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  1. #1

    Smile Federer's decline.

    I'm not sure what's declined the most - Fed's shot-making or his mental state.
    On second thoughts I think it's his mental state.
    Under any sort of sustained pressure from class opponents he falls apart.
    Djokovic this week, Murray last week, Nadal at the Aust Open.
    Since when does he throw a racquet?

    He may win one more Slam but I'd be prepared to bet against it.
    If he runs up against Murray or Nadal in particular in any GS final I'd put his chances of success at about 20 per cent.
    Looks like Djokovic (who's hardly been in sparkling form himself) can now be added to the list.
    He was a great player and for a set or so he can still produce some marvellous stuff but when the pressure comes on he's folding (the Roddick match aside - although he was a little lucky in that one too).

    And one other thing - when a particular shot isn't working for him e.g the forehand down the line, he refuses to put it away and play the percentages.

    It smacks of either arrogance i.e "I am Roger Federer and I've always played this way" or lack of judgment under pressure, or both.

    Boy does he need a coach!

  2. #2
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    Greetings my friend ~

    Well you posted a very articulate series of comments summing up a possible mental condition and you end by saying He needs a coach. If you think of what Roger is going through as a mental decline, then counseling would be what I feel the Doctor should order.

    Let's face it people, the way Roger is playing right now is nothing new to him. Before Roger made his break-through, he was losing in the early rounds of everything he entered. But since then, he doesn't have to prove he has the weapons to be back on top, we all know what he's capable of. The guys on the tour are not going to give it to him. They want to keep him down for as long as they can. These are the times you begin to understand that no matter how big your entourage is, you are still alone out there.

    Taking time away from the game isn't the answer I feel. I will say that when Andre Agassi went through his Writer's Block Period, Brad Gilbert & Gil Reyes were crucial in pulling him back from the abyss. If Roger Federer is going to hire anyone, it should be those two guys. Brad is smart enough to know, there's nothing he needs to show Federer that Federer doesn't already know, Brad would approach the assignment as if he were teaching a person how to walk again and Gil would work on his physical state which goes hand-in-hand with a winning attitude.

    Yes people, the stronger you feel, the more confident you become and the more confident you become the more you begin to overcome obstacles and right now Roger Federer's biggest obstacle is Roger Federer.

    Now I hear he's going to have a baby with Mirka and as wonderful as that is, it's a distraction from the goal. He had better get started now or he may find he has no place in Tennis anymore because the game will completely pass him by. These guys are getting better & better, just like when the William's Sister came on the scene and blew everyone away with the power they brought to the game. None of the girls had ever dreamed of dealing with something like that before so what did they do? They all went to the Gym and got their act together and now Venus & Serena no longer have breeze through matches.

    They have to seriously fight for every point they win. At this point, Serena is still keeping her nose slightly out in front but Venus is struggling against the very monster she helped create. Well Roger did the same thing and now he's dealing with the monster he created.

    Good to see you back iLendl

    Coach
    The only acceptable loss is when your opponent was better than you on that given day.
    It is never acceptable to lose when your opponent was not.

  3. #3
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    i really dont think Roger needs a coach or psychological therapy. imo, all he needs to do is humble himself. former number one expects to win every match he goes to, and when things arent going his way, he loses control. he has forgotten how to deal with a loss. Roger still has an incredible game, and it's up to him whether or not he wants to take advantage of it. the French Open will be his trial.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lawn Tennis View Post
    i really dont think Roger needs a coach or psychological therapy. imo, all he needs to do is humble himself. former number one expects to win every match he goes to, and when things aren't going his way, he loses control. he has forgotten how to deal with a loss. Roger still has an incredible game, and it's up to him whether or not he wants to take advantage of it. the French Open will be his trial.

    LT ~ I understand your position and much of it has been echoed here before. It makes sense when considering Roger's start on the Pro Circuit and what is happening to him happens to almost every #1 Player who held that spot for a long time. You can't even consider it a phenomena but more so a condition of its' sheer status.

    Ok,I'm sorry but at times I need to use some of what I learned in Psych Class. But all I'm saying is when you are the best at something you therefore have established a criteria for others to achieve in our World of less content. You thereby have created the very obstacle you must overcome. When a person raises the Bar, others now have measurement by which to judge themselves.

    It's great to be the best and although prize money is nice to have, validation is sweeter. A pure Artist doesn't work for the prize money, he prize money merely affords you the convenience of not having to supplement by deviation. So #2 wants what #1 has and the only way that is going to happen is either for #1 to falter or #2 to become better.

    You mention the French Open and I'm sorry to say but through my experiences, I can wager that Roger will not win the French but most likely based upon what we've witnessed since Wimbledon, not even make it to the Finals this time around. He has been weakened. The others are no longer intimidated by Roger Federer and that's nothing but bad news for him. Guys who probably could have put up more of a fight against him in the past but were afraid to, are no longer afraid. Many of them see him as just another Player in the way of what they want.

    I thought it interesting how many young ladies use to say whenever they saw their next opponent was Steffi Graf at the time Steffi was in her prime, all they thought about was hoping they wouldn't embarrass themselves on the Court in front of all those people. Can you imagine that? Her opponents just wanted to make the match last more than an hour, which gave them validation. Nobody walked onto the Court thinking they were going to win. There were girls who booked their flights back home on the day of their match against Steffi Graf. It was Lyndsay Davenport who exposed her weakness and began the decline for Steffi by beating her on what many thought was Steffi's best surface, Grass on Center Court Wimbledon. I mean who in their right mind can think they would beat Steffi Graf in the Finals of Wimbledon? But Lyndsay Davenport did it and Steffi wasn't able to win another title after that. It was a given that she was going to break Margaret Court's Record of 24 Grand Slam Titles having just defeated the current #1 Player Martina Hingis at the French, Steffi was back and just as good as she was when she left. Then she flew through the field of Players at Wimbledon to a point where the Engraver already started getting her name ready for the Trophy.

    On this Forum it is my contention that if Roger Federer truly wants to show people that he is back, he must not only win the French Open but he absolutely has to do it against Rafael Nadal. Anybody else and it won't carry the same impact. Should say Rafa get injured and can not compete at the French and Roger does good enough to win, yes he will have his Career Grand Slam like Andre Agassi but it won't mean the same because everyone will say, "Yeah but if Rafa was healthy ... " And I'm sorry but I don't see that happening. And to add insult to injury, not only does Roger need to beat Rafa at Roland Garros but he then must drive up to Jolly Ole England and once again defeat Nadal on Centre Court Wimbledon and again, noone else will have the same impact. Roger Federer's trial right now is all about beating Rafael Nadal and let's face it, it ain't gonna happen.
    The only acceptable loss is when your opponent was better than you on that given day.
    It is never acceptable to lose when your opponent was not.

  5. #5
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    thank you for your insight, coach. you clearly know your sport. ive only been watching tennis regularly for about 3 months. prior to that, i would be lucky to catch espn highlights. so it would be difficult for me to argue with your response. however, i will cautiously say this: Federer has a decent chance at winning the French Open. the fans know he has hit rock bottom. his friends and family know he has hit rock bottom. and most importantly, Roger knows he has hit rock bottom. clay courts are Federer's worst enemy. the tennis world expects nothing from him at the French Open especially this year. Nadal is now in Federer's position. all this leads me to believe that a humbled Roger is about to play the best tennis of his career. that point of view is beyond the minorities', and it would need to stay that way (and no doubt it will) for it to come true.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lawn Tennis View Post
    thank you for your insight, coach. you clearly know your sport. ive only been watching tennis regularly for about 3 months. prior to that, i would be lucky to catch espn highlights. so it would be difficult for me to argue with your response. however, i will cautiously say this: Federer has a decent chance at winning the French Open. the fans know he has hit rock bottom. his friends and family know he has hit rock bottom. and most importantly, Roger knows he has hit rock bottom. clay courts are Federer's worst enemy. the tennis world expects nothing from him at the French Open especially this year. Nadal is now in Federer's position. all this leads me to believe that a humbled Roger is about to play the best tennis of his career. that point of view is beyond the minorities', and it would need to stay that way (and no doubt it will) for it to come true.

    Please Read Carefully - as you get to know me, you'll discover I'm a firm believer that anybody can learn from anybody else. I've never met an authority on Sports. Oh yeah, there's dozens out there that would like for you to believe they know it all but don't let that fool you. Probably 98% of them are just bluffing. If I felt I knew all there is to know about Tennis even if I am a Tennis Instructor, I wouldn't bother with Forums such as this. Instead, I'd just write a book.

    I will always leave plenty of room for people to Call My Hand. Hell all we're doing is talking theory anyway. What the hell do I know about what Federer is going to do? I'm speculating like everybody else is doing based upon the same information you are.

    Ok I will disagree with one thing you've said:

    Quote Originally Posted by Lawn Tennis
    Roger knows he has hit rock bottom. Clay courts are Federer's worst enemy. the tennis world expects nothing from him at the French Open especially this year. Nadal is now in Federer's position. all this leads me to believe that a humbled Roger is about to play the best tennis of his career.

    Granted Roger Federer can not seem to beat Rafa on Clay. And yes, the Tennis World is in perfect harmony when stating Rafa is not only the best Clay Court Player in the World but some would argue he may go down in History as the best that has ever played the game BUT don't kid yourself, Rafael Nadal & Roger Federer have met each other in the Finals of Roland Garros 3 times (2006-2007-2008) and in 2005 they met in the Semi-Finals.

    And not to forget aside from their 2008 meeting, all other matches were 4 Set Battles that could have gone either way. I believe in 2006 Nadal won in a tie-breaker in the 4th. Point is, although Rafa is the best Clay Court Player in the World, Federer is considered the 2nd best Clay Court Player in the World and everybody knows this. Think about what I just said LT, as stinky as Roger has been playing, the past 3 yrs in a row, these two guys met in the Finals. And because of Rafa's ranking at that time, they met in the Semi's

    And as far as Roger's feeling of hitting "Rock Bottom" I'm not ready to see that just yet. Because Rock Bottom is where Andre Agassi found himself playing the Challenger Circuit to regain his confidence. Roger is no where near that stage. Yeah, he's in a rut for sure but come French Open time, you won't see him going out in the 1st Round that's for sure. I'd say Roger is still good for at least the Qtrs

    And finally as for Rafa "Now" being in Fed's position, my friend when you're #2 in the World, people are gunning for you just as much as they gun for #1. Basically in the Tennis World, anybody who has a higher ranking than you is worthy of pursuit. That's how you move up, by beating people higher than you. They are called 'Quality Points' where you get a little added bonus for beating people higher ranked. And the reason for that is, (This will blow your mind) Tournament Officials tend to think they are pretty good at laying out the Seeding Arrangement. So much so that prior to the start of a Tournament like a Grand Slam, they gather together a group of people who call themselves 'The Seeding Committee' that wade through the mounds of Entries and determine who is worthy of their top 32 List. Those that do are considered Seeded Players all the way to the top. The Committee puts so much effort into this that they fully expect the Semis to be the numbers 1-3 / 2-4 playing each other and they also expect that the Finals will be the #1 & #2 Seeded Players.

    Do not confuse Rankings with Seedings. You can be the #1 Ranked Player in the World and be Seeded #2 or #3 in that particular Slam. The criteria for Seeding is pretty much the same as for Rankings however the only difference are Intangibles are thrown in the mix. For Example: If Roger Federer had won last year's Wimbledon breaking Pete's record for consecutive wins but still Rafael Nadal became the #1 Ranked Player in the World based upon other Tournament Results both for Him & Federer, most likely Federer would be Seeded #1 at Wimbledon. That's the Intangibles coming into play which the Committee is essentially suggesting although Rafa is on a great run, Federer is better on Grass and they fully expect him to win and they don't like it when Players prove them wrong

    Alright enough of this useless information, I'm sorry but I guess I got on a roll and you were my victim.
    The only acceptable loss is when your opponent was better than you on that given day.
    It is never acceptable to lose when your opponent was not.

  7. #7

    Talking Same roger

    Roger is the same as he was when he was on top. Its just he is not producing the results. The cause is one of three things Mental,Fitness, or distraction,s.
    Each and every one of these is fixable. Not saying they will or will not. just a statenent of facts.
    As far as history goes people forget what is real and what is not.
    COACH this is aimed at you. (RICHARD NIXON) was hated by a large portion of the population (VETS) He was almost impeached and criminal charges brought to bear but, he resigned. Some years later he was thinking of running for President again(HE WAS LEGALLY ABLE TO DO THIS BECAUSE HE RESIGNED AND, WAS NOT IMPEACHED) People were outraged. As time passed he was given a goverment post? When he died i had heard there was thought of making it a public holiday in his honor
    THATS HISTORY

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