Finally, as no. 2, Federer gets some love at the majors
Tweets/texts/emails/pings fluttered our way right after Roger Federer climbed out of that five-set mess that was his semifinal against Juan Martin Del Potro. The score: 3-6, 7-6 (2), 2-6, 6-1, 6-4.
Finally, as no. 2, Federer gets some love at the majors
We don’t remember the last time we felt so compelled to gun for Roger at a final (there were goosebumps as we got on the ‘net for the match synopsis…). But why the sudden change? Why are we all so excited?
Seeding: As if the ranking (and seeding) stars aligned perfectly, Roger was seeded No. 2 at a major where he is clearly second-best. Thus, there’s no extra push for Rafael Nadal, the king of clay, to correct the discrepancy with a title win.
He’s suffered enough: Federer has spent the last year having the pack chip away at his runaway No. 1 ranking. His testiness with the press – and eventual sobfest – has shown us that underneath the automaton is a living, breathing, person. And now that he’s spent enough time suffering for being a hyper-confident douche, we again have his over-muscled back.
The tide is turning: The girlfriend wife is preggers. And now he’s back on track to equal (or surpass) Pete Sampras‘ Slam record. Sometimes, it’s just nicer when good things come in bunches.
The tide is turning… for Rafa: Now that Nadal’s got the media coverage, the number one seeding, and the customized Nike kit, it’s also his turn to be the one knocked out from the top. How well can he (and his knees) handle that pressure? His docs have already asked him to pull out of Queen’s Club.
We can’t wait to see what happens next!
I believe Robin Soderling will win the title on Sunday, in 4 sets. Regardless, it will be a riveting match we can't wait to watch.
Not that Federer cannot win it, he certainly has a strong chance. But Soderling is playing the best tennis of his life by a long shot, swinging away and hitting the spots with nothing to lose. He's beaten the greatest claycourt player of all time, on the biggest claycourt stage. There's no reason he can't be this confident against Federer in the final.
Conversely, Federer is not playing his best, by a long shot, and is really feeling the pressure.
On top of that, Federer has played much more tennis than Soderling, and somewhere there is bound to be fatigue.
The only thing Federer has on his side is that he has much more experience in dealing with big matches in big occasions. That may pull him through. But otherwise, given that he's played a lot of tennis to get here, and is not playing his best on top of that…the edge goes to Soderling in 4 sets.
What a rude article and let me be clear…the French always rooted for Federer over Nadal even when Federer was number one. Nadal is just not well liked in France for some reason. Also, I think this article or blog is being written by a douche. To stick a needle further in your eye……….Fed won.