Ivan Lendl and Bjon Borg said?

Question

Before the men final that Federer had a chance to win.Why?

Answer 1

Because Roger Federer has been no.1 for the best part of 5 years and is a fantastic player. Both Borg and Lendl really wanted Federer to win because it would cement him as the best player ever but because of this they ignored how much poorer Federer was this tournament and how much Nadal had improved from last year.

Answer 2

totally agree with the previous answer.

Answer 3

Because despite Rafa's awesome display of tennis, and undefeated record at Roland Garros, this is Federer's third time in a row reaching the final.  And even though, Roger had the easier draw, to reach the final of ANY Grand Slam three times in a row is a remarkable achievement.  Roger Federer is the second best clay court player in the world, so why wouldn't he have a chance?  Anything can happen on a given day....an upset stomach, sore neck, a slight blister.  But none of these things happened to Nadal yesterday.   He was just awesome!

(Also, Lendl was down and out against John McEnroe, when he roared back from being two sets down to win!  Lendl knows a bit about upsets!)

Answer 4

Because he's Roger Federer, the #1 ranked player for the last 227 consecutive weeks, and a winner of 12 grand slam titles.  If those credentials don't  automatically give Federer at least a chance of winning any match, then I don't know what would.  Yes, Nadal pretty much ran away with it from the start and never looked back, but before the match no one, not Lendl nor Borg, not even Nadal, could have predicted how easily he would win.  I'm sure Nadal was not only prepared to go five sets before the match but probably expected to.