilst we still can.

Has anyone managed to catch Felix A in action yet? He's the only one of the prominent younger players I've not seen yet. An all Canadian young-gun final potentially on the cards (Fed v Isner is most likely though).

Seen a few highlight clips of F A-A. Looks pretty good. Prepared to come to the net, good movement and powerful groundstrokes.

He'll beat Isner if he can win tiebreaks. I'd love to know just what percentage of Isner's sets go to tiebreaks. I think Fed will have a bit too much for Denis S. But, then again, I predicted Rog to bt Thiem in the IW final!

There’s every chance that at least one of the young guns could make it through to the Final.

And if they both do so, then the journos will be dusting off their changing-of-the-guard articles .....

sirfredperry wrote:...................But, then again, I predicted Rog to bt Thiem in the IW final!

He really should have done - and would have done - if his B/P conversion rate had not been so poor (2/11, IIRC) on the day. It often is, and it’s something of a weak area when measured by his other mercurial talents.

That said, Thiem put in a very strong performance and was a worthy winner. Great match.

Well, Felix A-A just didn't listen to me about winning those tiebreaks! Still a terrific tournament for him. Thought Isner would disappear down the rankings after this tournament but he's now defended most of his points from last year.

Federer has too much guile for the young Shapovalov. Both Canadians acquitted themselves well (despite today's error-filled display from Shapovalov).

Isner is a Russian Roulette.

sirfredperry wrote:Well, Felix A-A just didn't listen to me about winning those tiebreaks! Still a terrific tournament for him. Thought Isner would disappear down the rankings after this tournament but he's now defended most of his points from last year.

Shouldn’t have needed the tiebreaks at all. He served for both sets and couldn’t get over the line. Still, good experience, and he’ll only get stronger.

lags72 wrote:

sirfredperry wrote:...................But, then again, I predicted Rog to bt Thiem in the IW final!

He really should have done - and would have done - if his B/P conversion rate had not been so poor (2/11, IIRC) on the day. It often is, and it’s something of a weak area when measured by his other mercurial talents.

That said, Thiem put in a very strong performance and was a worthy winner. Great match.

8 of those 11 break points were in the two games he broke Thiem in the first set, so made no difference to the outcome. Only winning 40% and 43% of his second serve points in sets 2 and 3 is a far more important stat that the break points. After the first set, Thiem was simply the better player once they got in a rally. Roger had a bit of an off day and was outplayed from the baseline.

So, after all, it's a 30-somethings final in Miami. Denis S probably didn't do himself justice, while F A-A had his chances against Isner.

There's no doubt Isner, now well into his 30s, is playing his best tennis. His BH seems to have improved no end. But I still haven't learnt my lesson from IW and am tipping Federer to win.

@Born Slippy - yes, fair comment re IW Final.

So we’re all set for what will surely be a TB battle. Isner is defending champ in Miami.

There are so many fascinating stats ahead of this one :

- Isner has played a total of nine TB’s en route to today’s Final, winning every one of them

- Federer and Isner have contested eight TB’s in their careers to date, winning four each

- Federer has won more TB’s than anyone else in the sport’s history, with Isner second in the table. Fed’s overall TB win percentage is also the highest of all time (only Djokovic comes close amongst active players)

Isner has been looking very good this week and will be coming in with a lot of confidence. Federer does have the edge on current form - and his vast experience of Finals - but I still reckon it could go either way.

Regardless of outcome, it’s been a great tournament .... and the decision to switch venues seems to have been well received.





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Great tournament but a terrible final. No issue with Fed but his matches against any of the servebots are deeply dull. There isn’t ever a feeling of suspense or jeopardy as his serve is too reliable to be troubled and, eventually, Isner will play a bad service game. I’m going for 75 64 to Federer.

Very well-crafted (IMHO !) preview of the Final on ESPN site ......

http://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/26396940/federer-isner-final-likely-come-serves-tiebreakers

Isner already knows what it’s like to beat the great one, which is always something of a plus for anybody facing Fed across the net ........

Barty took the women's crown, beating Pliskova in straight sets despite going an early break down.

Apparently, there've been 14 different women's titlists this season. Just shows how close it is.

Interesting discussion, regarding Retirement.

First set almost done 6-1 Federer. Isner seems lost.

sirfredperry wrote:Barty took the women's crown, beating Pliskova in straight sets despite going an early break down.

Apparently, there've been 14 different women's titlists this season. Just shows how close it is.

Prior to this final, I think it’s 19 different winners for 19 tournaments for the men so far this year. A record I believe. Going to end today though, unless Isner can stage a miracle fight back.

Isner, injured, but bravely going through the motions. Federer has #101/#28 MS in Miami.

So Federer has 100 ATP titles and is going to win his 101 st title?

Jimmy Connors holds the record of 109 titles.   Federer could easily beat Connors record if he went for ATP250's titles - but Federer doesn't seem to be bothered - he is just interested in enjoying his tennis, competing for major titles (Slams, Masters, significant ATP 500 / 250).

No name Bertie wrote:So Federer has 100 ATP titles and is going to win his 101 st title?

He did.

No name Bertie wrote:Jimmy Connors holds the record of 109 titles.   Federer could easily beat Connors record if he went for ATP250's titles - but Federer doesn't seem to be bothered - he is just interested in enjoying his tennis, competing for major titles (Slams, Masters, significant ATP 500 / 250).

Agreed. Just enjoying his tennis, till he hangs up his racquet.

Federer knows he’ll be cannon fodder on the clay. Best to get a couple on the HCs to boost the CV

Nathaniel Jacobs wrote:Federer knows he’ll be cannon fodder on the clay.

Clay, being slower, may help Federer a bit more and his slower foot speed. Let us see what happens. IIRC, he plays Madrid next.

Isner had a foot problem towards the end of the first set but still a terrific win for Fed.

Djoko is still miles ahead at the top of the rankings but Fed is number one for the year-so-far. Wonder if anyone who did so modestly at the AO has ever been top after Miami? Usually the guy who wins in Melbourne is race-to-London leader at this stage.

Fed's very well placed for the year now. The likes of Rafa, Zverev and Thiem have stacks of points to defend during the clay-court season. Djoko can get even further ahead with even a reasonable showing on clay. After that, he'll have the most points to defend.

The women's ranking points at the top are very close. It's really a toss-up who will emerge as number one at the season's end.

Nathaniel Jacobs wrote:Federer knows he’ll be cannon fodder on the clay. Best to get a couple on the HCs to boost the CV

You’re too funny (you would have a good time on the old 606 ....but all that childish stuff finished years ago )

If Federer is cannon fodder, I can’t imagine what that makes the other guys.

Apart from king-of-clay Nadal, only one other active player (Ferrer) has won more matches on the dirt than
Roger Federer.

As for “boosting his CV” ....hmm. Federer has won more tennis matches than any other active player ; more Slams than anyone in the history of the sport ; more official tour titles than any other active player ; and has spent more time as World No. 1 than anyone else. Yeah .....right ....  that CV sure is in need of a boost, isn’t it .....

At almost 38, he really shouldn’t be winning any Masters titles these days. And yet strange to say, he currently leads the 2019 points table in the ATP Race to London.

Federer may not surpass Connors' record of 109 tournament victories but he might outdo Connors' match win record.

Rog is around 60 wins behind and if he plays for most of 2020 he should do it.

@ sfp - no, I don’t think he will surpass the Connors titles record, but then I’m not sure he’s especially bothered anyway.

He could probably surpass it IF he were to focus on the equivalent low-tier events Connors chose to enter (the likes of Toulouse, Boca West, Monterey, La Quinta, Tel Aviv ......). There was of course a period when Jimbo was looking to make money any which way .... partly to feed his gambling addiction.

All that said, Connors deserves huge respect for what he achieved in an admirably long playing career. IIRC he even made the SF of the USO at the ripe old age of 39 ..... something he himself subsequently came to regard as perhaps a prouder ‘moment’ than any of his Slam victories.

I would like to see Federer surpass some of Pancho's age records, if at all. Connors' 109 seems to be an achievable target.

Federer has W/L of 1198-262, Connors is 1256-279.