I am so upset. Roger was winning 4-0 in the second. What happened with Roger today?

Question

I am so upset. Roger was winning 4-0 in the second. What happened with Roger today?

Answer 1

Rafa has shown that he can up the tempo any time he wants. Whatever Roger can dish out, Rafa can better it. Roger was beaten by a superior player on the surface. Plain and simple.

Answer 2

I'm sorry, but Roger is dead...

Answer 3

nerves perhaps? choking? or was Rafa simply outplaying him?we can speculate all we want but Rafa was on his backyard and he aint prepared to let anyone in just yet.

Congrats to Federer though, he did all he could.

Answer 4

What exactly is the problem with you xno1rafa ? I notice that you keep attacking people who supports Federer.

No,I don't hate Nadal at all,I absolutely agree that he's the undisputable king of clay and that he's also formidable on other surfaces,so much so that I just bought a Babolat racket in the hope that I can play like him.....however,it remains a fact that Federer is still the number one player in the world.

Grow up,show some class and keep your mouth shut

Answer 5

Wow. Federer has shown himself, Nadal, his rivals and his critics that he is further along at the start of the clay season than most expected just a few weeks ago.

7-5, 7-5 is a very respectable score against Nadal on clay.

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 (some people have claimed that Nadal should have won Wimbledon 2007, but the Spaniard never had leads like this over Federer). By playing Nadal the right way, Federer broke Nadal four times. For brief periods during the match it was Federer who looked like the superior claycourt player.

But Federer made 44 unforced errors, particularly with his forehand as well as with simple volleys, and his serving and clutch serving let him down in a number of games to allow Nadal to break back in both sets. He also became passive and tentaive when ahead. Federer let Nadal back into the match.

Federer’s loss after racing to the 4-0 in the second set is probably partly due to three factors, besides Nadal tightening up his own game and concentration:

- First, today was Federer’s tenth (10th) match in a row on clay in the last 12 days, four of which went the distance. Surely Federer--who is regaining his physical fitness after a bout of energy-sapping mononucleosis viral infection--was exhausted at some level coming into today’s match against the fittest player on tour on his favorite surface. As well, by having to battle Nalbandian and Djokovic, Federer had the tougher draw into the final than Nadal (the Swiss has a better winning record on clay over Nadal's opponents like Ferrer, Ferrero and Davydenko than even Nadal has).  By the second half of the second set, Federer was not moving as well or as energetically (unless he got an injury in the second set, or perhaps Federer picked up a sore throat, dizziness or breathing problems after shaking Djokovic’s hand).

- Second, Nadal has had more practice and is more prepared on the clay and with the balls used in Monte Carlo than Federer is (the balls, clay surface and conditions in Estoril were different). Nadal arrived early in Monte Carlo and is also playing doubles (and has reached the final), which gave him at least twice as much time practicing on Monte Carlo clay than Federer has gotten.

- Third, Federer lost some concentration once he got ahead (nothing new for him) and let Nadal off the hook. That helped Nadal tighten up his game.

It is a positive that Federer broke Nadal’s serve two games in a row to build up a 4-0 lead in the second set (as well as broke him 4 times in the match). Not many other claycourt-competent players have been able to pressure and dominate Nadal within a set on clay over the last three years, much less win a set. But in their eight meetings on clay, Federer has won eight sets off Nadal on clay--including four with scores of 6-0, 6-1 and 6-2--has won a clay final in Hamburg 2007 and had two match points in Rome final 2006 against Nadal. The rest of the field has combined to win only 7 sets off Nadal on clay since Monte Carlo 2006, the same number as Federer in that period.

Federer already has the heavy-duty game to not just beat Nadal at the French Open if Nadal is not 100%, but even push around and boss the ‘king of clay’ for some points on his claycourt kingdom. When Federer got into his zone and unloaded his arsenal and variety, Nadal look overwhelmed and worried (the blank look you see on his face when he gets beat on a hardcourt). Nadal pounded Federer’s backhand with high, heavy topspin probably over 80% of the time but this tactic was a bit less effective than it has been in the past. What let Federer down today was probably his fitness, concentration, consistency and a few tactical choices. But Federer leaves knowing exactly what he needs to work on in the next few weeks--nothing insurmountable--and knows he has the game to beat Nadal on clay. And he did not give up his whole game plan to the Nadal camp.

Federer’s objectives for Monte Carlo have been met and exceeded in a mononucleosis-compromised season. He has defended his points at Monte Carlo (it is now far less realistic that Nadal will be able to wrest the No. 1 ranking from Federer at the French Open). Federer got the claycourt practice he needed against tough claycourters. He has been able to apply a few new things learned from his new coach. And he has been able to shut up both Djokovic and his obnoxious parents in an hour, with his A-game and his mouth.

Federer now has three to four weeks to finetune his game before the French Open semifinals and final, improve his clay strategy, and develop his fitness further with the help of Jose Higueras, who has clay court expertise. You can expect by the French Open that Federer’s 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.

At the pace Federer has been improving since Dubai in early March, we have much to look forward to. Monte Carlo is only a pitstop on the road to the big prize: the French Open. It is more important that Federer peaks in time for the French Open, not for Monte Carlo. The other top French Open winners like Borg, Lendl, Wilander and Kuerten all had less Monte Carlo titles than French Open titles!

Despite all the speculations and doomsaying of short-sighted, opportunistic and idiot journalists (and a handful of players and other critics) that Federer was vulnerable and a declining force in tennis this year, Federer has proven them wrong. Federer has done the improbable -- recover from a severe mononucleosis viral infection, regain his game with just eight weeks of intensive training, and regain his fitness within such a short time to once again be one of the top two claycourters in the grueling the clay season. This augurs well for the rest of the season as well as for his French Open chances. I still feel that Federer will win two to three clay court titles, including the French Open.

Answer 6

oh, and I'm so happy. Rafa played c**p to lose 4 service games (in the entire match), but came back strong by just putting the ball in play after being 4-0 down and letting Federer make the blunders.

Answer 7

Im soooooooooooo HAPPY! Roger will never be able to take that title off the KING OF CLAY! Rafa Rocks:P Cant wait for the next tournaments, to show roger yet again he`s Number 1 on the dirt surface ! ROGER SUCKS !

Answer 8

As a Fed fan, I am  happy with his performance today. I never expected Roger to go this far in this tournament, and he gave a tough fight to Rafa today. He is very much on track, and I agree with the person who said that he needs a better game plan when he is playing Rafa. I am sure Jose Higueras has been working on those and he will be good for the next two tournaments. You should be happy with the fact that he made up for all of his points, by reaching the finals, instead of getting upset. I am just going to say that Roger needs to play a lot of these tough games if he wants to do good at French Open and believe me, today's game will help him out. Go Rogi !

Answer 9

Yeah, I was hoping it would last into a 3rd set at least.  

Roger took more chances and red-lined it more, (this is what Koenig, and commentators from France were reporting), but Rafa played a safer game, but he made 1/2 the unforced errors that Roger did. So, I am not sure if that's the pivotal reason for the turn around, but it certainly is one aspect.

Also amazing is that Roger's 1st Serve % was lower than Rafa's. And his 2nd Serve % was really low.

Answer 10

I'm not really disappointed, I'm actually happy that he's back to his good game, and defended his points.

And got his revenge from Nalbandian and Djokovic.

Answer 11

i was sad that roger couldnt win the second set...he should have won it, but he lost his concentration and rafa probably took advantage of that.

oh well...maybe federer will beat him at the french

Answer 12

Once federer had the lead he played too passively. He panicked and started making stupid errors. He also served really poorly after he got a break. Ugh so annoyed Fed lost. For me, Rafa plays boring, passive, defensive tennis. Whenever he wins he doesn't win, the other player loses.