Why did Roger federer played so badly at the Wimbeldon final?

Question

He could not even break Nadal serve most of the time

Answer 1

He didnt play badly ! Rafa was just too good in the end. Roger stepped his level up after the rain delay and fought hard to win those tiebreaks !!! Both players played an amazing entertaining match so your talking rubbish. I hate questions like these ! lol

Rafa Nadal New Wimbledon Champion xxxxxxx

Answer 2

i dont think he played that bad at all. he was just focusing on winning too hard i guess. but it still was a good game.

Answer 3

I dont see how he played badly. Both players had a huge amount of winners compared to errors. In fact, normally with the numbers Federer posted, that would win 95% of matches. Nadal has improved his serve in a huge fashion, and it showed. In five sets, for Nadal to be broken just once and Federer just 4 times says alot, and proved to be the only difference, as well as Federer not being able to break despite a large amount of chances. Again, Rafa's serve improved immensely. This was the kind of match where you hate to see one lose.

Answer 4

Are you kidding? He played phenomenal tennis. He came back from 2 sets and won the next 2.

Answer 5

He didn't play badly, I mean he fought really hard to hold on to his title. But I hear you. What was up with his return game? He needed tie breaks to win sets, and he just couldn't make heads or tails of Nadal's serve. That was a shocker.

A couple of years ago when Federer was dominating, a friend of mine pointed out a difference between Federer and Sampras. Sampras won his points more easily. Serve - ace - done. Or if the opponent manages to get his serve back in play, it's an easy volley put away. Federer on the other hand needed his whole game to win a point. So whenever one part isn't working well, he is in trouble. Against Nadal in particular, his whole game is never fluent. And especially these days, it's even harder for him to beat Nadal. He gets trounced on clay, and now he loses on grass. It's only a matter of time before hard courts follow suit.

Answer 6

He didn't play bad, if he did, Nadal could have wrapped it up in three sets like in Roland Garros...Federer fought hard and played well, but Nadal was just better.

Answer 7

I don't think that he played badly. He was able to make it a five setter after being 2 sets down. Rafa just played better than him. Federer is also losing his magic touch a bit. Nadal also has a very spinny serve that is hard to touch.

Answer 8

watch the entire game dude

Answer 9

Roger definitely feels more pressure playing against Rafa.

He's not as confident and as mentally tough with Rafa on the other side of the net. Rafa on the other hand, is one of the most mentally tough players out there. There is nobody that can phase him during a match. That was the difference in yesterday's final. It came down to just a couple of points.

Roger was 1 for 13 on break points. The big points are usually the difference in tight matches where the opponents are pretty equal. Rafa played tougher on those key, big points, and Roger didn't. That's why he won.

Roger also knows that those two elusive slam titles that would tie him with Sampras are going to be harder to get, especially with the field (Rafa and Djoko) on his heels. A little added pressure here and there will make things tougher for Roger.

I hope he does it though. He really is one of the all time great players.

It is ironic that Rafa is the one that's keeping him from being the undisputed best player of all time. He would have at least two French Open titles now if it weren't for Rafa. And of course, Rafa would have been number 1 for at least two years now without Roger.

Answer 10

wow i really  dont think he played bad at all, it has been called the best played

Answer 11

I'd say it was a momentum swing.

You'll notice one point in my opinion determined the match.

In the 2nd set, Federer was up 4-1.

Nadal was serving, I can't remember but it was either Federer was leading 40-30 or had an advantage, either way one more points and it would have been 5-1 with Federer serving for the 2nd set, Roger got a gimme drop shot with Nadal on the far side, and he hit it long.

From then one, Federer would not be able to muster a break.

I think it was mental because I've never seen Federer miss so many gimme drops/volleys in one match.

Answer 12

He did not play bad at all, he came back 2 sets, what are you talking about? I suggest you watch it again and look a little closer.

Answer 13

I too think he is afraid of Nadal.  He had Nadal on the ropes back in Hamburg, on CLAY!  Federer was up 5-1 in the first set, up a double break.  He lost that set 7-5 and lost the match.

Since that match in May, the only sets Federer won off Nadal have been tie-break sets!

I don' think Federer played badly yesterday because he has been playing like that for most of this season.  He has made a lot of mistakes and missed makeable shots this year.  Dr. D's friend is right on, Sampras won his points easier.

Answer 14

roger didnt play bad at all only nadal play superb....roger did him best already....he at least fight back from 2 sets down....nothing can complain about the final...they both performed a high quality match....as a federer fan..although i'm still feel sad...but have to congrat to nadal cause like roger said nadal did well....

Answer 15

I think federer was just too focused on getting revenge on rafa from the french open final, and i also think he was overwhelmed by how amazing rafa was playing so

yeaa.

Even though he did come back well after the 1st rain delay

Answer 16

I don't know, Roger is my alltime favorite player and it is disheartening to see him losing to nadal all the time.

Answer 17

I am still feeling sick to my gut, and have a bad taste in my mouth 'cos of Federer's defeat. My observation is that it was more of an issue with mental approach, body language and state of mind for Roger. I agree Nadal was good, but i feel Roger gave it away more than Nadal grabbing it from him.With a 6-12(W-L) career record against Nadal, i guess it has gotten into his head. I could clearly see that he was trying way too much than required to beat Nadal and forcing the issue, which finally lead to lots of unforced errors where ultra easy winners were up for grabs. If you folks noticed, Roger was hitting regulation shots into the net or out. He was approaching  the net way too much in the first 2-3 sets than required. He was approaching so much that instead of it being a stock weapon, it became a bread n butter scenario, which Nadal countered easily. Also later in the game he wasn't there mentally, he was arguing with himself, with the umpire, shouting at the crowd etc. etc. He mentally lost it before the game began.If he had made those regulation shots rather than hitting them wide or into the net, the pressure wud have been off, and he wud have done better. Also he could only break him 1 or 2 times out of 14-15 break points he got.He didn't use his serve to his advantage late in the game to preserve his energy and make his serve game safe and shorter. Sometimes i felt as if he was playing to loose or was involved in some match fixing. I clearly feel that Roger could have easily won it, rather than prolonging the drama and losing in the end. With slouched shoulders and heads down he wasn't the Roger we know, he wasn't even Roger's shadow. I still can't believe that he played the way he did. I'm disappointed, i wish if we can replay it and  someone can go and tell him to get these things right to beat Nadal in straight 3 sets, which he could and should have done.

Answer 18

he didnt play bad he played world class

and nadal played better

Answer 19

This is good question. It seem like too many people make Roger afraid of Nadal. Roger was 2 games to win, and even with many errors Roger still almost win. He is better player, is clear.  But very strange that he not make break points to go into his favor. Sad. I cry too.

Answer 20

Roger hasn't been playing well this year (including wimbledon) because he got mono, a disease near the Australian Open. So he was sick for awhile preventing him from practice.....so i guess he lost focus and everything...and Nadal is improving very well as well...he's getting alot better..I'm hoping Roger will do better next year!!

Answer 21

He has unfortunately not been at his best form this year. Nevertheless, that does not disqualify him from the great champions list. He still made it to the finals twice this year and that means his standards are still high.

Rafael has been playing better and better, and he is becoming very powerful too. So any roger vs rafael match is going to be a nailbiting one with hopefully equal chances for both.