Roger Federer was asked the question of, "Roger, do you think it was too dark out there to play at the end"

Question

after his loss to Nadal. Roger kinded looked at the reporter, shrugged his head, and didn't know what to say, his eyes said it all. He said, you know, it's over, I can't do anything about it, it's done. He never actually said, yes, it was too dark to play, but if you read his body language, that's exactly what he was thinking. The match should've been stopped in the 5th set when it got to 7-7, 7 games each. you agree? I mean, the players had gone through nearly 5 hours of match time and another 3 hours of rain delays. That's 8 hours of putting your body and mind to the test. These English are so selfish at the All-England Tennis Club. All these rules, tradition. John McEnroe on the broadcast said that they announced to him that they set 9:30 pm as the cut off to suspend the match due to darkness. I think it ended at 9:20. It was just too dark out there. They should've continued it on monday. This isn't just sour grapes, I mean, who wants to play in darkness, you agree?

Answer 1

but nadal is in the same condition also (darkness and tireness). so i think it is fair...

Answer 2

Here is the problem,

You say there mind and bodies had been put to the test for 8 hours.  Now, you think that they should be given a day to sleep on it? recover?  play fresh?  

Thats ridiculous.  

By playing out the match as long as possible, you were keeping the elements the same.  Who is to say that other players in this tournament werent mentally and physically tired....should they have been given another day to rest?!

They are trained for this, if they werent they wouldnt have been in the finals.  Its not easy and its not supposed to be.  

The only element is the darkness.  which was there for both players

Answer 3

There is no need to keep bringing this up. That match could gone either way. What if Nadal lost it? Does it matter too?

Answer 4

Now if Federer had won, would you still say it should have been stopped at 7-7?

Answer 5

Chris I completely agree with you. And when you consider that on a rainy, overcast day like it was on Sunday, it usually gets darker quicker on days like that. So even if they felt that they had until 9:30 to play because that's perhaps when it's the darkest, the fact that this was an overcast day that had many showers of rain, they should have known that it would have gotten darker sooner than customary.

As much as I wanted to see more tennis and wanted the match to be completed, I have to agree that this match should never have been brought back to the court after that rain delay in the fifth set with Federer serving at 2-2. If they had decided to bring it back then they should have stopped it at 5-5 or 6-6 for the latest. Because even at 5-5, it was already getting very, very dark!!!!

I don't think that Roger was making excuses for the lost because even Nadal was nice enough to say that he could not see the ball in the final game. And if it does come across as an excuse to some, can we really blame him? For those who play tennis, even if it is a friendly match, I can tell you the worst feeling you get is when you lose a match that you know was caused because of some other factor, outside of your control.  Whenever I lose a match I want to say that my opponent beat me, rather than have it be as a result of any other outside factor that is beyond my control!!

And lets not forget that Marat Safin did complained bitterly about his third round match being played so late in the darkness, even after he won that match. So even though I still say it was a tough call to make at the time, there is a reason why those people who are in charge of the tournament are elected to these position's. We expect them to make those tough decisions that the rest of us find so difficult to make!!! That's their job!!!

Answer 6

And you are saying this is not sour grapes..............

Answer 7

I would have preferred if they had stopped the match after 9:00 to be fair to both players.  And then resume on Monday. You could just tell they were to tired and they were playing merely on nerves so why not put them in better conditions to see the best tennis played?

Answer 8

The final was going to be completed if the players needed to wear miner's helmets. Granted, by 9:30 and it was deadlocked at 10-all or something like that, then play would have needed to been suspended.

You must recall a few years ago when the U.S. Open had to seriously tweak play due to heavy rains over several days and some players would finish a match in the morning & then play in the afternoon/evening.

Without a retractable roof, the elements play a major factor in the game. All involved understand it and must cope with these unique situations.