Federer def. Nieminen 7-6, 7-6
written: 3:17 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 24, 2008
Of course, I was still freaked out anyway. Nieminen was actually serving for the first set but by some stroke of Federer Magic, Roger broke to take it to a tie-break. The two of them were both on serve at first and I was convinced Roger was going to lose...but he didn't. Roger broke first in the second set, and I thought he was going to secure the set with no major hiccups...until Nieminen broke him back.
What the fuck man. How did Roger go from not facing a single break point the previous match to struggling so hard to hold serve in this one, and getting broken 4 times? It's insane. And yet, he won this in straight sets. Have I mentioned it's insane? When the second set tie-break rolled around, after Nieminen won the first point and Roger was serving, I was so fucking scared that I ran to the toilet and took my time peeing, and when I ran back, it was 6-1 Federer! Oh shit I missed all the good shots! Thank goodness I recorded it; I'm going to play it back when I'm lucid, after I get some sleep.
You know, I don't even care how he wins anymore; I'm just happy that he wins at all. Straight sets, tie-breaks, taking forever to beat a guy he's dismissed with ease in the past...whatever. Just win, please. 'Cause he deserves nothing less.
I feel a bit sorry for Nieminen though. Prior to this match he'd faced Roger nine times and lost all those nine times. To add insult to injury, he'd never won a set against Roger. I bet he was thinking that he'd finally win a set against him when he was serving for the first set, but Roger just had to go and break him.
Good job Roger! I'm very proud. I won't even bag on the number of times he got broken, how he struggled to hold serve, his amazing unforced errors - all erased from memory. Don't care. As long as he wins, I don't care how he does it - with cheap points (a.k.a aces), on his opponent's double fault, on his opponent's unforced error. I don't care as long as he wins. Because it seems like hoping for anything more is just hoping for way too much.
I swear my heart is close to stopping every time Roger engages in a long, extended rally. Half of me wishes he'd just play it safe and not go for the big winners because trying to hit the winner increases the likelihood of him making an error, and this likelihood occurs way too much for comfort. But the other half also knows that if Roger plays defensively, it's a matter of who makes the error first - and usually, Roger does. That, or his opponent hits the winner and leaves him stranded. Either way, it sucks.
Also, he does the serve and volley really well and is usually totally on the ball (no pun intended) when he's playing at the net; but today, his net points won was like, pretty tragic. At one point it was 1/9 when it should have been more like 7/9.
I don't know why he's playing like shit in this tournament, but he is. Assuming he gets to the final, I'm afraid that he's going to meet Del Potro. I know I said I'd love for them to meet again, but I forgot that Del Potro is in the other half of the draw. I'd HATE for Roger to make it to the final by the skin of his teeth, just to face Del Potro and possibly lose, if he keeps playing like this. Of course, I'd try to count on Del Potro freaking out because it's the final and it's Federer, again, whom he just lost to in Madrid; but still. Del Potro doesn't make errors. Even Nieminen didn't make a lot of errors. The only thing that's hurting Roger's game is his unforced errors. It's not a matter of the other guy playing better; it's a matter of Roger playing below his standard. And he's done that for two matches now. I think he's quite aware of that too; he was clearly frustrated in this match, especially when his return found the net and he kicked the ball while looking damn pissed. I prefer Roger unflappable because it inspires confidence in me, but Agitated Roger makes me want to hug him.
I know I should have faith in him. I know he's the pro, not me. But I can't help being worried. The Federer that I saw in Madrid has kind of disappeared, and I think I'm watching the Federer that lost all those tournaments earlier this year.
Then again, this Federer isn't much different from the Federer that played in the early US Open rounds, and he went on to win his 13th slam. I need to stop freaking out, because among the many, many things I love about him, I love the way he performs under pressure. Breaking Nieminen while he was serving for the set, then going on to win the tie-break, is prime example. He probably cherishes a hard-fought win more than an easy one, which is great for him and when he pulls off a win like this one, I'm all, "OMG ROGER FEDERER IS THE GOD OF ALL TENNIS."
Which he is. Definitely. And I noticed that he tends to take it easy in the earlier rounds and pulls out all the stops in the semi-final and the final. Like, the quality of his game increased dramatically when he played Djokovic and Murray at the US Open. And I know he can do it.
I just wish he'd make it easier for me. Yeah, that's all. I was so tempted to not watch the match anymore when he was broken three times in the first set, but however much it freaked me out, I just couldn't find it in me to walk away from my Roger when he's struggling. I must support him through thick and thin, victories and defeats! And at times like now, sticking it out with him turns out to be worth it.
Crap, I wish I hadn't wigged on the second tie-break though. That would've totally vindicated my time. Oh well!
As usual, Roger did hit some fucking awesome winners. He always does lah, it's only a matter of how many, and the ratio of winners to unforced errors. Nieminen pulled some pretty impressive play out of his hat too, though it did get kinda predictable after a while (winner down the line. A lot of winners down the line). Still, it was a very close match and Nieminen really fought hard, but...Federer is the better player. Now and always.
I love all the Roger banners that the fans have put up though. My favourite? "Roger, forever our no. 1."
He's forever MY number 1.
It's been so long and I still can't get over how absolutely graceful his tennis is, and how gorgeous his backhand is. It's like he's flying when he hits a backhand, his arm spread out like an eagle ready to fly. His single-handed backhand has the grace that a double-handed backhand decisively lacks, and it also has the beauty that another player's singe-handed backhand doesn't (Richard Gasquet immediately comes to mind). I fell in love with his backhand first before I discovered the beauty of his forehand, so even if his backhand IS his weaker side, it will always be my favourite Federer shot. (I'm not talking about the slice backhand; that one is different. I don't know what this one is called yet but I'll look it up. If I remember to. But his slice is like, always, ALWAYS effective.) And it's even better when he produces a backhand return-of-service winner.
And his serve, oh his serve. No one serves with the same grace that he has. Roddick has the most ugly serve I've seen so far, and Nadal always looks constipated when he serves. I can't even think of another play whose serve can be mildly considered 'graceful'. Of course, what matters is its effectiveness, but I love watching Roger play tennis also because of how beautiful it looks. Because it really is a thing of beauty.
And of course, that forehand. Talking about his forehand will probably take me all night, and I think he should patent the Federer Forehand someday. So suffice it to say, at least for now, his forehand, when it works, is utterly indescribable. I love it when he goes for powerful cross-court forehand winners. Doesn't always work (missed a couple tonight), but even when it doesn't work, it still looks absolutely beautiful.
He's absolutely amazing. And now I'm too tired to continue. So...
YAY ROGER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*
ETA at 4.17 a.m.:
Just read this comment in the match thread on RogerFederer.com by some fan from Hong Kong:
Rogi's FH today looks like my FH
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!
Roger went to watch some football match the night before. That should explain why he kicked the ball at one point the way a football player would kick a football, and why he did a nice header (is this what you call a player using his head to hit the ball? Been too long since I last watched football/soccer) on another poor tennis ball. Maybe he was pissed because FC Basel lost.
STOP WATCHING FOOTBALL MATCHES ROGER. GET ENOUGH REST AND WIN YOUR MATCHES WITHOUT GETTING BROKEN THREE TIMES AND PUTTING YOUR POOR FANS THROUGH NEAR-CARDIAC ARREST. ESPECIALLY THE ONES THAT STAY UP TO WATCH YOU PLAY.
Thanks!
before sunrise // before sunset
Previously:
- - Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017
I'm moving. - Sunday, Jul. 11, 2010
In all honesty - Tuesday, Jul. 06, 2010
What I want for my birthday... - Sunday, Jul. 04, 2010
On Roger's behalf. - Friday, Jul. 02, 2010