Does Roger Federer have a chance in Roland Garros?

Question

I know Nadal is good in clay courts but Federer isn't that bad in the clay. In Monte Carlo he did good and got to the finals although he lost but still there is a chance

Answer 1

nope. he just got another beating from rafa at monte carlo. though he was trying to be positive about his chance of beating him on clay but i don't think its happening soon at RG.

Answer 2

No i dont see it happening im afraid! Rafa will dominate the clay season this year! That said Federer is the only person who could stop Nadal on the clay! Vamos Rafa he deserves to win them all !

Answer 3

Absolutely he has a chance, he has always been the best clay court player next to clay's reigning king Rafa. But with the recent changes in the clay at Roland Garros making the clay much faster, I think it'll be tough for Rafa to dominate because he doesn't do exceptionally well with fast courts like Federer does. Of course if Rafa wins, well a big VAMOS RAFA for him. But I firmly believe Federer will surprise everyone at the French this year, especially Rafa, and he will win it and the remaining slams. Roger will be rested, ready, and healthy at the French Open and I hope he does. Fed certainly would deserve it, and it'll make all those doubters shutup about whether Fed is dead, because he is still king!

Answer 4

i still hope rafa will win it!!! :)

Answer 5

and he did actually play a decent match against rafa too.....7/5-7-5....straights it might be but that wasn't an easy win. so yeah,if he can keep up the high level he displayed this week,certainly he has a chance.

Answer 6

Based on the way hes been playing lately...ABSOLUTELY

Answer 7

Nope, not a chance.  Nadal will win it again.

Answer 8

Yes, he's got a chance. In fact he has a better chance than anyone other than Nadal. Unfortunately though, there lies the problem: Nadal. Federer is easily the second best clay-courter on tour, but he's still not nearly as good on the surface as Rafa. Nadal is tailor-made for clay: huge topspin, great fitness, incredible foot-speed, relentless consistency. Federer, on the other hand, is more a great  fast surface player who manages to make his game work on the dirt. He hits flatter, more precise shots but, in doing so,  allows himself far less margin for error. This may get the job done against practically any other clay-courter, but against Nadal it isn't quite enough. The clay takes the sting out of Roger's shots, allowing Nadal to chase everything down relentlessly and extend points. The surface also accentuates the high bounce of Rafa's shots, making them even tougher for Federer. It all adds up to a pretty uncomfortable situation for the world #1. He can win, but he'll need a little luck (as in Nadal going out before the final).

Answer 9

Yes, Federer does have a chance but still, if he ends up playing against Rafael Nadal that chance will get smaller. Nadal plays fantastic on clay and i don´t think anyone can stand in his way.  Federer, you have to admit.. he had lots of chances in the past few years but he just couldn´t make the most of them. Yes, at Monte Carlo Federer reached the final and  played good against Rafa but just not good enough. Anyway, I think that Rafa will win the French Open. He is an amaising player and deserves it.

Answer 10

yes.

Answer 11

Roger is clearly the second best player in the world on clay today but there is still a huge gulf that exists between him and Nadal.  Though he had his chances in Monte Carlo today, Roland Garros will be much tougher because the courts are much slower and the ball bounces alot higher, both things that benefit Nadal.  I see Roger getting to the final but losing convincingly once again.  Roland Garros is so slow that it will be doubly hard for him to hit winners against Nadal who seems to get everything back.  If he couldn't beat Nadal in Monte Carlo on fast clay, how is he going to beat him in Paris on slow clay?

Answer 12

No.

Answer 13

no

Answer 14

yes!!!!!

he has a new coach and he didnt play that bad in the finals. he just got a little nervous.

i think this year is the time that roger wins the french-he deserves it!!!!!

Answer 15

It depends on how he plays in Rome and Hamburg. If Roger reaches the semifinals or the finals in these tournaments, he should have a good chance in Roland Garros. I agree that he did really good in Monte Carlo, by reaching the finals, but he has to show the same kind of spirit in Rome and Hamburg. He played an exceptionally good match against Nalby. It is not easy to come back from a set down and win against Nalby, but Roger is known for doing  the impossible. If he can keep up that kind of play, he has a very good chance of winning his first French Open title. Go Rogi !

Answer 16

He is already given the chance to play in Roland Garros. We just don't know his chances of winning it

Answer 17

I think he has a good chance to win it if he doesn't get upset in the early rounds, and, of course, if Rafael Nadal doesn't reach the final on the other side of the draw.

I think the key will be how tired or rested everybody is coming into the French.  The schedule is grueling this year.

Answer 18

The first answer is wrong. French Open remodeled its surface this year from slow clay to an extremely fast clay. They put some kind of material underneath the courts to make them play WAY faster, because many players and fans complained in the past that the former surface was very demanding, a lot of running, and you can't hit winners, which makes the game very boring to watch. The new surface will give Federer much better chance to win, as well as there will be more Americans in the second an third rounds.

Answer 19

Bjorn Borg said last July: "Nadal is unbelievably tough to beat on clay but Roger (Federer) has the game to do it. He badly wants to win the French Open and why not next year?" Thus even Borg believes that Federer has more than a chance to beat Nadal and win the French Open.

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/10072007/5...

Borg won six French Opens. Borg was the original clay king and was the 1970s version of Nadal (see clips).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKQVdZNsy...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZZMuXBr_...

I believe that Federer will end up winning two to three clay titles this year, including the French Open.

Federer has consistently been the second best clay courter in each of the last three years, and has been thwarted only by one of the greatest claycourters of all time (i.e., Nadal). Federer has already beaten Nadal in Hamburg 2007. Federer's five-setter against Nadal at the 2006 Italian Open final in Rome -- a 7-6(7) 6-7(5) 4-6 6-2 6-7(5) battle which lasted over five hours in which Nadal saved two match points and won less of the 353 total points than Federer. Their Rome match was far closer than their 2007 Wimbledon final.

Federer knows he has the game to beat Nadal on clay and knows what he needs to work on over the next few weeks. In their eight meetings on clay, Federer has won eight sets off Nadal--including four sets with scores of 6-0, 6-1 and 6-2. The rest of the field combined has won only 7 sets off Nadal on clay since Monte Carlo 2006, the same number as Federer alone in that period.

Federer showed today he already has the heavy-duty clay game and variety to beat Nadal at the French Open and even push around the ‘king of clay’ on a clay court. But consistency was his problem today. If you’ve seen Federer play live, he can hit a heavy-duty topsin forehand that is quite unusual in its trajectory -- sort of a combo of topspin and sidespin. According to Nadal, the speed of the clay in Monte Carlo and Roland Garros are similar, only the balls are different (though Aglu19 said that the Roland Garros surface has been made faster).

Federer’s 5-7, 5-7 loss today at Monte Carlo is a very respectable score against Nadal on clay. When he played Nadal the right way, Federer broke Nadal four times (Nadal said he was broken a total of only three or four times before the final) and looked the superior claycourt player for brief periods. Federer actually had the lead in both sets, breaking Nadal to lead 4-3 in the first set and then zipping to a 4-0 lead in the second set with sublime tennis. Had Federer held serve in both sets, he might have beaten Nadal in straight sets or at least taken it to a third set (the Spaniard never had leads like this over Federer at Wimbledon 2007). When Federer got into his zone and unloaded his arsenal and variety, Nadal looked overwhelmed. Nadal’s tactic of pounding Federer’s improving backhand with high, heavy topspin was less effective than it has been in the past. But Federer eventually let Nadal back into the match with his 44 unforced errors (against Nadal’s 20 UFEs), dips in concentration, forehand inconsistency, first serve in certain games (and clutch serving), botched simple volleys, and a few tactical mistakes at times. Most of these problems are correctable.

Federer was successful today when he used tactics such as shortening the points, disrupting Nadal’s rhythm with his variety and pace and angles, using more slices and volleys, being more aggressive, using more drop shots, etc. By the French Open, the improving Federer backhand will get even stronger and more consistent and apply more high slices. His clutch serving and first serve percentage will also improve, as will the consistency of his forehand and the effectiveness of his tactical choices. It is more an issue of Federer putting all the pieces together and playing the right way against Nadal more consistently.

The Monte Carlo final was Federer’s tenth (10th) match in a row on clay in the last 12 days, four of which went the distance. Even though he denies it, surely Federer--who is regaining his physical fitness after a bout of energy-sapping mononucleosis viral infection--was a bit tired entering today’s match against the fittest player on tour on his favorite surface. Federer was not moving as well or as energetically in the second half of the second set. Second, Nadal has had more practice and is more prepared on the clay and with the balls used in Monte Carlo than Federer (the balls, clay surface and conditions in Estoril were different). Nadal arrived early in Monte Carlo and also played doubles, which gave him at least twice as much practice time on Monte Carlo clay than Federer has gotten.

This year Federer is motivated to do well and also has one of the best claycourt expert coaches in the business in Jose Higueras. Federer's work with Higueras might not bear fruit for another two to three more weeks as Federer finetunes his game before the French Open final, improves his clay strategy and develops his fitness further. Only then we will probably see an improved Federer on clay. At the pace Federer has been improving since Dubai in early March, we have much to look forward to.

Nadal might run out of gas by Roland Garros. Nadal is scheduled to play up to 20 clay court matches over four weeks in a row before the French Open (Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Rome, Hamburg), assuming he does not lose early in any tournament. The pressure on Nadal to defend his clay points to catch up with Federer and stay ahead of third-ranked Djokovic is tremendous. Given Federer’s performance today, Nadal knows that he has to somehow squeeze even further improvements out of his clay game before he meets Federer again.

Monte Carlo Interviews: Nadal & Federer

http://www.asapsports.com/show_event.php...