Welcome



This is my tennis blog, Lefty Advantage. Tennis is my biggest passion in life and I started this site to discuss the great game. I mainly follow the career of Roger Federer, but I truly love watching all tennis, whether it be the final of a Grand Slam
or a junior tournament on the other side of the world.

I have played tennis for 13 years. If you ever met me, I could talk your head off about all things tennis for hours on end if you would let me. Welcome, and enjoy the writing!

Friday, August 16, 2013

Federer suffers loss to Nadal in Cincinnati

Roger Federer gave Rafael Nadal all he could handle and played some vintage tennis under the lights in Cincinnati but he ultimately fell to his rival 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 in the quarterfinals. The loss drops the all-time leader in weeks at #1 to #7 in the rankings, dropping him outside the top 5 for the first time in ten years.

There was much speculation about whether or not Federer, who has had a rough couple of months, would be able to challenge the in-form Nadal, even on the quick Cincinnati hardcourts where Federer has been champion five times. In the end, he challenged Nadal and then some.

Right from the start there was a sense that this wouldn't be a lopsided match. The first set was pretty even throughout the first ten games but Federer was playing very well, winning many points off his serve and holding easily. In the eleventh game the Swiss Maestro played like the Federer old on break point, hitting forehand after forehand after forehand to the Nadal backhand and eventually forcing the error to grab the first break of the set. He held with ease to close the set out, and needless to say, it was the best set of tennis Federer has played in months.

The second set was dead even as well though Nadal started to raise his level, by serving better and hitting his groundstrokes with more authority. In the tenth game, Rafa missed a few set point chances but prevailed in the end with one forehand winner and the match was going the distance.

At the start of the third set, Roger dropped his intensity and looked a little more tired, and he was broken under the weight of Nadal's relentlessness. In the end, that small lapse was the difference of the match. Roger kept hanging on and saved a few break points along the way before getting to 5-3 for his last stand. Nadal racked off the first three points but Roger saved them all. He then lost a deuce point, then saved another match point, then lost the deuce point, then saved another match point, then lost the deuce point (on an unlucky net cord), and then FINALLY, Nadal sailed a forehand winner down the line to win the match (or so we thought - hawkeye later revealed that the ball was out but Roger did not challenge).

In the end, it is a loss and another one to Rafael Nadal, bringing Roger's record against him to 10-21. But those numbers are really irrelevant at this point in time. What every Federer fan must take from this match is a positive outlook, because he hasn't looked that good in a very long time, perhaps not since the Australian Open.

He looked physically healthy, he was serving at a very high standard, and for a good while in the match he was beating Nadal in many of the baseline exchanges.  He was beating Nadal at his own game, hitting constantly to the backhand and only going to the forehand when there was a clear opening. He rarely sliced the ball and came over many backhand returns, something I and other Fed fans have been begging him to do.

Nadal did what Nadal does, which is rise to the occasion. But make no mistake, Roger forced Rafa to raise his game in order to win. The screws tightened and he became more aggressive because he knew he couldn't allow Roger to dictate the rallies any longer.

All in all, Fed can take so many positives from this match and from this week in general. His back looked fine, he got the groove back on his serve (2nd serve was great) and he finally showed some glimpses of the player Roger is when he plays to his potential, even now at 32.

He will be #7 heading into the US Open, but being #5 or #7 doesn't make a big difference - either way he will get Djokovic, Nadal, Murray, or Ferrer in his quarter (please Ferrer, God please Ferrer).

So in the end, even though he lost, I feel like Roger and his fanbase have good reason to be more optimistic about the rest of this year. Fed showed what he can do when healthy and I can't ask for a better time for Roger's form to get better than right before the US Open.

Cheers,

Kyle.

1 comment:

  1. Kyle, loved this very positive post. So happy that Roger told The Tennis Channel that he really has been injured all this time. He said he can and does play with pain but now that he isn't in pain any longer, he has to stop the habit of "protecting his body". Looks like he did that last night and went full out. He was fantastic especially since he has not had many matches this year and Rafa has come back 100% with many wins under his belt. I think from other statements from Roger regarding the time off Rafa took that perhaps he should have taken more off as well. What a difference it makes when you aren't playing in pain and holding back. Sometimes Roger just does too much to make his fans happy (said he should have dropped out of some tourneys) and from all the statements of late, many of his fans don't deserve his loyalty. However, Roger being forthcoming now regarding playing with injuries maybe those naysayers will think first about criticizing him and be a REAL fan. Positive thoughts for Roger to be able to keep up this level of play at the USO. :)

    ReplyDelete